I presently have a drop in plastic liner in my Ford Ranger. I would like to install a paint in type so I won’t have to worry about rust and so I can effectively install tie downs in the bed.
There are several names, Rhino, Herculiner, etc. As money is an issue, when is it not an issue when it’s my money, I would like to do the job myself. Herculiner is the leader, not necessarily the best, of this type and I think, after doing a bit of asking and research, I could do a good job with this material.
Does anyone have any opinion/s on this type of material, design, paint on liners, or Hurculiner in particular. Have any of you, or people you know, done this sort of thing? How did it go? Did it last? Any pointers or techniques I should know?
Replies
Can you do Rhino liner yourself?
I recently called for a price on a full 8' bed in a F150 out here its 325 (kansas)
From what little research I have done on the subject and I have done a little Rhino seems to be the favorite, but I didnt know you could buy the material and do it yourself?
From what I hear Rhino is great stuff but it is not designed for DIY application. I called a shop that does it and they wanted more than $200 for the a minimal job and only sell installations not the materials so I could do it myself.
Rhino will "slice" that is you can cut it and pull it up. If you are going to be moving sharp objects over it expect to cut it up. Best described as spray on foam (loose discription) it is not a "paint"
I have one. A lot is dependent on the installer, they are franchaises as I remember (mine is 4 yrs old)bobl Volo Non Voleo Joe's BT Forum cheat sheet
"From what little research I have done on the subject and I have done a little Rhino seems to be the favorite,"
Probably more that it is the most common one. There are about 4 or 5 different brands/forumlations of the commercial products.
I have Line-X and really like it. Whenever I have seen this discussed a number of people that have looked both and some that have tried both like the Line-X better.
I have a rhino lining -
Plus- 1. it is durable 2. it is thick 3. it saves the top of your bed if you have a canopy.
Minus- 1. It stinks like cat pee when wet. 2. you can't slide tools on it so plan on putting plywood down after it is applied. 3. It smells like cat pee when wet. :-)Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
I have a Rhino liner in my truck also, 2 years old. I cut a chunk out of the middle 1" x 12" sliding a bobcat auger bit and drive in(I'm thinking about having it repaired someday) so they are really tough ....to a point.
I have never heard of the cat pee problem, mine doesn't and never has. Are you sure they didn't accidentally spray over a cat... the stuff is pretty thick.
LOL Kieth- I wondered where my black cat went. I thought the coyote got him. Maybe he is under that bedliner.Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"
D@*# DIY'ers
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Why bother to do anything? Seriously, you can always do it later if you want to, but why don't you just use the bed without the liner for now?
I believe mine is Herculiner. Two part epoxy like substance, I sprayed on with an undercoating gun on a compressor. I used two cans of the stuff - cost $120. I had a plastic liner in my previous truck and it trapped moisture, resulting in premature rusting of the box corners. I repaired them ok, with new steel, but it was an irritation. This works, but in the high scuff area, near the tailgate, it hasn't stood up that well, and looks kind of shabby. I may brush on another layer this summer. Enjoy the day, h.
I did herculiner on mine. It's not epoxy, it's a single-part material. As with any coating, the key to it is surface preparation. Get rid of all the rust you can, and use a good passivator on the rest. Clean up not with acetone (which they say you can use), but rather with the other chemical they recommend (can't remember the name now).
The big surprise is that you do have to work fairly quickly, because the material itself starts to dissolve the roller they provide after about 45 minutes to an hour. I've got little bits of roller in the liner near the tail gate, but not so very different from the texture of the rest of the bed. If this were a show truck, it would matter. For a work truck, no problem.
The finished material is softer and higher in friction like rhino. Linex is slicker and tougher. It's ok for general use, but you do have to use common sense and give it some help at times. For instance, when I had a yard and a half of gravel dumped in there over the lumber rack by a skip loader, I put a crummy old sheet of plywood down first.
Since you already have a drop-in, you could go belt and suspenders, use both.
-- J.S.
