Line-X or not to Line-X

[moolie]

man i have this one with linex and my last one was linex and i always understood it to be a mandatory rule from the truck gods. Did they vote it out when i wasn't looking

 

[DDiMarco]

I was faced with the same question two months ago when I bought my 04. 5/600 short bed CTD. My view is that any spray-in liner does not offer the shock absorption qualities of an insert-type liner. The factory bed liner is 235. 00, can be removed in a heartbeat for bed inspection and when using a quality roll-up tonneau cover, the whole bed is protected from the weather. I can throw cement blocks or firewood into the bed and not worry about it because the plastic bedliner has a corrugated surface. I like the slide quality of the plastic liner surface and don't view it as a negative. Any cargo should be secured with tiedowns or partitions anyways; have u ever tried to slide bags of fertilizer, wood chips or bags of cement forward in a Linex or Rhino-treated bed? Forget it! Hop your butt up there and move each one individually. In addition, a quick washdown with a hose takes 30 secs. But i would not recommend an over-the-rail, plastic bedlliner; the abrasion will eventually wear down the paint and putting a tonneau cover on will require that the bedliner be cut to accommodate the tonneau cover rails. I guess the most important question is "what are you going to put in the bed?"

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

DDiMarco has some good points. I use to have the insert liners in my boxes (in the olden days before my present truck). However, I did dent the wheel well through the plastic line hucking fire wood into the truck, which is one of the reasons for the flatbed. I watched my uncle huck a roll of barb wire into his truck with a plastic insert liner which convinced me to get one. They are slick - too slick when frosty.



However, even with the Xlined flatbed I will put a piece of scrap plywood down if I am going to haul something particularly narly which might damage the xline or be hard to clean out. So now I have the best of all three worlds.

 

[GCrowell]

Bed Liner

I have never used Line-x but have had the plastic inserts. Never again. I had Vortex sprayed in my bed over the rails. It is about 3/16" thick, it drys in about 15 minutes and can be used from that point on. It is hard but 'stuff' doesn't slide around and it can be repaired if ever needed very easily. It is guaranteed for the life of the truck. I have hauled and shoveled dirt, clay and mulch and it cleans up very nicely.



Just another opinion.



George

 

[Rotty]

I now have had both rhino on the 04. 5 and the 99. both wer done over the rail plus about one inch down from the top of the rail (dog fingernail protection) .

Get it done immediatly. You will enjoy it. I paid $500 for the last rhino job.

Just make sure you check out some of there other job before you plunk down some of your hard earned money. Walk into the shop and talk to the person who is actually shooting the job. What experence does he/she have?

The more experenced the better.



Later...

 

[White Ram1]

Good timing for me to see this. My truck just came in last week. I have had Rhino liner in all my past trucks, mostly black, two red ones. The red faded pretty bad on the second one, but not the first. The blacks all held up well.



I have never tried Line-x, mainly because they are so much harder of a finish surface than the Rhino liner is. I get in and out of my bed quite often in the summer months, riding dirt bikes etc... I sit in the bed changing in and out of my riding gear.



I have had a Rhino liner tear once, but they fixed it no charge and you couldn't tell.



Maybe I need to look closer at Line-x this time around.

 

[SleeStack]

Being intimately associated with the Line-X dealer here in Albuquerque I can offer some advice (both as a bedliner consumer and provider). I have had 2 dealer "installed" Rhino liners in the past. Both worked well but faded quickly and were easily "gouged" with sharp metal objects.



I have had 2 Line-X liners in the last two trucks and recently sprayed the inside of my FJ40 Landcruiser. Line-X is much tougher, and resists all the big pointy, heavy crap I throw on it. It also is much more resistant to fading. I agree that the surface is harder and not as friendly for crawling around in the back in shorts. But I prefer the increased toughness. It also resists long exposure to diesel fuel (my aux tank in the bed is sprayed and gets splashed just about every time I fill it).



Line-X is sprayed on hot (heated hoses/gun) and dries in about 6 seconds. It is usable immediately after the application is finished. No waiting at all. All authorized Line-X dealers (and there should not be any that aren't) will remove all the bed and tailgate hardware prior to application of the liner. They should also take off any seperate "pieces" of the bed or tailgate and shoot them individually. All Line-X dealers should measure the thickness of the bedliner once applied and give that information to you on the lifetime warranty certificate.



Line-X is avail. in different colors, however unless the shop already has the color you want (maybe in a big city shop, or one that does alot of business), then it might get VERY pricey to do. As the shop has to order the colored material in 55 gallon drums.



That is a pretty good price for an over the rail. I would jump on it if I were you.



