When it’s time to hit the road with your new truck on an active mission, the last thing you want is to leave the truck’s bed unprotected from wear and tear. Bedliners come in handy at such times for two main reasons:
- They provide the much-needed skid-resistant surface that allows cargo to stay well in place as needed.
- A truck bedliner also shields the inner surface of your truck’s bed from damage that heavy or solid cargo such as metals can cause on impact.
The beautiful thing is, today’s market is supplied with a nice variety of bedliners that you can choose from and use to outfit your truck. In this write-up you’ll find useful information on the different types of bedliners currently available in the market and when it’s best to use each of them. Read along.
Drop-in Liners
As the name suggests, drop-in bedliners are essentially plastic sheets that you drop into your truck’s bed and fasten with bolts. As such, you can easily install and remove a drop-in liner from your truck bed any time – making them a particularly convenient option.
Depending on the type of drop-in liner that you buy, it may protect the entire truck bed or just the floor alone. If you order yours directly from the manufacturer however, you can be certain that the liner will be designed to protect the whole bed. Alternatively, you can have the liner wrap below the steel rim right at the top of the truck bed, or over it. This option is referred to as under the rail/ over the rail bedliner.
Of the two basic types of truck bedliners, spray-on liners and drop-in liners, the latter is the less expensive option, which is another reason why you may want to opt for drop-in liners rather than spray-on liners.
The fact that these liners are not a permanent option may be good for convenience purposes, but it is also the source of their major limitation. If the bedliners are not correctly installed, they could become loose with time. Loose liners can scratch the paint off your truck’s body.
Things like water, sand, dirt and debris also tend to find their way under the liner and can cause damage there. The holes you drill to install the drop-in liner may also result in corrosion as they make your truck vulnerable to weather conditions.
Spray-on Liners
These are coatings of polyurethane elastomer that adhere directly to your truck bed. Spay-in liners are therefore permanent. Apparently, they won’t become loose and start shifting around the truck bed. Neither will they break or fall out by any chance. This way, they offer double protection for the bed: first by offering skid resistance – just like do drop-in liners, and second by addressing the limitations of drop-in liners (blocking water, dirt and debris from corroding the truck).
There are different types of spray-in liners you can buy from Durabak truck bedliner and other similar companies. Most of them will have a gritty substance that creates a sand paper-like textured surface to prevent items from sliding around.
Final verdict
Both types of bedliners will protect your truck in every season. Based on your preferences and budget however, this information should help you know which way to go.
