Truck beds take a beating.
Even just hauling groceries begins the process of scratching and damaging the bed paint.
No matter how careful you are, the bed of your pickup is on a steady down-hill slide.
Here's how to stop it...
It's a bed liner.
Now the ultimate solution seems to be the professional spray on liner.
It's a good solution, but maybe not the ultimate one.
For one thing, there's the price.
This is the most expensive option and certainly looks too expensive for many old trucks.
Spray on liners are after all paint coatings.
The life-time guarantee isn't a guarantee of no damage, it's a guarantee to repair the coating.
That's a respray and sort of a hassle.
How many coats of liner paint can one put on a liner??? Who knows.
Tougher coatings exist.
Plastic liners are all but impossible to harm.
That thick plastic soaks up lots of scratches.
Plus, it's a shock absorber to absorb most any hit and prevent dents.
Dents are real killers since they are much more difficult to repair than are a few little scratches.
Another tough option comes as a simple mat.
This one's easy to overlook since it's so basic and cheap too.
What you're looking at is a rubber pad that's built much like a car tire.
That means it's able to absorb shock like a plastic mat and shrug off any scratches at the same time.
Then it's easy to remove too so it's easy to clean and easy to store.
The mats are a basic protection for the floor of the bed but don't protect the sides or front and back.
Maybe the ultimate way to protect truck beds is a rubber mat over a professional spray on bed liner.
Protect the bed paint and the expensive liner at the same time...