Bill R.

Line-X of Albuquerque



ps. You may be able to save yourself some money on any bedliner install by doing some of the prep work yourself. First of all drop it off with a clean bed (no mud or crud). Next remove any accessories that you do not want sprayed (hitches, 5th wheel stuff, trailer light plugs, etc), as most shops will charge you their hourly rate to remove stuff and clean extra dirty trucks. Some shops might also give you a break if you sand/scuff the surface of the bed and rails to prep it for spraying (variable). Certainly on a jeep/cruiser or other interior spray job it is very important to remove everything you can prior to dropping it off. This will save you mucho bucks for the labor side of things. As prep work on these jobs is at least 2x as hard as a bedliner.

 

[PJ]

Well, my appointment is at 8am Tuesday morning. I was in town this afternoon , so I left them the truck and had my wife pick me up. That way, since its going to rain tomorrow, they will have a DRY truck to work with as they will already have it in the booth. Oo. Im very excited that the next time I see the truck, it will be FINISHED. I asked that they go over the rail about 1/2" down and then taper over the taligate 1" just because my palm of my hand always hits that spot when closing the tailgate. Ther "demo" truck was the same way and it looked great.

Ill know tomorrow if I did the right thing, tho I already know it will be great!

Thanks for all the input

 

[MNielsen]

Well I had Rhino liner in mine and have had no problems. Years age I had another truck with drop in liner and when removed it was rusted through back of cab from water sitting under drop-in. Check warranty info for I believe if you have a drop-in and wash it or after it rains you must remove and dry bed.

Just have it sprayed in and don't worry about ythe bed anymore. Oo.

 

[MCrossley]

not to put a rock in the pond here but I just wanted to say I had line-x on my 01 and although I absolutly love the product the company absolutly SUCKS! they screwed me over pretty bad with a big smile on their face long story short I got the shaft and they could care less, I now am using spray-on which is the same material as the line-x but is applied a little differently overall same result and the people seem to actually give a dam about you once you leave the shop. Not to say that all of the stores are that way in fact many people I know are absolutly satified but I have also run into many with the same story as me where when they do need help they get the sorry answer. Just an opinion thats all

 

[PJ]

I picked up the truck today from Line-X and it looks GREAT!!!!! All I can say is Dodge should make it a factory option! Im very impressed with this job, over the job they did back in 1998. That one was really bad. This looks wonderful and Im a happy pappy Oo. Oo. Oo.

 

[klenger]

I love a happy ending.

 

[daytripper63]

Do you know that LINE-X has a contract with the navy to LINE-X all the noses of nuclear submarines?

Apparently there was a problem with the paint or coating on nose coming off subs so they started useing LINE-X and that took care of problem

 

[fj40dave]

I liked it so much on my '97 that when I bought my new 2004. 5 I went straight from the dealer to Line-X before taking the new truck home!!!

Ditto! Oo.

 

[HootieF]

I had it in my last three trucks it makes the truck look good and it is tough stuff. I feel it is the best spray in bedliner on the market.

 

[Jeremiah]

That's a fair price from what I've heard. I paid $425 for a commercial over-the-rail application. Couldn't be happier. I'd BS the dealer into giving you commercial thickness though, unless weight is a consideration. You'll more than get your money back on everything when you sell it.

 

[Dean Upson]

I have RhinoLiner, under the rail on the 98 and over on the '03. I like the over the rail better, makes more sense. I will always have the spray in liner in my trucks.



Dean

 

[midlife crisis]

I read all the posts and even recall old threads on this topic... I am still unclear. Is LineX available in colors, such as Patriot Blue? Even the LINEX website does not detail available colors. FYI- after reading this I pulled out the factory bedliner today. Some paint rub thru's, but not thru the primer & no rust. Only dent was at the very front under the window on the front cap. Went in to the bed way too hot on the quad, brakes were full of snow & ice. I think the bedliner helped the dent from being worse- but I will never make that mistake again. I dont want to put the liner back in- but a sprayed black liner doesnt appeal to me either. Looks like so Jersey's closest dealer is Newark Deleware. Anyone been there? Thanks - Drew

 

[Jeremiah]

Drew, I've seen Line-X advertised in color but never found a dealer that did it. I've also heard that black is the way to go. Basic difference between Rhino and Line-X is Rhino is somewhat soft and Line-X is rock hard. Dean prefers Rhino, I prefer Line-X. Whatever turns your crank is the way to go.

 

[Ol'TrailDog]

I've seen a bright yellow and black Ford Bronco and a bight red Jeep both completely X-lined in Idaho Falls at the X-line place. All I could think was "to each their own".