Well let me start off by saying that this was a
process. I don't have a lot of money like most people
so dropping $600 or more for a bed liner was
just not happening. So I did an internet search for
spray on liners and this is what I foun; Line-X,
Rhino Liner, Dupli-liner, and numerous sites that have
their own brand of some sort of bed liner. Most
however only installed these liners and did not sell
supplies to do it yourself.
I then went to Napa and found Dupli-Color bed liner.
The sales people at Napa said that Dupli-Color sold
very well and they had received good feedback.
Obviously I then went home and did an Internet search
on this product and what I found was favorable. So I
decided what the hell I'd try it.
First things first. I needed to strip my interior
starting with:
a. Seats
b. Carpet
c. Some sort of sticky heat shield
d. Dash and other components
I did this because I wanted to spray from the top of
the kicker panels all the way to the back tailgate, as
well as the inner fender areas, I also wanted to put
in a new wiring harness (Centech) Don't get me
started with that. It's another matter all together.
Next time I'll go with Painless.
Prep prep prep work. This was my first experience
doing anything like this and my mother who paints
everything and really is like Martha Stuart LOL told
me that prep work is the most important step when
painting anything.
a. The first thing I did was buy a wire brush for my
grinder, and I ground the glue and paint and grud off
of everything. The most important part of this is to
be careful not to stay in one area to long or you might
grind through the metal. It depends what condition
your floors are in.
b. Next thing I did was to sand blast the whole
interior. I don't recommend this. I'm still finding sand
everywhere! LOL. I didn't see this much sand in Iraq.
c. Once that was done I cleaned everything with a
metal cleaner, which you can buy at any auto parts
store.
Taping. OK, here comes your most important part of the prep
work if your truck (like mine) has not been painted yet.
This is taping the areas off that you don't want to
spray.
a. I taped off the windshield so I could spray that
lip on top of the windshield. I also taped off the top
so I could do the rails on both sides, both on the
truck and on the top itself.
b. Next I taped off the rocker panels. I decided to
spray the inner doorsill and entire area inside the
door area.
c. Next I taped off the tailgate area. This is one
area that after I sprayed the tailgate, the bottom lip
of the tailgate and the back of the floor area where
the tailgate closes meet will grind on each other. Now
there is a weather strip piece that goes here but I
have not installed my weather stripping yet so that
might be the problem.
Spraying. OK, in my opinion all the prep work is now done.
It's now on to the fun stuff; actually spraying the
product.
a. Let me start off by talking about supplies.
i. Spray gun = $43 @ nappa
ii. Dupli-Color = $54
iii. Dupli-Color spray can = $9
iv. Dupli-Color pint = $25
b. I followed the instructions on the can of bed
coatings as stated. This was my first experience with
this. So I started at the front of my truck and worked
my way back. I wanted to spray this on thick, so I
bought 2 cans of this stuff and almost didn't have
enough, so just be aware of that. You can do this with 1 large can and 1 small can, in my opinion. But again I
wanted it to be thick. I believe the can stated hold
the gun at first 10 or more inches away to lay your
first coat.
i. Again, you need to go slow slow slow. If you go too
fast then it comes out too thin. Slow and steady.
ii. Once it was sprayed I let it sit for 2 hrs longer
than the directions said and then applied my second
coat. This is where I now held the spray gun
approximately 5-7 inches and sprayed it on thick..
Conclusion. I think it came out great. I only had a few areas
that need to be re-sprayed. But all in all I was
extremely impressed with this. I think that what this
did for the interior appearance of my truck was
unbelievable. It looks like a knew truck inside.
Special notes.
a. Unlike rhino liner, this liner will not rub off on
your skin. Every time I touch my friends liner I turn
black.
b. It does help some with the heat factor.
c. It does not absorb water at all LOL, I can say that
without weather stripping there was some water that
puddle up on my floor and stayed there for a few days
until I wiped it up.
d. I did drill holes in the floor and installed jeep
drain plugs after that.
Tech article by Bayard Crump (bcrump5252)
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