I mentioned the fact that I was laying down a Herculiner brand bed liner in my truck this weekend here at Breaktime. Someone asked me to let them know how it came out.
I can’t, for the life of me, remember who asked or what thread it was in, so I thought I’d just post some pictures in a new thread.
Here’s the 411:
Cost me about $130 for the kit. Kit came with one gallon of the stuff, a brush, a roller, and two funky roller covers.
I also had to buy TSP to clean the bed and Xylene for clean up and thinning.
I read the installation instructions on the net before I even bought the stuff. I was a little intimidated by them. They seem to make it much more complicated than it actually was. I followed the prep and installation to the letter, and it went very smoothly and I’m very happy with the results. The actual Herculiner really wasn’t difficult to work with at all. The thing I like the most is that I can easily fix it myself should it wear down in spots, and it won’t cost me an arm and a leg. When it’s all said and done, the overall thickness is about 1/8″. Doesn’t sound like much, but I had my snowblower back there for about 50 miles or so it didn’t even mark it up. Only time will tell.
I’m so pleased with it, that I’m going to do the floor of the trailer with it next.
Anyway, here’s some pictures…
Replies
Brian,
That's one sweet ride. Is that new? Herculiner looks good too.
So what's the sticker in your back window say?
Have you come down from your xylene high yet?
Eric
Eric, the truck will be two years old in October and the sticker in the back window is the old school Patriots logo... not "flying Elvis", but the badass old one. That truck has always got a lot of compliments... just has nice lines I guess. I love it, but hate the payments. It'll be the last time I buy "new" for a work vehicle. And, yeah, the Zylene was fun.... but crashing sukks!
Later, bro
I put herculiner in my truck a couple years ago. Even with massive surface prep, adhesion over time isn't up to the Line-x and Rhino level. It has some scrapes and gouges through it, mostly from metal, some even from wood.
The funky foam roller covers dissolve in the material after about 30 - 45 minutes of use, so you can't dawdle putting it on.
At some point, I'll probably be replacing it with Line-x.
-- J.S.
That about what I expected as far as wear and tear goes. I had to get something one it, but giving up the truck for a day or two for a Rhino-liner is out of the question right now. Do you think the UV break down is part of the problem? I was going to order the UV protectant they sell...but am wondering if it's just "fluff".
> Do you think the UV break down is part of the problem?
It could very well be. Mine's outside 24/7, so it gets full UV exposure. It seems to be not as tough now as when it was new, which points to some kind of degradation over time.
Herculiner is also a high friction surface. Between Line-x and Rhino, one is like that, and the other is easy to slide things on. (Line-x, IIRC). That's what I'd prefer. Since I can tie things off pretty well, the ease in loading and unloading, and the tendency to slide instead of gouge tip the balance towards the low friction surface.
-- J.S.
A guy I used to work with did two truck beds with Herculiner. The first one stuck fairly well but, when carrying a transformer, peeled off a bit. He was still satisfied but he too would have preferred something that allowed stuff to slide a little easier.
Months later he did his second truck bed with the same material. A fairly profound vote of confidence. This time he Scrubbed the entire surface with green nylon scrubbers and wiped it down with a strong solvent. It might have been xylene as he complained it made his hands dry out something fierce. He admits that he should have used gloves.
This second job was much more strongly attached and stoutly refused to peel off, once cired for a week or so, even under pressure. He also found a way to limit the grabbiness of the coating. After waiting for a month for it to harden in the Florida sun he applied Armorall. This made the coating slicker and , he claimed, might help protect the coating from the sun a little.
I have a plastic liner for my truck and have thought of installing a paint on liner.
I think a coated type of liner is much better than the drop-in kind. The problem is that the drop in liner moves just tiny amounts all the time as you drive, and any crud between it and the painted sheet metal becomes a grinding compound that takes off the paint. Then you get rust where you can't see it.
-- J.S.
Agreed.
Being in Florida this is a concern much of the year as it rains just about daily. I'm sure the bed under the liner remains wet. Any flaw in the paint and rust gets a foothold. The start of a long difficult battle.
For reference, what would a Rhino coat job cost you?
Jon Blakemore
A couple of places here in MA have quoted me almost $600 for a Rhino on my Sierra (5x8 bed). I'm keeping the plastic liner for now but the rails are getting dinged up something awful.
I know this was directed ad DP but I'd bet he'd come in with roundabout the same figure.
Cheers.
paid about $500 in '98_____________________________
bobl Volo, non valeo
For reference, what would a Rhino coat job cost you?
Jon, these guys are right one with the price. A year or so ago I remember being quoted somewhere around $575 and my bed is only 4' X 8' because of the boxes.
for a small toyota, rhino want $400
You know the really dumb question guy............well what do you think of doing the exterior of the body complete front to rear? Got a couple of old trucks that are used rarely and look bad and the paint shop says $1400.00 for paint , before body work.
After posting and then reading the above the first thing that came to mind was ...."you might be a redneck if............" hehe
I was driving through downtown Baltimore a few months ago and saw what you are referring to. A late model Tacoma completely covered in Rhinocoat. An interesting idea.
Jon Blakemore
>> "you might be a redneck if" <<
I wonder if it comes in colors so I could get a camo job? ;-)Matt
That's an idea...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
Thanks nails thanks. Great idea. Now guess what Im gonna go and try and do tomorrow.
It might actualy not look to bad along the bottom of the doors or around the wheel wells.
If you come up with any other good ideas let me know (serious). My two trucks could use a paint job, but I just dont want to put out that type of money ( plus all the body prep). Waiting for the neighbors to start a collection fund for me.
-m2akita
Let us know how it turns out.
I saw a set up for spraying the stuff on "Two Guys Garage". They coated an 8" cinderblock and dropped it off a 4 story building.
It bounced!
Nice truck. Did the saw dust come with the kit? I have a Rhino liner in my new pickup and it cost me $395 at Ziebart. I can't tell you if that happened because I had it done with rust proofing or that is the regular price. DanT
Many new cars come with a coating on the lower door and rocker panels, which a body guy referred to as "chip-coat" or chip-guard". It's got the rough Rhino-Guard-like texture, but it's applied under the factory paint. When I had my '57 Chevy repainted, they sprayed this stuff on the interior and exterior floor panels because it's far tougher than any paint. Using it on the entire exterior though, well, I'd imagine it wouldn't look like much, and would probably be a real chore to keep clean. And while the outside would be well-protected, rust almost always starts from the inside. Remember when they started using undercoating in cars in the 50's and 60's? It often failed in spots, but would hold water against the metal floor pans, and after a while, you'd find everything looking good, until you pressed on it.
IIRC Rhino is franchised
each guy does it slightly different, maybe price too
for example, the guy i had do it, took off the tie downs to spry and then replaced them, have heard others didn't do that, just speayed everything._____________________________
bobl Volo, non valeo
Saw a real nice farm shop bench with the top done with paint on bedliner. Don't know the brand though.
Sorry to be off topic - what kind of truck is that? Is the utility body a factory job? Looks really good, and functional too.
It's an 02 F-350 SRW diesel with a Stahl Grand Challenger service body. The boxes are a tad on the small side, but I pull a trailer so it's not really a big deal anymore. I bought the truck new with the bed on it, but all the dealership did was send the chassis down to a Stahl dealer nearby and have them put the body on and spray it with Ford paint. Glad you like it.