Bed Liner: What's the 'MUD Consensus?

[Wasatch Jay]

I've been under the impression spraying the inside and/or underside of the tub with bedliner is a good thing to do, as opposed to spraying with regular paint. However, in reading through parts of several build threads it seems sometimes it doesn't adhere well, and then it's serious ass-pain to remove it.

So, I'm curious as to what folks think. Yea or Nay? (And maybe why you feel that way)

 

[South Texas 97]

I have a bunch of this under my 76 FJ40 from a PO. I will be removing it. There is a good review of various bedliners at project Farm on YouTube and another video on rust protection there as well.
I believe there is also a concern about rust under bedliners in general.
Other folks seem to be perfectly happy with it.

 

[rkymtnflyfisher]

No.





Then again, I did the entire underside of my tub in Monstaliner. Hopefully I never need to remove it. (Although I do need to do some repair work on a large area that I didn't prep the epoxy primer correctly.)

 

[Pitter Patter]

No.

 

[USOffRoad]

My company used to spray bedliners, hot high pressure like Linex. Sprayed everything from truck beds to boats and golf carts and more.

First off, it's ALL about the prep. You do a half assed job of prep and you will end up with problems...sometimes right off the bat.

A good polyurea combined with solid prep will give you years of superb protection. My M101A2 was sprayed 11 years ago and has been used and abused and still looks great. I'd consider color matching the inside of the tub, underside as well. I'd never line the outside unless it's 100% trail or hunting rig with no consideration of restoration, etc.

Then there's colors. Polyurea is prone to fading in the sun, even black will turn charcoal eventually, reds turn pink, whites yellow and so on. Products like Raptor Liner that require an epoxy primer are not polyureas and will deal with UV much better. If I were to coat something in a color other than black and on the exterior then I'd go Raptor.

If I had a 40 that I was restoring to original then, no, I'd do as Toyota did, paint. From a restored value perspective, paint wins hands down. All depends on what you are trying to achieve.

 

[sogncab]

I'll be having the entire underside and inside of my tub done when the time comes.

Noise dampening, dent resistance, sealing, and corrosion protection being the reasons.

If you want a concourse vehicle, probably not a great choice.

 

[70fj40]

I think all the “bedliner” products have gotten a bad name because of what was said above about not prepping correctly.
I’d guess a great many folks use bedliner to cover up bad areas and so what we see on a lot of previously done rigs was not a fault of the liner at all.

 

[FishTacos]

As has been stated prep is the key. Prep is very difficult. Even morso if it's a DIY situation.

The inherent problem with liner products is that they have much more structure (so to speak) than primer and paint coatings. If there is a place on the body with less than perfect surface prep the liner will delaminate from the surface, a small crack will form, water and road salt will get in there, and oxidation WILL occur. You won't know about it for some time and then, when you do notice it, you'll have a big problem on your hands because:

A) removing it back to clean metal is a major PITA

B) welding, re-prepping, and matching the weathered liner is a major PITA.

Paint (in almost every case) is the way to go.

 

[rainingagain]

As soon as bed liner spraying became available to gen pop, I knew we were in trouble. Most of what I encounter today is from some jackass that just prayed it over whatever was there.

You have to really clean and prime the surface before applying, otherwise moisture will find it's way in. I'm talking prepping every nook and cranny and applying seam sealer where needed.

 

[Wasatch Jay]

I appreciate all the replies. Thank you, and especially so for the thoughtful explanations!

I have an '02 Ford F-350 (bought new) and I had the dealer get the bed professionally sprayed with Rhino Liner before I took delivery. The truck has been garaged for most of its life, and I don't just throw stuff into the bed. But the bedliner material itself is in good shape with no separations or delaminations. It has faded somewhat over the years, but on occasion I've applied some Armor All and it looks great, although it's then quite slippery.

A very good friend is building a Bronco project from the ground up, and he's having the company making the fiberglass body spray bedliner on the inside floor of the tub and the underside below the firewall.

But now I'm leaning against bedliner on my FJ40. High quality, name brand paint is so expensive bedliner would have been a way to reduce paint costs, but I'd hate to do that and then regret it.

I'll check out Project Farm's review. I've watched many of his videos - and find them somewhat addictive. You watch one... and pretty soon a few hours are gone.

 

[rainingagain]

I appreciate all the replies. Thank you, and especially so for the thoughtful explanations!

