Hey guys! I am new to the forum and joined as I am an F150 owner but I also came across this thread while searching and wanted to comment.

I am the Canadian Distributor for Al's Liner. I own a company in Vancouver area called Canadian Mobile Coatings Ltd and I apply many custom coatings as well as sell Al's Liner. I have used many different products in the past and won't even touch the other DIY kits as they don't even compare! If it's not the best I won't use it or sell it and I have coated our cargo trailer, my truck, the floor and trunk of my restomod 1969 Cougar XR7, and even redone my old fiberglass patio with it.

I am not going to give you a sales pitch on it as it sells itself. I have also used Armorthane and it is far superior. Al's Liner is made by a company called Scorpion Protective Coatings which sells and installs liners at their locations for hundreds of dollars just like Linex. Al's is just a retailed package into a DIY kit of those contents that Scorpion uses to try and corner the market in this area. Al's has already proven to be more UV stable than any of the others out there and is guaranteed not to fade or go brittle from UV exposure. As for strength, I have thrown everything into my box as it is a work truck and never had any damage and I can safely say that it is equivalent to Linex in that area as my last truck, a 2001 F150 had Linex on it. I actually like the non-skid properties of Al's better than the Linex as I don't get stuff sliding around in the back like I used too.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me or shoot me an email at cmc-ltd@telus.net

Lee Fisher

 

Greetings and welcome to the forum.

Well, I sent off for info about Al's. The package I received contained three samples (see below). After playing with the samples, I assure you, Al's isn't even close to the toughness of LINE-X.

BTW, the red sample has glitter in it, the type of glitter you used in kindergarten.

 

What... are you following my posts or something as you've posted the exact same comment word by word in another forum??? LOL!!!

Well try the strength test once Al's is applied to something and then tell everyone, not by a sample you received in the mail. I've been installing different coatings for 20 years and have my own business doing it and I've done them all!! Linex may feel more durable but it has a tendancy to crack off and fade over time with UV. I had it on an 2001 F150 work truck so I know. Al's has a slightly higher rubber type texture to it making it great for non slip as well as having more give if you dent in what you coated it will stay bonded and not crack.

And for the glitter.. well the guys doing the sample were probably playing around or added it on purpouse to show that you can add flakes, media, or rubber crumb to it and metal flake for cars is actually the same stuff just different sizes of flakes that they come in.

 

I saw a sample of the Herculiner and it is very thin compared to Line X... It didn't look like it would hold up if sliding plywood out of the truck..

 

No, I'm not following your posts.

I've seen lots of bedliners also, I've NEVER seen LINE-X crack. And, as a matter of fact, LINE-X has a nationwide lifetime warranty that backs that up. LINE-X Xtra aliphatic and resists fading. It doesn't sound like you've "done" LINE-X.

I don't expect anyone to take my word for it. Get a sample of both Al's and LINE-X and rub them together as I did.

 

Actually my business partner installed Linex for a local dealer for 4 years so we know all about it and I am not saying that it is a bad product at all.

It's a great product if you can afford it!

Alot of people can't afford what they charge and the difference in quality or longevity doesn't make up for the price difference. I really wouldn't want to coat the complete underside of a 55 Bel Air as well as floor and trunk with Linex based on the price or I wouldn't be able to afford to put in a motor!

My partner who installed Linex coated the inside of his aluminum boat and it did crack and eventually break off because it could stand up to the continuing flex. Every season he would mist on a conditioner to keep the shine of the liner other wise it would get a faded look after sitting out in the sun all summer on the water.

Now Linex does have excellent guarentees as well but so does Al's Liner and you can coat a truck bed for about $150 with the reusable gun compared to up to $600 for Linex or some of the others. This is the benefit that we are trying to give.

A small little square sample is a great way to show you the product but don't forget it is much different when bonded to a metal backing, over a large area. Now we have found and like that Al's is a little bit of a rubbery feel giving a much better non skid property and even a better sound deadening property where Linex seems to be a little harder which can make it more brittle which gave the issue on the aluminum boat where it eventually separated from the boat under the flex. Al's with that more rubbery texture seems to follow the flex of the aluminum better.

Between my partner and my 45 years experience in these type of coatings I just wanted to give our personal experience and provide a cost effective option and also a product that people could do themselves for many different types of projects with an almost equivalent, if not better in some ways, product.

I'm not trying to be biast as we do sell some of the other DIY liner kits as well for people who just have their mind set on one.

In todays economy alot of people would rather do it themselves and save a few hundred and why not do it finally with a quality product.

 

Not a 55 Bel Air, it's a 47 Plymouth with a LINE-X undercoating.





