Do it yourself bed liners
- Thread starter Markgyver
- Start date
dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
I wanted to point out Herculiner and Durabak are 100% the same product - fyi for everyone. I will never use it again. I prepped like crazy but it is too thin, the UV characteristics are piss poor, it applies thinly and can tear easily. And finally the fumes are awful -- definitely wear a respirator in a well vented area. Otherwise you will literally lose thousands of brain cells - it is very strong.
I personally would only consider professional quality for spray in again, line-x etc.
Here is a pic of the Durabak/Herculiner installed. Again it looks good but I would never do it again:
I personally would only consider professional quality for spray in again, line-x etc.
Here is a pic of the Durabak/Herculiner installed. Again it looks good but I would never do it again:
Cole
Expedition Leader
X100.
I spent days doing a Jeep tub in Herc and it was junk compared to the Rhino I had done on my TJ tub. I have seen dozens of DIY jobs and they all looked worse than a pro liner. Had the Rhino on for 7 years (before selling) and it looked like new the day I sold it. Anyone with faded stuff has either the really old forumla or had never cleaned it or Rhino Shined it.
I would pay for the pro job again. Well worth the price difference.
dieselcruiserhead
16 Years on ExPo. Whoa!!
Here are the photos. Again it looks great but it way thinner than it looks, awful UV, and rips & tears easily. This is also sprayed, like a professional using a 'rock shutz' gun.
I would do this again but only with a professional bed liner like Rhino or Line-X or similar. The mix-it-yourself stuff looks promising though. And shoot it thickly. It would cost me $400 in Herculiner material (and way too much time) to spray it at an adequate level of a professional bed liner...
And again, wear a respirator & lots of clean fresh air (crucial).
I would do this again but only with a professional bed liner like Rhino or Line-X or similar. The mix-it-yourself stuff looks promising though. And shoot it thickly. It would cost me $400 in Herculiner material (and way too much time) to spray it at an adequate level of a professional bed liner...
And again, wear a respirator & lots of clean fresh air (crucial).
Attachments
The great thing (and probably the only thing) about a slow economy is that places like LineX and Rhino are starving for work. 80% of their business comes from car dealers that are having truck beds sprayed.
Right now, ... no one is selling any cars or trucks, so they need work.
It is a good time to negotiate a heck of a deal on having the work done by someone else with a much superior result and look.
Just my two pennies.
Dendy
Right now, ... no one is selling any cars or trucks, so they need work.
It is a good time to negotiate a heck of a deal on having the work done by someone else with a much superior result and look.
Just my two pennies.
Dendy
Aggie
Adventurer
You have never had a drop in liner before have you? If you want to retain the factory paint in the bed, a drop in liner is that absolute last thing you want to do. It will scratch the heck out of the factory paint. I would take your truck to a place that can do professional color matching bed liner and do that if you want to maintain a good look.
absolute
Adventurer
X2 with Aggie on drop-in
I had the Line-X done right after I bought it in 05. I have hauled almost everything you can think of... parts, engines, living and dead animals, garbage and etc. First it always looks like the day I bought it after a quick cleaning; second it looks like it came from the factory.
On my last pickup, with a drop in liner, it looked like garbage within 6 months. It shifted and made sratches on the side panels. It was so bad the next owner threw it away and did Line-X.
Do it right the first time and spend the extra $$.
OBTW...I've spent almost everynight in my garage removing "DIY" bedliner from the inside of my CJ. It was done by a PO and I hate the way it looks, feels and the piss poor application. It will be Line-X'ed in the next couple of weeks.
Nick
I had the Line-X done right after I bought it in 05. I have hauled almost everything you can think of... parts, engines, living and dead animals, garbage and etc. First it always looks like the day I bought it after a quick cleaning; second it looks like it came from the factory.
On my last pickup, with a drop in liner, it looked like garbage within 6 months. It shifted and made sratches on the side panels. It was so bad the next owner threw it away and did Line-X.
Do it right the first time and spend the extra $$.
OBTW...I've spent almost everynight in my garage removing "DIY" bedliner from the inside of my CJ. It was done by a PO and I hate the way it looks, feels and the piss poor application. It will be Line-X'ed in the next couple of weeks.
Nick
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compactcamping
Explorer
As a long time Durabak users I'll add my experience. I've had very good results using it on metal, bare plywood and epoxy sealed plywood. The main problems I've seen when helping others troubleshoot poor results are; improper prep, not using the recommended xylene and bubbles from applying too thick of a coat. The other issue I've seen is small cracks in the finish when applying in over bare Fir plywood. This type of polyurethane finish needs moisure to cure, normally drawing it out of the air. In the above case as the mositure was drawn from the plywood it checked some.
