...

 

I started this in another section & realized I should have put it here so sorry for the double thread.

I've had my truck for a week now and was pricing places that do spray in bedliners. My wife knows I don't like other people working on our vehicles unless necessary & asks why don't you buy the kit & do it yourself. Never thought about that & still think it would be best to have a spray in done but I am curious to know if some of you all have done it yourself & was it pain? Does it look good? Durable? Etc....good & bad

 

DIY looks bad, is bad. How are you going to apply it? Most are done with brushes or a roller. Ends up being a flexible paint. Get it done correctly by a reputable Line-x dealer.

 

Personally....

I do not have any liner in my 05...I am kicking myself for not getting it done when it was new...I would go linex if it were my new truck...now, my 05...I'm thinking about doing it myself with the roll on or spray can or a combination of both...but I used to be a auto painter, so I think I can handle the prep work..

FWIW!

Regards!

 

It's more convenient to use a spray bedliner. I use LineX on my truck.

 

You cannot buy a DIY bedliner product that's equal to or better than (most) professional bedliners. By "better", I'm referring to fact that professional bedliners will be much stronger, more durable, and look much nicer (as long as it's a high pressure application).

That isn't to say that all professional bedliners are the same because they are not. Some are better than others.

You will find this hard to believe, but buying a professional bedliner (like LINE-X) is actually less expensive than a DIY bedliners application.

 

I agree. I work for Ziebart in Watertown NY and we use Speedliner SL1000 Kevlar reinforced. It's the strongest bed liner on the market and doesn't fade because it's the only liner that uses automotive pigment. Soooo go to speedliner.com and find a dealer. The product is indestructible and unlike line x it has grip year round instead of just a nice professional sprayed look. I really like the fact I can set stuff in the back of my truck and it doesn't slide back and forth as I drive. If you're in my area id be happy to help you.

Do you're research. In order to do a diy liner you'd need 5-6 gallons and a hooper and spray gun to apply it so it looks right. The roll ons are garbage and just look like ****. And have no real purpose other than taking your money.

 

All brands of bedliners have their pros and cons including Speedliner.

Allow me to expand on the Speedliner product. First of all, Speedliner does fade, I'll post pictures below. Everything fades, even aliphatics. Speedliner's own website states that test results show that it loses 11% to 20% after 2,000 hours under a Xenon-Arc light.

Regarding the Kevlar: LINE-X has been the ONLY DuPont authorized user of Kevlar for truck bedliners. LINE-X and DuPont spent over two years together working on a product called LINE-X Generation 1 Xtra. The experiments included adding chemicals that make the Kevlar fibers line up correctly, setting up test panels in Florida, changing the size of the fibers, etc. Gen 1 Xtra was used for several years, but Generation 2 Xtra does not contain Kevlar. If you research Kevlar, you will find that UV light disintegrates Kevlar fibers. If you ask for Kevlar from a Speedliner dealer, they open up the package and pour it in. Then, their dealer manual states to mix it up with a jiffy mixer so that you don't have clumps of Kevlar. That's actually really funny to me...it's not very scientific at all. I'm guessing the Kevlar has no effect at all. It's even possible that the fibers interfere with the cross-linking of the chemicals. In addition, Speedliner does not show test results of product strength with and without Kevlar. I'll show you a picture of clumped Kevlar in the pictures below.

Regarding Speedliner's strength: The test results from the laboratory in Houston, Texas that performed the test in 2001 mentioned ASTM D624 as the test method for tear strength, but they did not mention which die was used. Test results will vary depending on which die is used in the test and there are several dies available. Why would the lab not mention which die was used on their test results, it's critical information? So, I called the laboratory in Houston myself. I was told (several times) that someone would call me back. No one would call me back and no one would tell me which die was used. So, unfortunately, we can't compare the strength of Speedliner to other brands. I personally have had my hands on Speedliner and it's not a weak product (like Rhino Tuff Stuff), but it's not exceptionally better that other bedliners that I've played with either.

What's bad about Speediner: Most professional bedliner products (LINE-X, Rhino, Ultimate Linings, Bullet Liner, etc.) do not contain any solvents. Speedliner does, it contains ethyl acetate (EA) which is EXTREMELY dangerous, the vapors are literally explosive. Speedliner also requires a primer, it contains EA also. (Note that LINE-X, Rhino, Ultimate Linings, and Bullet Liner do not require a primer for truck bedliners.) Speedliner dealers can be shut down by OSHA or by their local Fire Dept if they do not have fire suppression equipment (which is very expensive) like the Speedliner dealer that was shut down by OSHA in Arlington, Texas. Another undesirable is that Speedliner is applied with low pressure with a hopper gun (or just roll it on with a roller) which does not always create a very nice texture. Those of you who have had the old Rhino Tuff Stuff know what I'm talking about. However, to be fair, you don't need expensive high pressure equipment to apply Speedliner.

Here is a screenshot of a video from Bed Armor. Their product also contains Kevlar. Notice the Kevlar clumps. So, do you think the Kevlar is adding any strength to the bedliner here?



The pictures below show faded Speedliner. The silver color turned brownish/greenish. The Toyota truck was brought to my store to fix the problem. If I remember correctly, the Speedliner dealer went out of business.












Here are the after pictures with LINE-X.

 

Was just quoted $618 for f150 5.5 bed. No top rail or tailgate spray. Sound about right for Line-X?

 

Seems just a bit high to me, WFO, but maybe prices are higher where you live. My 2014 cost a bit over $500 as I recall, and it didn't have the tailgate done either, since it has a plastic cover on the inside. Also, I got the "standard" spray, not the higher cost ones, since I was going to install a bed cap.

Maybe, your "Back to the Future", 2102 truck is the reason for the higher cost!

Jack

 

Wut? Time to edit a profile.

 

If you are in Arizona check out Inyati spray in bedliners. I'm on my second one now, the first I had applied in my 2006 F-150 and it looked good as new when traded in earlier this year for my new 2014 F-150. The truck dealer was a LineX dealer but I had them set up the appointment with Inyati instead. On my first one I picked up a discount coupon at the Sportsmans Outdoors show and it only cost me $250 out the door for a 6.5' bed, the second was only $400 and it is their newer UV resistant product.

 

So, an update to the DIY bed liner...

The cover inside my tailgate was peeling real bad...got tired of looking at it, so I removed the cover, stripped the remaining paint off it, sprayed 3 coats of Rustoleum Self etching primer, and top coated with Rustoleum Truck bed coating in the rattle can...

It looked great when I was finished...the outside temp was around 85 when I did it (Halloween Weekend). Let it dry in the sun for several hours before re-installing...

2 weeks later, out with my scouts picking up canned food (Scouting for Food)...they loaded up the back of my truck (tailgate down with bed extender)...when we unloaded the cover was all chipped up and scratched...

My review...the Rustoleum isn't worth the can it comes in...

I was an auto painter for many years, so I know it was not my prep...

 

I've used the Rustoleum bed liner in my flatbed trailer and it is super durable. I didn't use the rattle cans though. I used a full gallon for the bottom/deck of a 5x8 trailer. I did 2 coats of it on a nice hot summer day.

I don't think the rattle cans are supposed to be used like that.

When I did the trailer deck, it made a nice thick coating, which laid up well even brushing it on -- not even using a roller.

I've hit it up with shovels and all kinds of garbage on it, and it still washes off like new.