Truck Bed Liner: Spray On or Drop In?

Whether you have a custom ride or a work-horse, the bed of your truck is destined to take a beating. You may or may not be hauling slabs of concrete, but without a truck bed liner even something as innocent as grocery bags can start to act like sandpaper against the bed. Which kind of bed liner should you use, a spray on or a drop in? While they both offer protection, there are significant differences.

Drop In Truck Bed Liner

Drop in bed liners offer a quick and convenient solution to your protection problems. Made of a rugged, durable plastic, they are custom-fit to your particular year, make and model. Pick it up, drop it in, cinch it down and you’re good to go.

They are not without their problems, though.

●    The first, and most obvious, problem is if you don’t happen be driving a common or current pick-up. A 2013 Silverado is going to have an easier time finding a drop in liner than, say a 1968 F-100. A custom liner for an older vehicle is going cost quite a bit more than a common “off the shelf” liner.

●    The second problem is that a drop in liner can trap water, whether it’s rain water finding a small opening or humidity from the environment. Unless you’re ready to take the liner out regularly for maintenance, you’ll find rust eating away at your bed.

●    Third, though they are custom fit to your truck, drop in liners can still move around a little. This can wear away your paint which will give rust even more places to form. Sometimes they move as the load you’re carrying shifts, other times it’s just from wind as you drive along.

●    Fourth and finally, they can vibrate and get really noisy at freeway speeds. While this in and of itself is more annoying than harmful, it does indicate that the liner is moving around (see previous paragraph).

Yes, they’re convenient and easy to install, but you have to ask yourself if you’re ready to do all of the maintenance required to make sure that the item you bought to protect your bed isn’t actually helping destroy it.

Spray On Truck Bed Liner

Spray on bed liners are not as convenient as drop ins, but what you lose in convenience, you make up for in durability and protection. Spray on liners require a bit of preparation, but the investment is well worth it. After cleaning your bed and applying the liner you have to wait for it to set before you can put anything in it, and if you sell your truck and replace it with another one just like it you don’t get to keep your liner, but here are some things that make it worthwhile:

●    A spray on liner is guaranteed to fit no matter how common or rare your truck is, or what features it might have in its bed. Did your classic ’68 Ford have a spare tire mount in the bed or under the rear-end? It doesn’t matter. The spray on liner goes where you want it to, not where the manufacturer does.

●    Spray on liners do not trap water underneath them. They make for excellent rust protection.

●    Since they are sprayed onto the bed and not resting in it, a spray on liner will not move around and rub paint off, thus denying rust a place to form.

●    Wind cannot get under a spray on liner and cause noisy vibration.

Spray on liners are a bit more work to apply than a drop in liner. You need to be sure you have the time to lay the truck up while the layer sets. Like paint, you need to keep the bed free of debris while it sets. Afterwards, however, there is no maintenance to worry about, and the liner will last the life of your truck.Scorpion Coatings offers the best and highest quality truck bed liners .

Whether it’s your custom cruiser or your working partner, contact us for your truck bed’s protection needs.