Truck Bed Protection

Truck beds take a beating. Just normal use starts the process of damage that includes scraping and scratching the paint. Even if you're careful, pickup beds are on a steady slide down from damage. Besides being careful, there's more you can do to keep the bed looking fine. This is a way to stop the damage...
Put on or in a bed liner for the truck.
Maybe most popular is the spray in bed liner. That's for good reason too. It's a good solution, but maybe not the ultimate one. There's that price for one... The most costly option in most cases, the spray coating has competition and may not always be the best choice.
Spray on liners are after all paint coatings. And remember that the life-time warranty doesn't mean the liner can't be damaged. It means it can be repaired. That means a respray and the hassles associated with that. How many coats of liner paint can one put on a liner??? Who knows.
Think of the installation of liner coatings. Do you realize that the original paint on a truck gets destroyed in the process of installing a spray on bed liner? Of course it does. Thus the installation of a spray coating is an irreversible decision.
Tougher coatings exist. The heavy plastic liners are all but impossible to destroy. That thick plastic soaks up lots of scratches. Plus, it's a shock absorber to absorb most any hit and prevent dents. Dents are real killers since they are much more difficult to repair than are a few little scratches. Plastic liners must custom fit each truck. Not a problem for most trucks... But for some trucks there is no plastic liner available anyway...
Another tough option comes as a simple mat. This one's easy to overlook since it's so basic and cheap too. What you're looking at is a rubber pad that's built much like a car tire. That makes for toughness just about equal to plastic liners and able to absorb shock and bypass scratches. What's more it's easy to put in and take out. It's simple to clean and easy to store.
The mats are a basic protection for the floor of the bed but don't protect the sides or front and back.
Maybe the ultimate way to protect truck beds is a rubber mat over a professional spray on bed liner. Keep the paint protected and the high price liner mostly protected too. Another possible ultimate solution is plastic liners on the sides, front and tailgate. Then a rubber mat on the floor. That's available as the DualLiner for not much money.

By: Al Freed

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See other tips if you're considering a roll on bed liner at www.squidoo.com/rollonbedliner. To see how to compare different pickup bed covers at www.pickupbedcovers.org/pickup-truck-bed-covers.html go to another of our articles.