Spray - Drill? Drill - Spray?

[JackR]

Spray liner going in. Spray first then install fifth wheel hitch? Or install hitch and then spray (after removing hitch of course)?

Different answers all over the place. New truck, just want to do what's best. Or is it just not important enough to worry about?

 

[BillH]

Have done both ways, and spray first is the only way IMO.



BillH

 

[Sticks]

IMO - Drill, mount, remove, spray. Any exposed (bare, paint free) metal will be covered thus preventing rust.



Re-torque mounts after first tow - who knows how the stuff compresses.

 

[klenger]

I installed mine withing hours after having the LIne-X installed. No problems.

 

[TXDSLSHOP]

My 2 cents

If you drill all the holes and remove prior to spraying in order to coat the inside of the holes then you will have to clean the holes out afterwards. Twice the effort for the same result, spray it first and then mount the hitch. Jeremy.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Take notice that the 2 guys that sprayed first and then installed are from southern states where they don't use salt on the roads. Being up here in the rust belt the only way I'd go is to install, remove, spray, reinstall. JMHO

 

[Ron Bissett]

Had line-x spray in first . Then drilled holes , liner was black so I used a black flat spray paint to spray holes top and bottom two coats then mounted rails sprayed the bolts and nuts with the paint. Then painted over the mess with spray gray on bottom. Ron Bissett in Metro Louisville KY

 

[QRTRHRS]

I always had pretty good luck with a little touchup paint and silicon. After drilling and cleaning the filings good, I paint the raw edge and let it dry. I clean the bolts with alcohol, dab a little silicon on and tighten up.



I think I would drill, spray, dab the bolts with either silicon or something compatible with your liner material and tighten up. On a hitch where you may get movement, check the tightness. A little movement will start the rust.

 

[RKaniefski]

I just went through this same situation. If you are going to install the 5ver hitch yourself, I would suggest you install the hitch (at least drill the holes in the bed), then remove the 5ver to get the bed liner sprayed in. The reason is that you can see the spot welds in the bed to give you some ides of where not to drill. I installed a Hijacker 5ver and it is a good thing I installed first, cause the holes had to be drilled in the bed very close to the bed cross member supports and it is very easy to see where they are (spot welds) before the liner is sprayed in. I had the Perma Tech liner sprayed. I looked at the others and was not impressed with the person doing the spraying. Our Rino dealers is across the street from many new truck dealerships and none of them use him. I asked around and got a lot of bad reports about him. So I went with the Perma tech.

 

[klenger]

I located the holes from the bottom of the bed. It made it a lot easier to line up the L brackets in the correct position. I could tell where the U channel, welds, etc. were all located. The installation went off without a hitch (pun intended).

 

[JackR]

Thanks for all the insights. Think I have it figured out. I did find out that there are varying degrees of experience for the spray liner installers. Found one that had the right answers based on your responses. Appreciate the help.

 

[Henry]

Drill first?

Call me silly, but if you drill and mount then remove to spray... . this stuff is thick and you'll have to drill the holes back out to get the bolts through. Hence, you might as well spray it before you drill and mount. Then go Klenger's route from the bottom side for determining where to drill. Either way, throw some black Hammerite at the holes before you bolt it up. Just a thought.