Bed Liners

[Manchild1957]

I would like to know if anyone can tell me if I should get a spray-on bed liner installed by a professional or use a do-it-yourself paint/roll on kit.
The difference in price is considerable. Professionally costs $450.00 and do-it-yourself costs are $75.00 Is there a big difference? What are the pros and cons for both? Thanks in advance.

Manchild1957.............1977 Chev Blazer

[MacBedliner]

The long answer is long, so I'll give you the short.

From a chemical standpoint, you're dealing with two different things which attempt to give similar results. The roll-on can be near the quality of a professional application, but it's also very possible to mess it up, and removing the stuff is a week of grinding and sanding. Professional spray booths make an even, consistent coat very easy to do (you could probably spray it yourself your first time if they'd let you and get better results than using the roll-on). Is it worth four times the cost? Probably not, but that depends on what you want for your truck.

There are a couple things to think about when you're choosing between the two. Keep in mind, I'm in the industry, so I tend to lean towards pro installations, but I've seen roll-ons that look pretty good as well:

- All DIY chemicals are not created equally. All pro chemicals are. If you're choosing a DIY product, find some customers who used the exact same thing, in the same color, preferably 2-3 years ago. Ask them about scuffing, peeling, and color fading. Pro chemicals are all nearly identical, but they do differ in their pigments. Ask about UV inhibitors and color stablilizing additives. In either case, finding former customers and talking to them can be invaluable.

- The price of a bedliner is not justified by the price of the chemicals, materials, and labor. It is set based on the average increase of resale value of a truck. A shop can probably spray your truck for $200 if they're not doing anything else (the time and space would be wasted otherwise). Typically, your truck's value will increase by around $300-400, so they mark it up to the $400-450 range, something aftermarket customers are willing to pay for.

- Keep in mind doing it yourself will require that you buy wire tape (don't use a knife to cut the product-- you WILL scratch your truck), masking supplies, etc. You'll proably have a lot of this stuff sitting around, and much of it will come with your product. Anything else will add to the price. It will also take you a day to prep, clean, spray your truck, and then wait for the chemical to set up. If you go to a shop, it should take less than an hour. The pro chemicals will set in less than 30 seconds, but wait 24 hours in any case before loading heavy items in your truck.

- Finally, if you do damage your liner in the future, any reputable shop will repair it free or nearly free of charge, and they can fix it so you can't see any trace of damage. For roll-on, you're not nearly that lucky.


Whichever way you go, I wish you luck.

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

I see you got your answer but for future notice this section is not an Questions and Answers forum. Notice what reads below "What do you want to know?", "Staff writers check this area regurarly for future article topics."

Try this forum next time if you have simular questions;

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...lay.php?f=1213

or

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...play.php?f=119