Bed Liners?
 

ive been looking around to fill up my truck bed with protection and im a little stuck on the choice between a "carpeted" plastic liner that is supposedly everything liquid proof and padded for camping, and the "linex, rhinolining, etc" style polyeurothane coating.
i havent really heard much about either other than which poly coating is stronger compared to other brands.
-things im considering are price, the carpet is roughly $300 and i havent gotten price quotes on the other, but it will be on a shortbed 02 ram
-overall durability, although nothing too crazy will be going into the bed (truck box, carts pieces of unsharpened metal.)
and i guess looks but this is hardly important.
im mostly looking for pros and cons if anyones got them. i cant find any comparing the two so im looking for fairly unbiased consumer thoughts.

at the moment im about 51/49 towards the carpet
also brands and experience with current would be nice too
my dad has used line-x and has ripped it hauling industrial metals over an extended period of time(although i wont be driving around such stuff), but is also saying to go with that instead of carpet.

anything other than a spray in liner runs the very real risk of trapping water under it and rusting out the bed of your truck.


spray in all the way.

Rhino liner is definitely the way to go. It'll protect your bed without trapping moisture, as has been said.

Another vote here for Rhino Liner. It's extremely tough stuff. If you happen to damage it by rally driving with chainsaws in the bed, just roll on a thin topcoat and it looks like new. Good stuff.

Clean & dry the bed thouroughly first, and wear a paint-grade respirator while applying.

Better yet...have it done. Spray-in is THE only way to go.

another vote for rhino... if you want something softer for camping or whatever, just go to a carpet warehouse and see if you can't get a scrap big enough for your truck bed, it's way to small for them to do any sort of room with, so it'll be cheap. throw it in when you need it, roll it up and put it in the garage when you don't.

I had the Line-x brand spray on and recommend it all the way.

Yet another thing to know is that dirt and grit that gets under a drop-in liner will rub and scratch through your paint job as the liner vibrates during normal travel, thus exposing bare metal to moisture.

Edit to add:

If they ask, opt to have it sprayed up over the sides to protect the top edge of the bed. I didn't and regretted it as I scratched up the top edge over the years.

I've had Line-X on my Dodge Ram for about 5 years now and recommend it. I got a bottle of black touch up in case it faded from sun etc.. but have never had to use it. Also, like Lebell said, have it done over the top edge.

Spray in is very good stuff, the only thing that plastic benefits is that if you dropped something very heavy in it or onto the wheel well it protects it against denting much more than the spray in stuff... thats the only benifet from the plastic stuff, other than that if its just scratching your worried about and not throwing heavy ass shit in there, then spray is definatly the way to go, I'd go with Line-X they seem to do the best job thickness wise. and a lifetime warranty which means free touch ups! Just be careful because i have seen some HORROR jobs and once its done theres nothing you can do about it, this is not something to cheap out on. Do it yourself kits are taking a big risk, you either do it right or you dont, and if you dont, your screwed. GL!

I work for a truck shop that does spray-in bedliners, and I'll have to say it's the best option for your money. We had a guy buy a plastic over-rail bedliner from another store in town, which ended up flying out on the freeway and hit the car behind him...and those plastic drop-in liners look very nasty after a while and they're not a whole lot less expensive than a spray in. We sell both, go with the spray...but that's my biased opinion :)

I'd have to say go with the spray-in liner it's tons better as everyone has already mentioned...so the tally is now

10 Spray-In Liner
0 Slide-In Liner

The mass has spoken

Seeing as you live in the PacNW, spray-in is the only way to go. I used a carpet liner in my old truck, and even with a canopy I had a lot of moisture problems come winter (mind you, it was an 89 Dodge Dakota, so I didn't really care). The spray-in will last you longer, and like Tech said, you can always put a carpet scrap over the top of it to make it more comfortable for camping.

has anyone considered putting in a rhino liner, than putting hte plastic liner over THAT!?

I think that might be a great idea...