LINE-X works great on the interior of aluminum boats. There is a LINE-X dealer in Sarasota, Florida who is a personal friend of mine who sprays aluminum boats very frequently with no problems. Perhaps your friend is not familiar with LINE-X SF515 and cathodic migration. And, apparently, he's not familiar with LINE-X Xtra either. You don't have to apply anything to Xtra to prevent fading. It will hold its color and gloss and is fortified with DuPont Kevlar. Again, I've never seen cracked LINE-X. Have any pictures?

I can certainly understand value. You can go to Wallymart and buy a few cans of spray paint and spray paint your entire truck for under $100 and some people are happy with that. Or, you can go to a professional painter and get it done for a few thousand.

Oh my, with all of your years of experience, I can't believe you just stated that harder means more brittle. That is totally incorrect in every way. Perhaps you have experience, but it sounds like you have had limited training. From my experience, most people don't by LINE-X for its sound deadening properties.

I'm not saying Al's is a bad product, I'm saying that some of the information you stated is incorrect. I would also recommend that you and others review post number 7.

 

I grabbed a few of my friend's LINE-X (with Xtra) pics. This is not an aluminum boat, but....

 

I appreciate your love for Linex but the personal bashing is a little too much in regards to training, experience, ect, as you have no clue about my history or what I do and I am just explaining personal experience as well as a product for the cost. I've never said Linex is bad and I think it's a great product and probably the best out there (OVERALL) if you can afford to go that route!

We have over the years experienced issues with Linex product under alot of constant flex on certain customers boats and vehicles, ect. I am not sure if it is the more expensive or newer Linex as we don't usually ask and get into that much detail with customers. It could be improper prep, application, or the product itself but I personally find (From applications and repairs) Linex a little denser than Al's Liner which is what we assume made it a little more brittle under these particular circumstances, but again the cost is the main factor.

I hope this is a little better clarification for you and at least it is a civil response instead of an opportunity to bash and question your possible experience or knowledge.

As for my custom coatings experience well you can see my work from everything from tv shows like Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Gallactica, Dead Like Me, Twilight Zone, Psych, and movies, Xmen, Fantastic 4, Scary Movie 4, Shooter, RV, Are We There Yet, Hollowman, White Noise, Walking Tall, The Final Cut, Jimanji, Blade Trinity, Firewall, etc, etc.. My partner does vehicles, boats, trailers, heavy equipment.

Nice pics of the boat by the way!

 

No personal bashing intended and I'm not exactly sure why you arrived at that conclusion. I was just responding to these comments from your posts which didn't seem to "jive":

"Between my partner and my 45 years experience"
and
"Linex seems to be a little harder which can make it more brittle"

 

TruckGasm you need to read again my explanation. How about this? Through our experience from seeing some customers previously coated items and vehicles, we have found that the consistancy of Linex, shows that it may be a harder, more brittle coating as it may not have the flexability that we so far have found that Al's Liner has. When I say harder I do not necessarily mean stronger. We have found instances of de-lamination causing eventually pieces to break off from these Linex coated items during extended use.

Hope that clears up some explanation as I didn't realize in my original post that it would be nit picked. Now these are just our findings as there is other cases of course of people with no issues but each persons usage and history is different and it could also vary with prep and installation. And the sound deadening properties are very useful especially being that you can ad the rubber crumb and then coat the floor and trunk like the pikes below of that 55' Bel Air we spoke about. I think that makes it a versatile product.

Now to get off this topic, here is a few pics of recent customers projects.

 

Yes, I do tend to nit pick, that's just my nature.

According to Frost & Sullivan, LINE-X is the number one bedliner in the world. Yes, LINE-X has more market share (38.7%) than Rhino (34.6%) and has for several years, so I suppose LINE-X works for some people.

I'm going to be honest here, this is just my opinion and I appreciate the opportunity to be able to voice my opinion on this forum. This is not intended to be a personal attack, again, I'm just voicing my opinion. Those pictures that you posted of Al's Liner look HORRIBLE and I truly mean that. They have the typical low pressure cottage cheese look. Personally, I would never apply a low pressure bedliner in my truck no matter what the brand.

Thanks for posting the pictures though, I'll add them to my collection.

This Al's Liner picture...


....looks like Herculiner:

 

Any bedliner is only as good as the application and prep. I sanded with 3 types of sandpaper then wiped bed down with acetone 3 times and used 2 gallons of hurculiner. This stuff is tuff and I'm very happy with the results.

 

Wow, your trying a little too hard there buddy. Your not as transparent as you think you are. The Al's picture looks good and absolutely nothing like the Herculiner. That herculiner pic is obviously bad workmanship, not a fault of that product either. Your not helping sell me towards LineX with this obnoxious bashing.

 

If you think it looks good, then OK, you certainly are entitled to your opinion as am I and it's nice to have choices, there's lots of bedliner brands out there!