Do It Yourself Truck Bed Liner
The appeal of the do it yourself truck bed liner lies mostly in the cost savings, which is real. Compared to a professional spray on bedliner, the savings is substantial.
In addition, compared to the plastic bed liner the savings still is there. Plastic liners beat bed liner coatings when it comes to hard and abusive work but there is a real chance that plastic liners can actually damage the paint underneath the liner. You skip that problem with bed liner paint since the truck bed coating binds to the bed itself.
The do it yourself versions must be compared to a liner like the Rhino. Rhino Linings has become so linked with coatings that you see reference to Rhino liner paint. You cannot of course buy Rhino paint. It can only be put on at a Rhino shop, but the many versions of truck bed coating paint available can offer an improvement in looks and function.
The Plasti-Kote version is what we have lived with for about 4 years. Easy to put on and attractive in appearance the coating is largely wiped away now after much hard use. Little to no peeling has happened. The damage is mostly just paint actually gouged and knocked off. What next?
Do It Yourself Truck Bed Liner -- Next?
Next may be What A Liner or maybe Monstaliner. I like the description of the What A Liner as a polymer blend rather than just polyurethane paint. Also appealing is the thought that no primer is required and it can just go on over an existing liner.
I may opt for the no texture version this time. The little rubber pieces in the Plasti-Kote can be knocked out quite easily leaving little pits in the surface. Maybe those little pits contribute to the paint getting knocked off.
Think about it though. It's a lot to ask to expect paint to stay on when it's being hit with pipes and shovels and saws being thrown on the surface with little regard for the truck bed liner paint. That's a lot to ask and probably not reasonable to think paint, any paint, can escape damage under those conditions.
The do it yourself truck bed liner is here to stay with lots of options. Herculiner is still very visible and maybe the leader but there are others and several look like a real possibility...