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Bed Liner Kit Do It Yourself
You can use a bed liner kit to apply
an attractive finish to your truck bed. A bed liner in a can will save you
hundreds of dollars over getting a professionally applied finish. If you choose
to apply your own bed liner, here are several tips and ideas.
A bed liner kit consists of the
actual coating material plus the preparation materials and the application
tools. The most widely available kit is by Herculiner. Herculiner advertises
that their coating is 5 times as thick as other do it yourself bed liner
coatings. Another kit is by Magnaliner.
Most people will apply bed liner
paint with a roller or a brush, but many of these materials can be sprayed too.
See the manufacturer for nozzle recommendations. But really, I don't think you
can tell the difference in appearance of the roll on coating from a spray on
job.
You can put together your own kit.
Read about the materials you need at our article.
Why a Bed Liner Kit?
If I wanted a bed liner on a new or
very late model truck, I would get an estimate from a professional installer
like Rhino or Line-X. Here's why. These companies control the design and
manufacturing of their coating material and the material seems to be more
durable than what you can apply yourself. Plus they guarantee their work. So if
there is a problem, they'll fix it. You must remember, these coatings are
permanent. You want this job done right.
Also, the professional coatings go on
thicker than most bed liner in a can products. The thicker coating is more
difficult to penetrate. There's less chance of scratching down to the metal.
But, a professional application may
cost you $500 - $700. That may be justified on a new truck but certainly not on
an old one.
Also, the advantages of the
pro spray on bed liner may not apply to your situation. The durability of the
liner you install yourself may be good enough for you. If you aren't going to
be throwing concrete blocks in your truck, your bed liner kit may be perfect
for you.
One good reason to install a bed
liner is to improve the appearance of a truck bed that has damage from abuse or
rust. The bed liner kit is perfect for this.
The biggest reason to use a bed liner
kit is to save money. My sons just installed a bed liner using a bed
liner kit in our 1980 Plymouth Arrow Pickup. The total cost for this job was
about $150. This bed was not banged up a lot but it was scratched and
scraped over most of the surface. It looked pretty sad.
The boys sanded the surfaces
aggressively then applied a chemical rust converter to the rusty spots. Then
they applied primer to the bare spots. Then came two coats of bed liner paint
and it looks great. It really looks like a professional job. You can't tell
it's a bed liner in a kit. It looks like a spray on job.
For an older truck for sure, the bed
liner kit is a great option. And even for many newer trucks, I would choose a
bed liner kit.
Are you ready to put a bed liner in
your truck? You have a lot of choices. Especially if you want to use a bed
liner kit, visit www.bedlinerfortrucks.com
to start on that new-looking truck bed!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Al_Bullington
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