Have any of you used any of the DIY bedliner. If so, how hard is it to apply and how does it stand up. Any suggestions as to what brand to go with
I smeared it under the fenders of the 36 to help slow down the staring from rocks. Messy but no problem.
Don't buy the single component stuff, it's not any better than rubberized undercoat. Get the stuff that comes with a hardener in the package. A cheap "undercoat gun" is nice for applying it. I've used SEM, and Southern Polyurethanes and worked well. Duplicolor is single component, and sucks.
I used some of that stuff this summer....the one part stuff. I got it from Murrays and its called Rhino Liner. Just had to shake it up REAL good and mix it up with the paint stick and it went on perfect and held up great. Easy stuff. It comes with a roller. Just don't huff the stuff, its nasty! also...it takes FOREVER to get it off your skin! Other than that...its great stuff in my opinion.
The Duplicolor brand shit sold at Advance, WalMart etc is total junk. Get a good name brand of stuff, I like the Herculiner brand, which can be ordered off the interwebs or purchased at Northern, Autozone and a few other places. If you FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS it is pretty much bulletproof. I used it to do the entire floorboards and rear cargo area of my O/T trail rig, and it has held up very very well. If you're actually talking about doing a truck bed though, I think I'd have one professionally applied.
I used a two part compound named Hurciliner to coat the inside of the front and rear fenders on the '53 F100 I built. The stuff went on pretty easily and held up great. Everyone I talked to before doing this advised me to stay away from the one part products like Duplicolors bed liner.
I used the Hurculiner stuff from autozone to do the floor of my roadster. stirred it up good with a drill and dabbed it on with a brush. I tried using a roller but i got a crappy one and it just pushed the texture around instead of being evenly distributed. If you get the kit, it probably has a proper roller and would make application easier. Works good so far, took a while to cure. Ive had rhino liner applied in 2 of my daily trucks, love the stuff, but was applied at Ziebart.
I had Herculiner in the bed of my old truck and didn't really have any problems. It's not as thick as the professional liners, but that might not matter in your case. It does tend to get chalky when in the sun for several years (again, might not matter in your case). The only problem is once you use the stuff, you can't go over it with anything else.
The surface has to be very clean if you want it to stick forever. I used a stuf called Hippo liner (I'm not kidding). It's not totally UV resistant. Faded a little.
I've just put a steel bottom in my trailer and I want to put "skid resistant" strips on it and was thinking about using the bedliner stuff, but wondered if you can leave it rough. Any experience?
I use Gator Guard.Get it from our local Carquest.Have tried other brands but this works the best for me.We mostly use it on wheel wells and underbody. Mike
I had excellent results with SEM tintable liner applied with a brush and/or roller. Get it from Eastwood or you local body shop.
At the chevy store i work at we started spraying in Raptor Liner it works good, theres a store on ebay tht sells a kit with the gun i think around $120.-$140 and they have it thats tintable with basecoat.
i used the Hurculiner in a daily driver s-10 i used to have. the bed was well used and that stuff held up great. actually now that i think about it i never scratched any of it off! and i hauled everything from furniture to complete engines in the bed of that truck! the key is in the prep work....the instructions say sand the paint in the bed real good then clean the entire thing with acetone.
I used Durabak in my 49 bed. The prep is the most important part. Thinned it 10% and spayed it with a undercoat gun per their directions. Came out perfect. Everyone that see's it is very impressed with how good it looks. Ordered it on the web.
i used it too on the bottom of the '36 pan, going to use it on the bottom of the running boards, fenders and on the floor inside too. it feels strong, looks strong but i haven't had it on the road yet.
durabak looks like cool stuff , i want to try coating the bottom of my cj5 when i get the body work done
Just make sure it is polyurethane...1 part or 2 part. Most of it comes from the same manufacturers...just different marketing companies sell it. The polyurethanes will all "chalk" a little from UV. Even Rhino and LineX. Personally I just used Herculiner on a toolbox. Worked great. If you get it on too thick...it will slide down the sides. Do 2 coats like the instructions say.
We used the gravel guard that they put on late model car fenders to spray into the truck bed . We got it @ a local PPG supplier. I didn't want that rough looking shit in the bed of the '49. It also tintable and is the same color as the rest of the truck (single stage, fattened).
I used a JC Whitney Herculiner kit and had a good experience... easy to roll on (and dab), looked good for the two years I watched it. Started to "grey up" a little after a year or so, but it was out in the severe Kansas seasons 24/7/365 so I didn't blame it.
Here's another one to look at http://www.rattleguard.com/ . I also have 50 F1 that I sprayed the bed. running boards and under the fenders with the under coat gun that was supplied. To make it special I used a gray metal flake tint purchased from my local paint store. Boy did it turn out nice.