alyons

Just bought a 2017 F150 and I'm wondering whether I should go with a drop in or spray on bedliner. I like the spray on option but I'm not sure if I should be concerned about the aluminum bed. Roughest thing I might be doing his tossing firwood in the back. I appreciate any thoughts or opinions.

Thanks

McLovin

Not too many folks are fans of the drop in liner. They tend to move around in the bed and scratch it up. They also collect dirt and debris under them. Cargo WILL slide around on a drop in liner also.
spray in liners are bullet prof ( if done right ) and have some grip to them to keep cargo in place.
do you plan on installing any type of bed cover on your truck? If so, a Bedrug might be another option. Cargo does not slide around and they are very comfortable on the knees if you have to crawl around back there. Bedrugs can be used without a bed cover but they can also "walk away" easily if you leave your truck unattended in a sketchy area.

Tom_with_a_Truck

I've got a spray-in being installed tomorrow. I went with the spray vs drop-in for the very reasons that Mike from TN mentions. I had a drop-in in my Ranger years ago and while it protected the bed, stuff did slide all over the place. Being a younger guy then, I put down a layer of some type of tar-like substance on the bed before I put the drop-in in to protect the metal. The bedliner never left the truck, and the guy that bought it from me had it for a few years after I sold it to him.

jhelrey

Both.

I had both in my 2012 Sierra. Spray in was great for solid protection but drop in made life easier for loading and unloading things like a snowmobile, tossing stuff in the bed, etc. without worry about denting.

nineball

my truck came with the factory drop-in liner. after 16k miles and 4 years the inside of my bed was scratched to hell from the liner moving around. the drop-in as noted is very slippery so anything you place on it will slide all over when you are driving.

i removed it, sold it for $100 and went with line-x. super thick, lifetime warranty, nothing slides on it while driving but i can still easily loan/unload things from the bed and it looks damn good. hands down it is the best money i spent on my truck and would do it again in a heartbeat if i needed to.

it is not perfect though. after some pretty tough use (lumber, cabinets, gravel, drywall, etc) there are some surface marks/white areas. i would wash it to see if they come off, which i think they will, but not until spring

if i recall it was somewhere around $500 to have the bed done. i think in the spring i am going to have the rockers and bumpers done too. have a friend with the same year explorer in the same color that has black rockers and bumpers and it looks good to me.

WestOGuy

Factory drop-in came with mine...

Pros:
* Less expensive than spray-in.
* Better bed protection from dropping heavy sharp objects (like Chevy toolboxes - lol).
* Easy to slide objects in/out and clean.
* Removable.
Cons:
* Objects can slide around if not secured.
* Caps over cargo hooks and bed light switch need to be removed/replaced for access.
* Gaps around Boxlink connections can allow material to get between liner/bed.

For me, drop-in is fine as it's covered 90% of the time and does what I need it to do (provide bed protection).

alyons

Thank you for the responses. I think I'm going to go with the sray liner. My next question is does anyone have an opinion on bed covers. I'm looking at the folding kind and the retractable ones. Any experience with these out there?

Thank you

Tom_with_a_Truck

I just got a folding one installed today. Undercover Ultra Flex. Since it's brand new, I really can't say a lot about it as far as durability and all that. I can only say that it's pretty solid and looks nice.

alyons

Thank you

Jfkmk