ThreeOhTwo

Hello everybody, I picked up a 2011 4x4 SuperCab/6.5' box recently and have a couple of questions for you all. This is my first pickup that I myself have owned; my family has owned several in the past that I've put butt time in on. To further complicate the matter, I moved from the lower Midwest that rarely saw significant snowfall to South Dakota where it dumps snow in the winter and gets significantly colder. So, I have a few questions:

1. What is your favorite way to protect your bed? I'm only familiar with drop-in bedliners and the BedRug (my dad has that in his newer Super Duty.) The drop-in units seemed to work OK but they were prone to trapping water and rusting the bed underneath them- and that was in an area with minimal snow and salt to deal with. You rarely saw rusty cars down there, but up here in Snowy South Dakota there are a bunch and many of them are not all that old. Drop-in bedliners also were notorious for trapping a horse-jolting amount of static electricity as well. Would a spray-in bedliner be better, or would one of the lay-in bed mats be a better choice? Or do both of those stink compared to a drop-in bedliner? The BedRug works for my dad's truck as he has a cap (I do not want a cap) and uses the truck bed only to haul nice things like furniture- dirty stuff gets pulled in a trailer. I don't think it would so well for an open truck that will haul dirt, gravel, and mulch- or is it easier to clean than it looks?

2. Block heaters- do you guys who live in snow belt states actually use your block heaters? Lows here can get to -20 F or so and I do have to park outside at work. The only experience I have with driving in weather that cold was a couple of trips up here for business. My car didn't have a block heater and it did start up okay enough at -16 F but ran very rough for about the first five minutes of driving. I don't see any plugins for block heaters around here so maybe the locals don't use them? What do you think?

3. Bed ballast- what and how much? I haven't seen any of the locals with anything in their beds yet. We would put some tool boxes and buckets of chains in the back of the trucks back home when it did snow, but I wouldn't exactly do that with an open bed truck. I've heard anything from building elaborate 2x4 or steel platforms to hold cinder blocks to to varying amounts of sand in various bag shapes being recommended by the locals. What would you guys recommend?

MT-Ford

Definetly plug your block heater in if it gets that cold...your engine will love you for that.
You shouldn't need any extra weight if you have 4X4.

skupko9680

+1 what MT-Ford said on the block heater but should only need it if it gets down there as mentioned.

I run 375lbs worth of sand tubes in the bed in winter. 4X4 will get you through most things, but I try and drive in 4X2 as much as possible and the sand bags help a lot especially when the roads are slushy.

I have the drop in liner, it came with the truck but I would much prefer the spray in liner for the issues mentioned plus the fact things slide around less. If you do this think about having the rear wheel wells done too to match the front.

DSGB

I would definetly go with a spray on bedliner.. I have speedliner in mine which is mixed with kevlar.. It does not have to be sprayed on near as thick as the other brands line Line-x and Rhino.. But you wont have to worry about any rust with it and will protect your bed when you put some nasty loads in there.... One more thing with the spray in liner. You can get it sprayed on the bottom of your truck so you dont have to worry about rust under there either. My buddy just got back from Alaska and he said most of the trucks there have the bottoms sprayed to prevent rusting..

As far as heaters and stuff like that I cant help you there. I live down in the Dirty South in Georgia, and South GA doesnt get a lick of snow. North GA gets alittle but not down south..

CJ

ThreeOhTwo

I was leaning towards the spray-in bedliner. Unfortunately for me the nearest dealer that advertises online that they perform any spray-in bedliners is located about 50 miles away. That makes no sense as I live in the largest city in the entire state Maybe I'll have to pull out the phone book and look in there instead. Spraying the frame and parts underneath sounds like a good idea, I'll see if any of those guys can do that too. I know that a lot of GM owners have their bed rail tops spray-lined since they don't ship with caps like Fords do, so my guess is that they can probably spray anything you want them to.

I'll be on the lookout for plugins for a block heater in the parking garage at work if it gets super cold at work. I won't need it at home as I park my vehicles inside. I've been to Georgia quite a bit and nope, it rarely snows more than a flurry there.

I'll look into getting some sand. I did some reading and the general consensus is to aim to put about as much weight on the rear axle as on the front axle. The difference between the two is about 600 pounds, so I'll probably start at 400 lbs of sand like you had and see if that works.

nathan_nathaniel

I think your motor will appreciate it if you plug in your block heater before it gets to minus 20F. I think around zero is cold enough to be worthwhile.

It's not whether your truck will actually start or not--it's what is happening INSIDE the block and heads when it starts and the engine oil is minus 20.

I remember when I had my old 1989 F150 and started it at minus 35F. I had forgotten to plug it in. The truck started fine and ran for more than a full minute before there was ANY oil pressure.

Not good.

ThreeOhTwo

Good observation- even the thin 5W-20 the truck takes probably get a bit thick at -20 F.

jesusers

I have a Bedrug. I've never thrown anything crazy in the back, but it's done fine with lumber and bricks. Also a snap to clean, I use a hose and a leaf blower. I'm not sure how it will do uncovered in the snow, but I imagine, it'd be fine.

Ole703

X2 on Speedliner bed liners. Better than rihno, linnex, or armada (not sure on the spelling). Speedliner is the best. Keeps things from sliding in your truck bed better than the rest too.

rm -rf

I've owned pickups in Minnesota for a couple decades & I don't bother with adding ballast to the back of any 4wd truck, nor do I use a block heater, even when I'm parked outside at -30F.