Drop in bedliner verses spray in

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FullAuto

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I really like my line-x in my current ride. I had a drop in on my old truck and experienced some cracking and "movement".
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Venomns

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Line-X all the way. I was told you can always use high temp paint later on if it fades bad!! They wanted another $250 for premium. Ridiculous
 

Kojack19

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I had a bed rug that held up beautifully. Never any mostiure problems and never ever came loose. Now I have a bed cover so the bed rug is out of the elements. If you don't have a bed cover I would certainly go with line X. However if you have a bed cover I would always go with bed tred or bed rug over line x.


Glad to hear it. About to install bed rug and roll x on my 10 day old raptor tomorrow.
 

gwpfan

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Drop In
+ protects bed better than spray in if something heavy is dropped in the back of your truck as it can flex more and absorb the hit, whereas a spray in will more likely cause a dent.
+ typically costs quite a bit less, the last drop in was less than half the cost of a spray in.
+ because of the ribs sit higher on most drop ins it helps keep you stuff from sitting in water as long if your nose isn't pointing downhill.
+ easier to rinse/clean out because of the ribs.
+ easier on the knees in crawling in the back of a pick up with a canopy.
+ things slide easier. My drop ins I could generally just push most things in. The old ones were really slick, too slick. The new ones are a nice mix and just about right.
- holds water if the nose is pointing downhill. Depending on what's in the back of your truck that can be bad in a downpour, granted one can drill a hole, but most don't. I had some tool boxes that ended up being immersed in water and therefore I ended up drilling holes in every one thereafter. Had a canopy on, but it leaked at a side window and tailgate...
- moves around and will rub thru the paint and create bare spots, you can prevent most if every so often you park with the nose uphill and then lift it and spray water under it until it comes out clean. Did that on my last truck and only had a couple of light rub spots around the wheel wells.
- some accessory mounting stuff really doesn't like the added thickness of the drop in and won't mount.

Spray In
+ minimal long term maintenance
+ looks clean and no rub spots to worry about.
+ spray ins I've had don't allow the water to pool up in the bed if parked with front end pointed downhill.
- cost
- things stick to the bed, so you don't just push/slide things in near as easy. Nice to have things hold, but these are almost too sticky.
- very hard on the knees if crawling in the back.

Bed Rug - haven't had one but a number of people I've talked to like them, but I would suspect they'd still cause rub spots, but not as bad as the drop in. They tend to be almost as much as a spray in, but easy on the knees and guys claim there easy to clean out.
 

ZBoater

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My stock spray liner has held up to abuse, but it has faded a little after being outside almost a year and a half.

Mine too. I used this to make it look new again.
 

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blockdoc

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Bed Rug - haven't had one but a number of people I've talked to like them, but I would suspect they'd still cause rub spots, but not as bad as the drop in. They tend to be almost as much as a spray in, but easy on the knees and guys claim there easy to clean out.

BedTred was $350

I don't see how the soft fabric backing will make a rub spot.
 

gwpfan

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Like anything else over time that has movement between two surfaces, say I set a crate of chains in the corner and drive around for years with that in the exact same spot. Eventually somethings going to give. I would 'think' the bed rug would give before the paint, but hey the surfaces aren't sealed to each other so if sand were to get between the two surfaces then there definitely would be an issue. With that said I would think it to be prudent to wash out under the bed rug/bed mat as suggested with the drop in bedliner...
 

HAP

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I had a F-250 w a drop in liner. I hated that thing! Just walking on it and then touching anything else to get out resulted in very anoying static shock.
Sliding something on it was even worse...
 
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