That said,if I had a pickup bed that I planned on "using hard", scrapping and dragging stuff across it daily, I'd have it commerically spray become it's much easier to achieve a long lasting 1/4" thickness of material.
That said,if I had a pickup bed that I planned on "using hard", scrapping and dragging stuff across it daily, I'd have it commerically spray become it's much easier to achieve a long lasting 1/4" thickness of material.
Herc and durabak are similar but are NOT the same,, I have used both.. I do recommend a pro spray in over either of these,, but the durabak is way better over the herc(but thats still not saying much!).. Also its a much better job going with an undercoat gun.. I do not recommend a roller application with any of these..
DH2002
Adventurer
I just did my rocker panels with herculine 2 days ago and I think the biggest thing to do is PREP PREP PREP!! From what I gathered from my research was alot of the people who think it is horrible didn't take the time to prep it. I spent a whole day sanding and cleaning before I even opened the can. I'll try to put up pics when I get home tommorow.
xx.xii
Observer
i have used herculiner on numerous occasions, i wouldnt use anything else since it remnains the diy type liner. linex is great seen it on many show trucks, and i understand its highly durable and thick. but herculiner will do the job,i used it for my bumpers fender flares, and quarter body of my rig and it holds up great, even when i got in an accident before the suspension lift the scrape of the other car left my herculiner intact. so all i had to do was open up a can and roll it on,but i planned on adding two more cans anyways. if u r on a budget go with herculiner kit and just do one can at a time. it is thin if u only use one can, i have three applied to the areas mentioned above so im good to go.
as long as u prep "ok'' itll be fine, i use the scuff pad included in kit,air comp to blow out debri and then apply acetone. then have at it. i found the trick is to apply a thin coat,just roll in your paint tray and roll on area. then wait about thirty min and apply heavy coats and spread evenly. the best prep is going to be from using a drill and paint stir to stir the herculiner for about 5 min.
just wanted to add my.02 to help out the herculiner people lol...it also works great on tool boxes, was so impressed with it i was going to dip some ar mags in it half way to give it a good non slip grip.also, its shiny at first kin of a glossy look, which i cant stand,so after a while it fades but i would recommend the uv coat if u wanna make your herculiner last longer
as long as u prep "ok'' itll be fine, i use the scuff pad included in kit,air comp to blow out debri and then apply acetone. then have at it. i found the trick is to apply a thin coat,just roll in your paint tray and roll on area. then wait about thirty min and apply heavy coats and spread evenly. the best prep is going to be from using a drill and paint stir to stir the herculiner for about 5 min.
just wanted to add my.02 to help out the herculiner people lol...it also works great on tool boxes, was so impressed with it i was going to dip some ar mags in it half way to give it a good non slip grip.also, its shiny at first kin of a glossy look, which i cant stand,so after a while it fades but i would recommend the uv coat if u wanna make your herculiner last longer
ntsqd
Heretic Car Camper
I'm finding it interesting that there are folks posting in this topic, who appear to have only ever posted to this topic alone, and they are all in favor of a drop-in bed liner. And only one particular brand of drop-in exclusively. Oddly, all of those folks use a common name followed by a number for their user name.
Call me a cynic if you want, but I smell something.
I wish POR-15 offered a bed-liner product.
Call me a cynic if you want, but I smell something.
I wish POR-15 offered a bed-liner product.
Maximus Ram
Expedition Leader
Drop in liners a garbage and very bad for the bed of your tuck . They will hold dirt, water and other crud between it and the bed of your truck and ruin it.
My truck had one it it when I bought it and when I pulled the drop in liner, there was some sort of vegetation growning under there. I have seen truck driving down the road with what looked like a lawn growing along the edges of the liner.
I still haven't decided on the spray in liner yet, but Line-X is high on my list just from the personall reviews I have heard from people who have it and from folks who have had the others out there.
If the dealer put a drop in liner in your rig, get rid of it. But if you like it and it works fro you, keep it :smiley_drive::coffeedrink:
My 2 cents worth this lovely morning.
My truck had one it it when I bought it and when I pulled the drop in liner, there was some sort of vegetation growning under there. I have seen truck driving down the road with what looked like a lawn growing along the edges of the liner.
I still haven't decided on the spray in liner yet, but Line-X is high on my list just from the personall reviews I have heard from people who have it and from folks who have had the others out there.
If the dealer put a drop in liner in your rig, get rid of it. But if you like it and it works fro you, keep it :smiley_drive::coffeedrink:
My 2 cents worth this lovely morning.
stevec
Adventurer
Hmmm... ya think?
They've even got that same extra period at the end. I smell a tasty, canned ham-like product... Other boards have had trouble with this company as well:
http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/6-0l-exterior-discussion/93898-spray-bedliner-3.html
http://forums.off-road.com/prerunner-cars-trucks/231767-one-spray-best-bed-liner.html