Does anyone haul a gelcoat kayak on a Weathertech Bed Mat? I知 wondering if it will scratch the gelcoat when I slide the kayak into the bed. I知 talking about a Kevlar or carbon fiber kayak with a gelcoat finish, not a plastic kayak. The Weathertech mat seems to be fairly resilient, so I知 thinking it will be okay.

 

I have one and use it in a open bed. It sun faded rather quickly and if you use protectant it makes it too slick. I would have been just as happy with a rubber mat.

 

Can't imagine it causing more damage over a season than scraping a river bottom once. Your gelcoat is going to get cosmetic damage if you use your kayak, but they are tougher than they seem and relatively easy to re-coat if you are worried about resale. Personally I don't worry about it on my Kevlar canoe, some marring from straps rubbing and whatnot are unavoidable and harmless.

 

Get a Bedrug like i have. Nice and soft.

 

This!

 

the weathertech bed mat is plastic just like any drop in liner really. if there's any dirt on the mat it's going to scratch your gel coat when you slide the kayak into the bed. your best bet is probably a bed rug like others suggested, or go the weathertech direction because it's cheap but keep a towel around that you can use to slide the kayak on and as a layer of protection between the kayak and the bed. i have a regular kayak i fish from and use a tracrac to haul it. there are some sharp edges on the tracrac that cut little slivers of plastic off the kayak if i'm not careful, so i always keep an old bath towel in the truck that i can throw over the rack when i'm loading and unloading. it works great for protecting the boat.

 

I like my (cheap plastic) kayaks enough to NOT toss them into the bed (let alone losing the bed space, having to attach a flag, having the tail lamps obstructed by the kayaks). I can't imaging having the expense of a glass kayak and not spending the money for a proper mounting system or trailer.