Mod (Ret.)

If your own labor is cheap, consider doing it yourself. I installed the herculiner kit from Pep Boys. I've had it on for over a year now, and not one chip, flake, or peel. Still looks great. Total cost was just over $100.00, and a couple of Tee shirts. Use gloves! This stuff sticks to your skin good!

Prep is everything. Give yourself a good 4 to 5 hours to scour the bed surface (sounds like yours is already scrapped up). Then follow directions to apply two coats.

Mod (Ret.)

I think the motorcycle theory is the culprit here. It does indeed look as if a previous owner hauled one that somehow rolled forward and rounded the front of your bed.

Have you tried to grasp the center of it and pull it back? Try this prior to having the bed liner coating done so it won't crack.

JasonF150

No I haven't. Just thinking about this it seems like it won't work, but I'll try. I have considered doing the bed liner myself, but I don't want a crappy looking bed if I mess it up. IF I did try, I would buy some extra, and practice quite a bit on something else first.

xdrockstar

There is hardly a easy way to fix it but I'll post and show you what I did

From My iPhone 5

xdrockstar

Here ya go
And there is 0 percent chance you can pull it out by hand.

From My iPhone 5

JasonF150

Since one of your pics looks to be daylight and others are at night, it seems you pulled it into place and left it like that for a while, is that right? And there's no damage to the tailgate with all that pressure on it?

Mod (Ret.)

The kits come with two rollers (one for each coat). If you've panted a wall of your house using a roller, you can do your truck bed. They also give you a brush to do the corners. It's a piece of cake. The important part is the prep work. They provide a scuff pad to remove the smooth shiny surface. Give yourself a half day to do this.

xdrockstar

Yup, everything worked good. Fixed it until the other day I put my back against the bed and pushed tree branches out with my legs, I heard the bed pop back into the curve

From My iPhone 5

Damn Dirty Ape

iTrader: (1)

Reminds me of a 2000 Dodge Dakota I bought used with a bedliner in it. Noticed the bedliner was new but didn't think much about it just thought the bed had some scratches and all. Got home took it out to clean and found the front of the bed was curved like that and had taken a huge hit. One of the fender wells was smacked down pretty bad too. Back to the dealer and by golly they ended up fixing both AND giving me a loaner.

mediumfast

It doesn't take much to bend these. I believe our beds are aluminum which explains why they bend easily. When I drilled holes thru mine the metal coming off the drillbit looked like aluminum. Not exceptionally strong when used in thin sheets. I believe I read the hood is aluminum too. Think Ford was trying to save a little weight.
This shouldn't be an issue though. In my opinion it's bad design. It wouldn't cost Ford much to reinforce the front of the bed in order to prevent this from happening. Truck beds are made to haul stuff right?