I have an '02 Ford F-350 (bought new) and I had the dealer get the bed professionally sprayed with Rhino Liner before I took delivery. The truck has been garaged for most of its life, and I don't just throw stuff into the bed. But the bedliner material itself is in good shape with no separations or delaminations. It has faded somewhat over the years, but on occasion I've applied some Armor All and it looks great, although it's then quite slippery.

A very good friend is building a Bronco project from the ground up, and he's having the company making the fiberglass body spray bedliner on the inside floor of the tub and the underside below the firewall.

But now I'm leaning against bedliner on my FJ40. High quality, name brand paint is so expensive bedliner would have been a way to reduce paint costs, but I'd hate to do that and then regret it.

I'll check out Project Farm's review. I've watched many of his videos - and find them somewhat addictive. You watch one... and pretty soon a few hours are gone.

Off topic, but the one with the Ranger and sea foam, wow! It was like a new truck.

 

[HoundDog]

When I'm perusing other FJ40's, I'll admit that bed liner is a turn off. The PO of my 40 had the underside of the body sprayed with bed liner and some parts are flaking off while other areas it's impossible to remove. It's just an ugly PITA. Really the only way to deal with it is to remove the entire body, trailer it to professional media blasting company and have them remove it, and you might as well do a full resto at that point. Paint is more honest, more repairable, and easier to deal with. You'll never be able to entirely prevent rust/corrosion/damage so that's why it's important to have a coating that's repairable, IMO.

 

[Avattack]

I'm with HoundDog, my PO did the same thing plus made his own seat brackets. Welded a bunch of pipes together, drilled holes everywhere, and basically didn't care about what it looked like. Old liner was faded and peeling. I welded and patched the holes, replaced the seat mounts with OEM, and worked hard to get rid of the old bed liner, but it was A LOT of work. Gave up on the back. I ended up sanding and prepping and using Raptor liner. Just followed their directions and I'm happy with the results. But...would much rather have a painted and stock looking floorboard. Maybe my next Toy!

 

[USOffRoad]

I think it looks damn good.

 

[mtrdud]

I have used Raptor liner a few times in the bed areas but I would never recommend doing this to the outside. I’m removing all of the bedliner a genius decided was a good idea on a 40 and it has been quite the job.

 

[Wasatch Jay]

I'm with HoundDog, my PO did the same thing plus made his own seat brackets. Welded a bunch of pipes together, drilled holes everywhere, and basically didn't care about what it looked like. Old liner was faded and peeling. I welded and patched the holes, replaced the seat mounts with OEM, and worked hard to get rid of the old bed liner, but it was A LOT of work. Gave up on the back. I ended up sanding and prepping and using Raptor liner. Just followed their directions and I'm happy with the results. But...would much rather have a painted and stock looking floorboard. Maybe my next Toy!

View attachment 3373456

View attachment 3373457

It looks to me like you did a very nice job on spraying the Raptor liner. But looking at the transmission tunnel begs the question: There's one lever ... not two. Assuming there is a transfer case, how is it shifted?

Also, from your description your FJ40 was in rough shape when you got it. It sure looks like you've done a fantastic job repairing the carnage created by previous owner(s). Nice work!!!

 

[USOffRoad]

It looks to me like you did a very nice job on spraying the Raptor liner. But looking at the transmission tunnel begs the question: There's one lever ... not two. Assuming there is a transfer case, how is it shifted?

Vacuum actuated.

 

[Avattack]

Yes, Vacuum actuated and Thanks for the comments!

 

[Pitter Patter]

As I make this point I’m acknowledging different years have vastly different tub construction so my statements don’t universally apply. What I’ve found with mine is that not only can a bedliner type product not fully coat all the nooks in the tub, creating more opportunities for trapping water/mud/salt. It also plugs the numerous drains in the tub. I’m months into body work and bedliner removal. As Avattack said “A LOT of work”.

I take the stance with everyone that it’s your vehicle so do whatever you want with it.

My ‘opinion’ having lived through fixing a vehicle with undercoating, is that it’s a fantastic 10 year solution and a horrible 20+ year solution. Paint is a good 10 year solution and a good 20+ year solution.

Here’s some photos of critical drain points that will get blocked off by a bedliner style coating. Many of these drain points have water intrusion points that won’t get blocked off by a bedliner coating so water will get trapped.