Using a plastic truck bed liner increases your chance of having scratches beneath that liner. We have put together this article to, in more details, answer this question — “Are Plastic Bed Liners Bad?”

Before we proceed, let’s briefly answer the question to give you a sneak peek of what the article holds.

Are Plastic Bed Liners Bad?

It’s recommended that you should avoid installing a plastic truck bed liner in your truck. The moment you take off the liner, the bed of your truck won’t remain exactly as it was before installation. As a result of that, you might just need to employ someone, skilled enough to repair the affected areas before you can carry out any activity.

To further answer the question, Are Plastic Bed Liners Bad? — you must know these:

A plastic truck bed liner has the likelihood to wear through the paint used on the floor of the bed. When this happens, the metal underneath the paint gets exposed. You know what it means for a metallic surface to get exposed, right? It ends up making the presence of rust an imminent occurrence. If you have plans of keeping your truck for a good number of years, then we can guess correctly that you wouldn’t want to expose your truck to rust.

In case you’re a lover of plastic truck bed liners — and you really want to have it installed — here’s the type of plastic bed liner you should go for.

What Kind Of Plastic Truck Bed Liners Should Be Used?

For a truck, the bed liners should be extra tough. It’s common that the ultra-high molecular weight (UHMW) and high molecular weight are used as materials for the purpose of low coefficient of friction. There are other materials responsible for their ability to resist impact, remain durable and stand firm against a wide range of temperatures — from extra cold to tremendously hot.

Those materials include:

• Polycarbonate
• High-density polyethylene (HDPE)
• Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)

These plastics can stand as a good replacement for glass, metal, wood and even the best spray-on liners — especially when high molecule weight (HMW) or ultra-high molecular weight (UHMW) takes its place in the list of materials.

And, yes.

Some plastic truck bed liners are bad.

Benefits Of Using An Extra Tough Plastic Bed Liner

Plastic bed liners are good for transporting wet and dry materials. The plastic bed liners for trucks ensure that the operations that choose to install them get extraordinary value.

1. Reduced Stickness

It’s a time-consuming and annoying problem to have materials stick to the back of your truck. Owing to the low coefficient of friction, the plastic truck bed liners cause a reduction in this issue — having materials stick to the truck. The plastic surface of this bed liner — that’s slick — gives room for much-slicky materials to easily slide out upon arrival at a point of delivery. You don’t want to go through the stress of trying to force material out, right? Therefore, you must be picky while choosing a plastic truck bed liner.

2. Increased Efficiency

As stated in the previous paragraph, the plastic truck bed liner for trucks enables materials to swiftly and quickly have a free slide at lower dump angles. With this, you can, in a short time, get done with delivering loads — because there’ll be no need for digging and knocking them out of the truck.

Having said that, let’s move on to disclosing the alternatives — the truck bed liners you can use besides the plastic truck bed liners.

Plastic Bed Liners Alternatives

1. Do-It-Yourself Spray-In Bed Liners: These bed liners can also be known as paint-on, brush-on or DIY bed liners. In terms of pricing, this DIY Spray-In bed liner keeps gaining popularity because of its low pricing. It doesn’t stop at that, the installation process isn’t in any way a difficult task — and it’s also known for wide availability. In the market, you can find a new make of the do-it-yourself spray-in Bedliner that promotes itself as almost being a professionally installed product — but make sure that you don’t get carried away with that. A lot of bed liners out there that promote themselves in such a manner don’t meet up with the hype.

Furthermore, the installation of these roll-on products or do-it-yourself spray-in Bedliner products is synonymous with painting the wall of your house. The do-it-yourself spray-in Bedliner or roll-on Bedliner paint can’t be compared to regular house paint.

Pros

• You can purchase a bucket of goop for as low as $50. Very affordable.
• As the name implies, you can do it yourself.

Cons

• Before you commence, it’s essential that you observe a careful prep. If you try to cut corners, you increase your chances of seeing your DIY Bedliner crack, peel or bubble in a couple of weeks or even months.
• You’ll find areas where the do-it-yourself spray appears thicker than how it appears in other areas. It’s likely to fail if it’s too thick or too thin.
• Aside from its affordability, you’d still need to purchase other materials — materials such as sandpaper, tape, cleaner, brushes etc. It consumes time.

2. Rubber Mats: If you’re among those in search of an affordable and simple alternative to plastic truck bed liner, a rubber mat is something you should consider. We know very well how much mats don’t serve as protection for the sidewalls of your bed, but when it comes to protecting the bed of the truck, rubber mats thrives. As regards the safety of your cargo, rubber mats ensure your cargo stays perfectly in place.

As long as the mat is made in such a way that the factory truck bed drain holes are kept clear, you won’t have to bother about having water molecules beneath the mat, hence causing rust.

Pro

• It’s easy to install and remove.
• Quite affordable.
• Prevent cargo from moving around.

Cons

• Only the bed of the truck is protected.

3. Component Liners: A component bed liner is basically a multi-piece system that combines the benefits of a rubber mat and a plastic drop-in liner.

The DualLiner, as a component system, features the following:

• A rubber floor — a durable one — that secured the bed from damages and controls cargo.
• Form-fitting and strong plastic coverings for the bed of your truck — the tailgate and sidewalls. Using these plastic panels is one of the trusted ways to secure your truck’s bed from dents.

The plastic component on a DualLiner distinguishes itself from other cheap plastic liners. This component is produced to perfectly fit into the bed of your truck — regardless of the dimensions and form. This ensures a tight fit of the panels, preventing your truck’s bed from scratches.

What’s a Bedliner if it doesn’t prevent the truck’s bed from rusting? The rubber breathes water and channels it to drain away.

Pros

• Easy installation
• The plastic tailgate and sidewalls protector are made to form-fit your truck.
• Affordable.
• You can easily take out the DualLiner — this means that you won’t go through much stress taking it out of your old truck to install in the new one.
• It has a super-sticky bedliner.

Cons

• No issues at the moment.

How To Remove Plastic Bedliners

You can remove a plastic bed liner following these simple steps:

Step 1

Open the tailgate and gradually crawl into the truck’s bed. There are screws — Philips-head screws precisely — that does the job of securing the bed liner to the bed, locate them. You can find these Phillips-head screws along the truck’s top bed rail and along the perimeter of the tailgate.

Step 2

Use the Phillips-head screwdriver to unscrew all the screws on the bed liner and the tailgate liner.

Step 3

Make use of your hands to lift the tailgate liner section off the tailgate, and place it to the side. You’ll find the bed liner’s side panel closest to the tailgate; push it together using your hands. Using your assistant’s help, lift the liner out of the bed through the tollgate hole.

Summary

This article is specifically about answering the question, “Are Plastic Bed Liners Bad?”

We covered areas such as recommending the plastic bed liner that should be used and also listing out the benefits attached to using those recommended bed liners. You know, in as much as it’s there are disadvantages of using plastic bed liners — there, also are advantages of using them.

Moreso, we also touched a few alternatives of the plastic truck bed liner and they entail thus:

• Do-It-Yourself Spray-In Bed Liners
• Component Liners
• Rubber Mats

Many people today find it difficult to remove a plastic truck bed liner — when among other bed liners, it’s the easiest to remove. If you buy a new truck and using a plastic truck bed liner comes into your mind, refer to this article because it’d disclose the necessary information — things you need to know before buying or going for other alternatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are DIY bed liners good?

Yes, they are a good choice. They add extra protection to your truck — and they look great, too.

Are spray-on bed liners worth it?

Yes. They offer maximal protection to your truck. They last long enough to ensure you enjoy your money’s value.

Thanks for reading.