Hey guys, My truck has been bedliner sprayed and will soon have the camo paint on top of that. So it is in progress. The Hijet came with the original rubber strips on top of the bed walls. They aren't really super necessary now that the truck is sprayed, but should I keep them on or leave them off? What is your opinion? Here's the truck at the moment:
I honestly don't know. ?? It sure is worth whatever weight gain you have though. Never have to wax it! I had a camo-sprayed truck before this that was tan/desert camo, and this one is going to be the green-sprayed camo, which I am really excited about. I'll post photos when the truck is complete.
Its the same as the spray-on bedliners that everyone is doing to their full-size truck beds. (except, doing the entire mini-truck) Such as, in my Ram 3500, I have a Line-X bedliner. Having bedliner paint is protection. No scratches. It's tough stuff. And don't forget the point of this post: Uh hum, my question with the rubber strips. Please vote at the top. Here's a close-up of the camo-bedliner paint that is on the subaru I used to have:
Josh, Silly question - Will the rubber strips actually fit back on ok with the extra thickness of the liner material? If it was me I probably leave it off if the fit wasn't great.
True, the added thickness of the liner will more than likely cause the strips to not fit the way they did before. (though it is possible to put them back on) It is probably best to leave them off rather than have them not fit snug.
I need to do that to mine. There goes all your speed and mileage. LOL. If your talking about the rubber strips around the bed I'd leave them off. But if you put them on you could always take them off if you don't like em.
Weight of da Paint... How much bed liner solution did it take to paint your truck? one gal......2.....that way we can judge the added weight. Can it be colored any color? If the rubber isn't serving a purpose, burn it.... thanks..
i don't know how well they would stick to the bedliner stuff, and if you try and take them off later it's pretty hard to scrub adhesive off the bedliner. mine always fell off in the summer since it's so un-Godly hot here in arizona. one more thing, i think it's gonna add a lot of weight to the truck with the bedliner on it, and all the little craters are going to ruin you aerodynamics, just to be safe though... keep it below 88mph so you don't go back in time
Milt....is it possible that all the bumps may actually improve the aerodynamics? My buddy did a lot of research on exactly this point when he built his 4 person hovercraft. A shark is thought to be one of the most aerodynamic creatures known to man and their skin is not smooth. He covered his hovercraft in bedliner to reduce drag
Going OT, back a few decades the West made fun of USSR with there "crude" Mig fighters, all full of ripples and dimples. It was later learned that it was intentional and made it fly better just like a golf ball with it's dimples.
Not sure how much bedliner solution it takes. (The dealer does it) My previous truck had the same liner and it didn't seem to behave 'heavy', but yes, I'm sure it'll add a few pounds. And after all the thoughts, I'm sure I'll just go without the rubber. And wow, interesting points about the aerodynamics. I didn't now that sometimes a texture can add to lower drag. I am keeping this truck without a lift kit so I'll have better aerodynamics and keep my high fuel economy (versus my previous truck that had the 4" lift).
I spent the last few days doing a poor man's makeover on my hijet. I used a gallon of herculiner roll-on bed coating and 5 cans of OD green spray paint. Total investment $155. I'll post some pics and details when I get home tonight.
yeah i was mostly kidding about aerodynamics since these little trucks have all the streamlining of a brick for most parts i don't think there is much that can help or hurt them break through the sound barrier did you notice my comment about going back in time? all in jest my friends... all in jest.
jtpc, Did you cover the underside of your truck as well, looks like you did the inside of the cab, spraying the truck was the best thing you could do if you plan on using it off road. I had my truck Rhino linned and now has a few small scratches that you really have to look for but if it were paint alone it would have scratched it to the metal ! Do you think the camo paint will stay on, at first mine was oilly for about two weeks. I sure it weights more but it's worth every pound for protection, I didn't notice any loss of power, but it did made it ten feet tall and bulletproof. Your truck looks great...send more pics Archeric
Hey Archeric, No, the underside of the truck and frame/axles have been repainted, but not with the bedliner stuff. Yep, they do the inside as well. Yes, the camo paint will stay on. They air-brush the camo accents on a day after the reflex-liner has set. (Rhino may be different. I know that Line-X is cured completely in 24 hours, as well as this "Reflex-liner" stuff.) My subaru was done the same way and I didn't have any problems. But I'm not really super-rough with my trucks. This truck will be on-road mostly. No major off-roading. My subaru was set up for off-road and that's why I got this one is for more real-world driving. I'm keeping it stock height. I'll be getting my truck either tomorrow or Monday, so I'll post photos in the "introductions" area.
