I've had my Lightning since it was new and always had an ARE bed cover for it. Well my cover started to rub the paint and no matter how I reposition it it still ends up rubbing my paint. Now I have to have my tailgate repainted. Anyway, I decided to remove my cover for good (less to polish and wax now ha ha) and was wondering if I should remove the bedrug I have also. I don't know if water might get underneath and stay there and cause rust. Or some other type of damage. Thoughts??

 

don't think you will see any rust under it as the bed material is composite, not steel.

 

I've wondered the same thing. Though I'm concerned more about the bolt heads than the bed. I think I'll just get a different
style tonneau when I finally get rid of the ARE. A little change after 15 years might be nice. The paint on the cover has held
up better than the factory paint job. The old girl is about to hit the paint booth for a fresh coat.

 

The bed rug is designed to be used with or without a bed cover.

The bed is designed to handle the elements, so adding a liner shouldn't effect that any

 

I was concerned with water getting trapped under the bedrug and against the truck bed.