Bed Liner with Topper Cap

[don4331]

My Ranger's Ford under rail liner ('98, OEM Ford liner), was only "under rail" on the sides, the front lip, against the cab, was over the rail. That worked fine with the hard tonneau the truck had 80% of the time, but not with topper the truck had 10% of time.

And after removing the front lip to allow the topper to sit solid on front and sides, it no longer prevented dirt & water from getting into box during the 10% of time the truck ran without any cover. So, liner needed to be removed on semi regular basis to ensure it was clean. But it never moved so, paint under liner looks like new.

The thing I like about the drop in - when I was cut off and panic stopped, and my toolbox came flying forward to crush the 3/8" impact between it and the liner, the cute 3/8" square hole in liner, is just a hole in the liner - no damage to the box. Few minutes with the soldering iron and square was melted back in place and you would need to know where to look to know it happened. Not sure a spray in liner/box would be a robust/easy to repair.

My nieces' Ranger had spray in liner, and that box must weigh triple what an unlined box does. Ford factory spray in wouldn't be that thick, but it I suspect it would be heavier than under rail. Spray in also didn't clean up as nice as the Ford plastic ones did after she spilled a can of florescent purple paint.

 

[sgtsandman]

The factory 2019/2020 steel bed has a 3" wide indentations on both sides in the back. Just right for doubled up 2 x 8's.

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I never noticed that on mine. That will come in handy when I go to build a platform and drawer system for the truck.

 

[Dirtman]

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Ford factory bed liner, I assume it was in there since 2003. All kinds of trash, leaves, and fur? under there.

Some of that rust is from the cloth heat shield on the bottom, but the paint is completely trashed all over the place.

What "cloth heat shield" ?

 

[sgtsandman]

I have spray in on the 2019 and it hasn't been too bad to sweep out but I haven't done the work with it like have with the 2011 without anything in the bed.

The roll on coating I used in the 1998 was really rough and did pose a problem cleaning the bed.

Each brand of spray on bed liner dries a little different as far as the surface texture after it cures. LineX is more rubbery. The factory application is harder and isn't as thick.

The limited experience I have with drop in liners is that they tend to be a bit of a pain to sweep out and anything you put in there tends to slide around a lot.

 

[sgtsandman]

What "cloth heat shield" ?

Its more of a fibrous mat with aluminum heat shield glued to it. It does trap a lot of dirt and moisture. I removed mine because of it. As high as it was above the exhaust, I can't see how it was really doing anything useful.

 

[Dirtman]

Don't gots that on my truck.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Don't gots that on my truck.

+1

A piece of aluminum and 4 pop rivets is all I got.

 

[sgtsandman]

Don't gots that on my truck.

Mine had two of them. I removed them before they caused a problem. PetroleumJunkie's truck was rotted out right where those were glued to the underside of the bed.

 

[Roert42]

Mine had two of them. I removed them before they caused a problem. PetroleumJunkie's truck was rotted out right where those were glued to the underside of the bed.

This red one 03, and my 11 both have problems with rust there.

 

[Bgunner]

My 94 has a liner that has been there since it was new along with a tonneu cover that has been there as long. It is not a factory liner and is an under rail but works well. I pulled it about 2 years ago and on the wheel wells the paint has been worn through so I primered the spots and thru the liner back in. There was dirt under it and a few pine needles but nothing major because of the cover that is on it. This spring/summer I plan on using the roll on liner and continuing to use the liner. Liners save the dents that the metal gets from tossing objects into the bed while allowing easy clean up and why I have run liners in all but 2 of my trucks. I've had quite a few over the years. My reasoning for the roll on liners is to protect the metal from liner that protects the metal from dents...

 

[Kevin S]

I'm the original poster ...... Thanks to everyone who responded with their ideas and experiences. I’m gonna have to go over them all a few more times and take more notes on what might work best for me.

The Ranger I just traded in was a 2000 that I bought used in 2002. It had an aluminum cap and no liner when I bought it. For 18 years I ran with that cap on and a rectangular 6’ piece of sanded ½” plywood fit between the wheel wells. (The small four corners and walls were unprotected from loads – I know … I always intended on cutting a more custom piece of plywood notched around the wheel wells but just never did) About five years ago I noticed some rust in and along the seam where the front of the bed meets the front wall (near the cab). The guys at the body shop did a nice patch and paint job specifically in that area. When I traded it in back in October of 2020 the paint in the bed was pretty beat up but the box was still solid (unlike the frame I had welded twice but that’s another story).

So what I’m thinking right now is that having a cap protect the bed from weather will, for the most part, help keep rust at bay. (the truck will be garage-kept) I just need something to keep the inside of the bed and tailgate from getting all scratched up. So at this point I’m kind of liking 85_Ranger4x4’s idea of considering “both”, a combination of sprayed walls and some sort of bed mat. I’ll have to do a little more internetting to see about different spray-ins and how to protect the tailgate.

Thanks again for all of the responses. This forum is great! I’ll have to take a look to see about those indentations in the bed for 2x’s. I didn’t notice them in my truck.

 

[Roert42]

Don't gots that on my truck.

It's like a foam/sponge like pad with aluminum foil on the outside, that's glued to the bottom of the bed. Both my 2011 and 2003 had them there. the bed from the '96 had the regular heat shield with rivets.

It just absorbs water and holds it there.

 

[HenryMac]

Hmm... I need to check out how those are located and attached on my 2019? There's only about 6 feet of it!

That's just ignorant attaching them tight up against body panels. Hang the damn things on the freakin' exhaust, not on the body sheet metal.

 

[Curious Hound]

Looks like the plans were wrinkled when they made your truck.

 

[HenryMac]

Looks like the plans were wrinkled when they made your truck.

It's the best I could do, laying on a creeper, taking photo's. I had the creeper in "2L"