I bought a drop in bed liner........I know its a bad move....any tips to prevent damage?

[The0pusX]

Bought a TrailFX drop in bed liner. Since I'm leasing, and usually turn in my leases, I figured the spray in wouldn't be worth it. The only problem is....what if I still love this truck as much in 3 years, as I do now, and want to keep it......by that time, the bed could be ruined.

I'm concerned with water and debris getting trapped under the drop in.

Anyone with a drop in have any tips/tricks for prevent water and debris from getting caught underneath it and causing rubbing, damage etc?

Thanks in advance for the feedback

 

[Daw14]

Get some vinyl to lay on the high spots so the paint does not get worn away.

 

[Rlaf75]

My 2011 had a drop in liner from the factory. I just traded it in for a 21 but the only thing i noticed in the ten years of it being there was some paint in the bed was rubbed away but there was no rust anywhere. If you're that worried about it then get the DiY spray in liner kits but I wouldnt worry too much about it

 

[mikeru]

You'll be fine as long as it's installed correctly. Even if there are any areas where paint gets rubbed away, rust can't get a hold because whatever rubbed the paint away also rubs away any rust before it gets a chance to do any damage. You can always have a spray-in installed if you decide to keep the truck at the end of the lease. Prepping for a spray-in requires the paint in the bed to be sanded/roughed up anyway. You won't notice any issues if any paint is rubbed away with the drop-in after the spray-in is installed.

 

[sandawilliams]

7 years with my drop in and never a problem. Now I have the spray in and where my ATV touches the front of the bed is wearing real bad. Didnt have that problem with the plastic liner.

 

[Fast69Mopar]

Bought a TrailFX drop in bed liner. Since I'm leasing, and usually turn in my leases, I figured the spray in wouldn't be worth it. The only problem is....what if I still love this truck as much in 3 years, as I do now, and want to keep it......by that time, the bed could be ruined.

I'm concerned with water and debris getting trapped under the drop in.

Anyone with a drop in have any tips/tricks for prevent water and debris from getting caught underneath it and causing rubbing, damage etc?

Thanks in advance for the feedback

I do something like @Daw14 recommended. For my customers who want a drop-in bedliner I use cheap automotive carpet rolls from O'reilly's or Napa or whoever except I out the carpet face down so the soft side of the carpet touches the paint in the bed and I have never had a single problem. It has worked really well for me through the years.

 

[mikeru]

I do something like @Daw14 recommended. For my customers who want a drop-in bedliner I use cheap automotive carpet rolls from O'reilly's or Napa or whoever except I out the carpet face down so the soft side of the carpet touches the paint in the bed and I have never had a single problem. It has worked really well for me through the years.

You might want to rethink that recommendation. Daw14 recommended vinyl, which doesn't retain water. Any type of carpet you use will retain water. That's not something you want to have under a drop-in liner. It would probably be fine as long as it was never exposed to water, but there is no practical way to hermetically seal the under-side of a drop-in liner.

 

[GTyankee]

You could buy a $75 Mat to lay on the floor of the bed to cushion the liner
or
If you remove the plastic liner from the bed about every 3 months & sweep out the debris, the rust forms when water & the debris form mud

When i worked for the State Highway Dept.
We were constantly having to bring Traffic to a STOP to remove those damn plastic bed liners out of the lanes of the highway

 

[Fast69Mopar]

You might want to rethink that recommendation. Daw14 recommended vinyl, which doesn't retain water. Any type of carpet you use will retain water. That's not something you want to have under a drop-in liner. It would probably be fine as long as it was never exposed to water, but there is no practical way to hermetically seal the under-side of a drop-in liner.

Sorry I didn't finish my post and hit the post reply button before I realized it. I thought I was typing my post in a different thread and that's my bad.

What I meant to post here for the d+mn bedliner is that I use the 3M waterproof rugpad and seal the edges to the bed with a soft silicone and it keeps the paint very clean with no scratches and no water intrusion.

I'm.glad you posted that because I didn't realize it until I got the notification.

 

[mikeru]

Sorry I didn't finish my post and hit the post reply button before I realized it. I thought I was typing my post in a different thread and that's my bad.

What I meant to post here for the d+mn bedliner is that I use the 3M waterproof rugpad and seal the edges to the bed with a soft silicone and it keeps the paint very clean with no scratches and no water intrusion.

I'm.glad you posted that because I didn't realize it until I got the notification.

Thanks for clarifying. Anyone who tried using carpet for that would have a nasty surprise waiting for them when they removed the drop-in.

 

[HandyCruiser]

In my experience, a drop-in liner will not do any damage that several rattle cans of color-matched paint won't fix. At least where I live in the south, any rust below the bed liner will be superficial. I can just remove the bed liner, spray it with WD40, then pressure wash the whole bed out. Then I can just go over it lightly with spray paint as needed. It usually looks as good as new.

 

[PoMansRam]

I live in the rust belt and I've never seen a drop in bed liner cause a bed to rust out from the bed surface down.

I've seen plenty of old trucks with rot holes in the bed that happened from the bottom up. The rest of the truck matched that level of corrosion as well.

Will a drop in scuff and dull the bed surface? Absolutely and alarmingly fast. If you are worried about that, use something else like a Weather tech bed mat (which are awesome BTW), a rubber liner, or spend the big bucks and have a Line-X job done.

 

[YooperEE5]

My 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 has Mopar drop in bed liner; no issues that I know of and I have owned the truck since 2006.
I have a pretty good topper on so that probably helps but like others said don't worry about rusting.

 

[mtnrider]

I've never had a rust issue with a drop in. Current 2016 has been in there 5 years and nothing but some superficial scratches under it. They may not be the prettiest but for how I use my truck it offers the best protection. The Only thing I dislike is stuff tends to slide around if you don't tie it down.

.

 

[Vroom]

Bought a TrailFX drop in bed liner. Since I'm leasing, and usually turn in my leases, I figured the spray in wouldn't be worth it. The only problem is....what if I still love this truck as much in 3 years, as I do now, and want to keep it......by that time, the bed could be ruined.

I'm concerned with water and debris getting trapped under the drop in.

Anyone with a drop in have any tips/tricks for prevent water and debris from getting caught underneath it and causing rubbing, damage etc?

Thanks in advance for the feedback

They have these foam underliners that help protect the paint from the drop in.
Weathertech is advertising something like this.

Protective layer for hard drop-in truck bed liners - UnderLiner | WeatherTech

WeatherTech UnderLiner helps minimize scratches and damage to your truck bed’s painted finish caused by rigid truck bed liners.

www.weathertech.com