Bedliners, specifically Line-X...

[Gord]

Hi all,

I bought a truck about a year ago with a cheesy drop-in bedliner. It wasn't a big issue at the time, living in Southern CA (boooo) but I've recently relocated (yaaay) to a much soggier state - seven or eight good downpours in the month I've been here - and I hear people talking about this strange "snow" stuff that apparently comes from the sky in winter...

Anyway, it's time to replace my cheap drop-in with a spray-on bedliner so I don't rust out the bed. My dilemma is this: just about every forum war on the 'net has ended with a decisive victory for Line-X, but I hear that it's very rough, like sandpaper almost, and uncomfortable to crawl around on. One of the things I use my truck bed for is a shooting platform, so I'm often lying prone and scuttling around on my hands and knees looking for ammo and such. I'm not sure my hands or knees would appreciate having the skin scraped off them, nor does wearing holes in a new pair of pants every three days particularly appeal to me.

So, I'd like to ask some insight from APS Who here has a Line-X liner? Is it really that uncomfortable and abrasive? I've heard enough horror stories about Rhino Linings insofar as their durability/fading/warranty issues to prefer to avoid them, but I'm open to suggestions for other liners. Now do me proud - I know there's gotta be at least a few others here who shoot from their trucks

TIA.

[Perd Hapley]

Our trucks at work have Line X.  It's as rough as advertised.  Get some knee and elbow pads.  Can't be much worse than the gravel at the Fort Benning Range.   

[Gewehr98]

I looked at Line-X and Rhino Liner back in 2001 when I bought my new pickup.

Rhino Liner's asphalt/shredded tire composition used much larger chunks to coat the bed.  Line-X was at least less peanut-brittle looking, while still putting down a thick enough layer to prevent damage and keep stuff from sliding around back there. 

I understand Line-X does colors now, but I went for the basic black.  It's 6 years later, and my coverage is still pretty much intact, albeit for a few garfs (my fault) and the black has gone to a charcoal graphite color in the Florida and Wisconsin sunlight.  Someday, I may have Line-X shoot a thin topcoat over the older layer, just to touch it up and also to get the top of the bed rails, which I neglected to have done the first time. 

All in all, I'm pretty happy with Line-X. Sandpaper?  No, but it is bumpy.  Here's a view of my tailgate a couple Thanksgivings ago, as my turkey cooled down from the deep fryer:

[Gord]

"Peanut brittle" pretty much describes Rhino to a T - I like the look of Line-X a lot better. I have heard, though, that it's fairly slick, so it's good to hear that you don't have things sliding all around in your bed. That's one of the things that's been annoying me since I bought the truck - stuff just slides all over the smooth plastic drop-in. Lesson: cargo straps and bungee cords are like guns, a man can never have "too many."

Any input on crawling around on the stuff, though?

[Thor]

I have the spray on bedliner in one truck (my 05 King Ranch)  and it's ok. It's hard to slide anything on it. With my bad back, this often causes problems. Mine isn't as rough as what others are describing, but it's not smooth, either. I like it OK.

I have another truck that I bought in 98. (a 97 F150 Lariat) It's had a plastic bedliner in it since I bought it. I live in Minnesota. There is no rust under the bedliner yet and it's been out in the weather since I bought it. To be quite honest, I wouldn't worry about the rust. Just pull the plastic liner every summer and inspect under it. Make sure your drain holes stay clear.

Honestly, I wouldn't get a spray in bedliner ever again.

[onions!]

Put a large piece of cardboard down as a shooting mat in the bed.It'll smooth out the bumps & insulate you from the heat radiating off of a black liner.


BTW,welcome to APS.

[Jamisjockey]

I've got a F150, she's fairly new (Feb of this year).  LineX rocks.  I love it.  Looks better than a drop in, stuff stays put in the bed more easily.  Good stuff.

[BrokenPaw]

I had Line-X put in my Dakota when I bought it back in '97.  It's wonderful stuff.  It's not grippy, like Rhino, so stuff will slide around if you don't secure it, but after 10 years, it has no visible wear.