subject: How To Get The Best Plastic Bedliner by:Alan Bullington [print this page] A drop in bedliner is just one of many options to protect your truck bed. What plastic liners have going for them is they are very tough, but not very expensive. If you really intend to haul with your truck, the plastic bed liner is a solid choice. There are a few problems to watch for though. Here' how to get the right liner
A good fit is key to getting a liner you'll like to use. A poor fitting liner will move as you go down the road. Maybe it doesn't move much, maybe it's more like just vibration. The problem this causes is that bed paint gets rubbed off over time from the movement. That gives you a bare spot and you know what that means. Rust. Bare spots under the liner mixed with a little water and you get a corroded bed, all hidden away under the liner. No good.
That's why you want a good tight, custom fit.
The other problem to watch for is another water related challenge. Water easily pools under a plastic liner and then just sits there. There's another spot for rust and corrosion to set in and slowly destroy a truck all hidden from view until it's too late. You can't have a liner that traps water. That's terrible...
Both these problems can be fixed. After all, a plastic bed liner is as tough as you can get for really rough hauling. You just need a good fitting liner that lets the truck bed drain properly.
One solution to these problems is the multi-piece liner. See, usually a drop in bed liner is made in one piece. The other way to build a liner is in 5 sections. That's a section for front, back, sides and the bottom of the bed. DualLiner makes a liner like that. With multiple sections, you can get a better fit and better drainage too.
About the author
Al Bullington is a former auto industry engineer. He writes about trucks and truck projects.
The right plastic liner is tough and easy to afford. Visit our site for tips to choose a drop in bedliner that works right to protect your pickup.
