Hey everyone! I'm buying a 2013 F-150 Lariat as a surprise anniversary gift for my husband. Is it better to have a bedliner installed by a Dealership or an Indepenent Shop? I'm located in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area and i'm not to sure what the best option would be.

 

Welcome to the forum!

Most folks on the forum know that I'm a LINE-X dealer.

There's really no advantage to getting the factory bedliner, here's why:
1. Factory warranty is 3 yrs/36K miles; Aftermarket is lifetime.
2. The factory bedliner is aromatic which means it's not UV stable which means it will fade due to UV light from sun. Some aftermarket bedliners are aliphatic which means it's UV stable and will not fade very fast.
3. The factory bedliner is around 65 mils on the floor. A reputable aftermarket dealer will install about 125 mils on the floor.
4. If you have a problem with the factory bedliner, the auto dealer can't fix it, it will go to an aftermarket shop for the repair.
5. If it goes to an aftermarket shop for the repair, the original factory product is not available.

The company that installs the factory bedliner for Ford, Dodge, some Toyota, and the upcoming GM bedliner is Ground Effects, Ltd. (GFX). Last summer, LINE-X acquired GFX. However, the factory product is not a LINE-X product due to contracts that are in place.

 

I'd send TruckGasm a private message and set up an appointment with him to do a LineX job. He's in the DFW area and does high quality work.

 

Thanks for the tips and advice. I saw this commercial about a Dual Liner, is that better and more durable than a Spray-On Bedliner? I don't want to have a Drop-In installed so I'm in between a Spray-On and this Dual Liner

 

She asked about a dealer installed bed liner, not a factory installed one. To my knowledge, dealerships each use different places to install their bedliners. I'd go aftermarket purely because it will be cheaper. A friend's dealer installed bed liner ran him $475, which would have gotten him a better LineX liner with the UV protection.

 

Okay, so aftermarket bedliners are at the Line-X or Rhino shops? What if the dealer installed bedliner is the same type(well brand) of liner as Line-X? I guess then it just comes down to the markup price

 

Well, there are many brands of bedliners, not just LINE-X or Rhino.

When you walk into Discount Tire, they all look like tires. Every one of them is made of rubber. Therefore, they are all exactly the same, so it just comes down to markup. Correct or not?

 

With spray-in bedliners, the skill and attention of the applicator is just as important as the material used. With your location, I'd suggest you follow my advice in post #3.

 

Completely agree with applicator being important, sometimes more important than product. I'd just find out what shop your dealer uses and go from there. Also, you can get a bedliner at any point in the truck's life, so there's no hurry. Don't stress about it!

 

The applicator is much more important than the product (Rhino or Line-X for example). TRUST ME!

 

You're exactly who I was thinking of!

 

bedliner installed by a Dealership is the best option.In current market new customers confused

 

Read post #2 and learn something.

 

Your second post is about *factory* installed liners. So again, it doesn't apply. Some *dealers* use LineX

 

OK, I think we're getting some terms confused, sorry about that. The second post is about factory vs. aftermarket bedliners and aftermarket is a better deal in most cases, just to clear that up.