John,
Is it fairly easy to get an even coating with herculiner? If you were to do it again, would you suggest ordering an extra roller for the application?
has any one ever done the inside of a workvan? mine is a chevy 1 ton and was considering doing the floor and may 2 ft up the sides
If you do, get a war surplus gas mask, and work outside with a good strong fan blowing and all the van doors open. This stuff uses some very strong chemistry.
-- J.S.
Yes, it goes on very even, no sags, no pooling. It's fairly thick. The instructions are to do two coats, which is what I did. As for rollers, I'd probably just be less careful and work a little quicker to get done with the two that come in the kit. I was almost done when the first one started coming apart, and I did the second coat quicker and finished in time. For a 1985 F-350, the results are plenty good enough even with roller scraps in it, and I've had zero rust in a year and a half. There are a couple little pieces gouged off, about the size of a quarter, but the underlying paint was good in those areas
If you wanted to do an ultra-careful job for a show truck, it would be interesting to do tests with various roller types other than the coarse foam ones that come with the kit, both for texture of the resulting surface and for disintigration of the roller.
-- J.S.
I have a Line X in my Dakota. It's withstood some pretty heavy abuse, though not on a day-to-day basis. I don't know if it's as thick as Rhino but seems to be very tough. Downside is that it was VERY expensive, I was looking at 250-300 for a plastic liner around here, and went for the Line X, but it cost me 475 to go over the rail. But, seeing has how I'd just buried myself behind a huge payment for a new truck, what's another 500 on top? After a year, I don't regret the decision.
IMO, if it's gonna cost you 100+ to DIY, I'd save the $$ and try to get a spray-in. I think it's worth it.
Got your E-mail. Thanks. I'm leaning toward the Herculiner and a short roll of PVC shower pan liner for getting rid of the bodies, who knew dead people could tear up stuff, and gravel runs.
There are some good discussions about this on the ford-trucks site. See the links below:
http://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/august2001/bedliner.php
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48406&highlight=liner
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48924&highlight=liner
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49841&highlight=liner
Your on to something with the shower pan liner, but consider using it on the truck bed, and possibly ice & water shield will work too. 1. cut strips the width of the raised bed ridges and apply. 2. Go to Ford parts and buy a drop in liner for $150.00 (I prefer the under the rail design, you can buy "bed caps" for the rails that look alot cleaner than the over the rail design if you need protection there, they are about $80.00/pair). The mastic between the bed and bed liner will help absorb impacts, and keep the liner from sanding the paint off. Once in awhile pull the liner out and wash down the bed.
Edited 2/7/2003 10:07:56 AM ET by FINEHOMER
Look at Dupli-Color. They have a DIY roll/spray on bed liner material that I used for my truck bed. I use it so the plastic liner doesn't wear through the paint and form rust.
Easy to roll on, thinner than Line-X or Rhino, but serves the job well.
It was $40 /gallon a couple of years back.
Stan
It it were me; I'd save my money and stick with the drop in liner. A hole saw will get you access to the tie downs. The liner in my Ranger already has the holes. The sprayed on liners are nice but overated imho.
Just bought 2003 f-250 super-duty. Wanted best liner, shop does both(drop-ins & spray -ons). Owner told me 1/2 the people who pass on the drop in come back within a year & have one installed over the rhino. he said guys don't appreciate what a luxury being able to slide stock into the bed is until it doesn't slide.
I wasn't kidding when I asked why anyone would use a bedliner, or spray a bed.
I'm really surprised no one picked up on that. That would be the day I did either on a work truck.
For those of you that didn't spend enough to buy a truck, and want to spray the bed with some junk, don't spray the rails.
That just looks like hell.
don't spray the rails.
That just looks like hell.
Qtrmeg- I think I'll differ with you on that one...............
If by rails you mean the top edge of the box, the main purpose of spraying a bedliner is to protect not only the box but what sits on top of the box.
If you have a lumber rack, the rack goes on top of the box. That is a metal to metal surface even with a cheezy camper gasket, because the weight and movement of the rack eventually works the gasket loose.
Rhino, uses a special tape with wire in it so when they are done spraying they pull the wire and it makes a nice straight edge cut in the bedliner. Bob
"Rather be a hammer than a nail"