Taking off the topper and bed rail caps

[austintaco]

Hmmm, I've seen a truck in my neighborhood w/ my type of liner w/ a shell so I just figured I could leave it in. I don't really want to remove it or have it cut. I guess I will have to re-think it.

Pyrate,

I don't have real world experience, that's just what I read. I think the problem is that the clamps need to get under the lip and the liner will get in the way. However, as you mentioned, you could just cut holes in the liner where the clamps go.

 

[pyrate]

I will definitely check it out when the time comes. Thanks! :smiley_drive:

 

[austintaco]

Low cost solution

I think I found my low cost solution. After searching around, I found a thread at customtacos.com, and the guy was in a similar bind. He went with Trim Brite Safety Tread from Pep Boys. Its the same stuff you would put on steps that were slick or nerf bars/sliders to give yourself some grip.
I am going to primer and paint any chips and scuffs that I have already, and then put this stuff on the bed rails and the rail at the bulk head. I think I am going to buy a tailgate cap for the tail gate so I can lay boards out the back and not worry about denting the tail gate.
That's my plan for now, but I have to go shopping and buy all of the supplies first.

Thanks for all of the input. I will post up when I am finished.

 

[trump]

Isn't that non-skid you talk about abrasive? I would be nervous of it working on the bottom of that fiberglass shell like sand paper.

 

[austintaco]

Good point, but I will still have the topper sealer between the topper and the bed rails. I will definitely take another look at it now though. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[austintaco]

Update

This is definitely one of those little projects that end up taking 3 times longer than anticipated.
After I removed the Bed Rug to see what kind of scratches I had left over from the old plastic liner, I was amazed to find several areas that needed to be touched up. The worst areas were from the topper door, but there were several smaller ones in the bed.

I sanded down the areas, sprayed some primer, and then went over it with Rustoleum Professional Enamel in Red. Its a very close match for the truck and for the truck bed, it was fine.

For the bed rails, I taped them off and sprayed them with the actual 3L5 Radiant Red. I used a system that allows you to mix the paint with the hardener and then attach the mix to a pre loaded aerosol sprayer. It worked really well.

Finally, I used the Trimbrite tape to line the edges. I think it looks great. It's not abrasive at all, but it does have texture to it. The corners by the tailgate were the hardest, but my fiance helped me out with those.

I will post up some pics of it tomorrow, but it was definitely a low cost solution to adding protection from paint chips to the bed rails.