Picked up a used plastic bedliner from a nearby u-pull-it. They were really hard to find in any classifieds due to my quad cab's 5ft bed.

Before installing, I washed everything down and let it dry real good. For the underside of the liner, I cut strips from a thin sheet of rubber, then super-glued them to the main contact points, such as the flat rectangular area in the wheel wells. I also put down a few sheets of anti-skid stuff you buy in rolls, on the bed floor. Prior to that, I also painted the bed with motor oil. It's my hope that all these steps will prevent rust and the rubber will prevent the bed from shifting and wearing out the paint.

Anyone ever tried doing any of this stuff? Results?

 

should have just sprayed it and not have to worry.

 

Well, I thought about it, but the spray doesn't prevent dents. I wanted that hard plastic shell and it only cost me $35, vs however much I'd have paid to spray.

 

I just shot mine with undercoating before installing the bedliner.

 

Not a bad idea.

 

What do you throw in your bed that causes dents? After all it is a truck. After seeing what the plastic liner did to my dakota ill never use one again! I have rhinoliner in my truck and I love it! Its worth the money! I've tossed in 60-80lb logs in my bed and it never did anything. Only being careless will cause dents if you take the extra 5 min to load your bed you can prevent them.

 

There were dents already there from when I bought it and probably a few more added when a family member borrowed my truck. I think by adding the rubber to the friction points, I have mitigated the wear factor. Hopefully the oil will keep out rust. Not much salt or rust here in Atl to begin with, but I'm thinking about trapped moisture.

 

My truck has over 250,000 miles on it. No rust from the inside of the bed. However, my wheel wells have rusted through from the outside, underneath the truck. My truck has zero undercoating. Once the water came through, the bedliner held the water in and rusted more. Something to watch for.

 

I've had my '97 sport a couple of years now, and it came with a Mopar bed liner installed. I pulled it one day to see what condition the bed was in and was shocked that it had plenty of scars and no rust to speak of. After removing a half bushel of mulch that had accumulated over the years I just put the bed liner back in place.

If it ever wears out I'll go with Rhino most likely, but other than a few holes hear and there, the liner is in pretty good shape. Keep the drains opened up and it will drain.

 

Whether I repair or replace my bed, I will get it undercoated, Herculine the the bed and leave my bedliner in place. All my rust came from underneath. The bedliner does a good job of protecting the bed, as long as it's not trapping moisture.