Opinions needed for Bed protection.....

[Reptar]

Any marks from the sticky side of the velcro when you took it off your 2nd HD?

ZERO! I was actually quite surprised. I almost left the velcro in just so I wouldn't have to deal with tape residue. I started pulling peices though and it's such high quality velcro, that it peels off 100% CLEAN. No pieces of tape left behind, no residue left behind, just some very sore fingers from trying to peel it off because it was still stuck on pretty darn good lol

accually with the zippers i was more worried about leaking..... and yeah i thought cutting a slit in it was a stupid idea too, i was just repeating what i had read. heh i hadnt looked at the bolts doe the tie downs, im picturing small screws like drywall size screws.... and if they were about halfway screwed in then that cant be god lol. but if their beefy enough i can see it not being a problem. thanks for the info Reptar!

The ever so slight amount that may leak wouldn't hurt anything anyway. You can't even tell there's zippers along the seam when its isntalled because they're resessed between the side and bottom pushing against each other. And what little may leak wouldn't matter. Keep in mind what causes rust from drop in liners. It's not just water. It's water and bare metal. The plastic liners vibrate a LOT, and they shift and move around. The bedrug doesn't move a milimeter when installed. The plastic liners also are hard backed which sands paint over time. The bedrug is soft foam backed which would take a century of vibration and rubbing to wear through the clear, let alone the paint and primer before it hit metal lol. A little water if it were to get through won't hurt anything. There's also drain holes where the bed floor meets the front bed wall and it can run out there or run out at the tailgate seam, but again it'd be such little amount, it'd evaporate before it'd ever come pouring out a drain hole.

As for the tiedown bolts, you'd bust them the 1st time you strapped anything down if they were drywall screw sized lol. And if ford downgraded them to that size I'd be disappointed. In my 00 they were a decent sized bolt. As I mentioned the bedrug on the sides is maybe 1/4" thick foam, and it would compress to maybe 1/16" when bolted down. Thats a negligable moment arm, especially compressed against the bed wall. It's not the same as loosening your tie down bolts 1/16" now, because the tiedown itself wouldn't be bolted tight against the bedwall like it would be with the comrpessed bedrug behind it. No worries at all. I've strapped an engine down several times to a pair of tiedowns with the bedrug and it held it for 90+ minutes of driving on several trips.

 

[willis68]

Color matched Line X Deluxe

 

[DEADEYE]

Good to know that Deadeye.

I've got a big ole BEDRUG box sitting here along with a new swing case and now I just need my BIG BLUE!!! 10/17 build date...counting the days!!!!

P.S. Thanks for the tie down install tips Reptar!

I test fit it first and checked where good pressure points / locations for the Velcro strips would be .

I then made sure and cleaned all areas with rubbing alcohol before proceeding . I also had the heat cranked up in my garage to ensure good adhesion. I do have a buddy who bought one after seeing mine and he put his ion with no fasteners and he says his is staying put. He does run a topper though , I run the Extang solid Fold so mine is covered as well. If you live where you get snow or ice and don't run a cover or take it off the only thing I have been told is you can get ice / snow build up where the Bedrug zips to the tailgate , so you may want to keep an eye on that . You can just un-zip it there and tuck it up under the rug if you are going to run this way. On the Solid fold ; I have a post up on this elsewhere , but in short not many guy's appear to have went with this cover and chose the Bakflip instead. I didn't as I did not want the bed rails and drain tubes do to where I live and have a Paceedwards roll top previously and I just don't like the bed rail app for how I use my truck and I wanted something that I could take off completely with nothing left behind . Solid fold can be removed in less than a minute and put back on just as quick with just one guy . I know the Bakflip can be as well and I relay to like the look of it and the fact you can flip it all the way up , but as I stated the bed rails and drain hoses just were not a good fit for me . Congrats and I hope your truck is here sooner than later.

 

[Humvee21]

I received my BedRug and BedTred samples earlier this week. I was quite surprised, despite my research, of the odd feeling of the material.

I did a few experiments with each and I started out with a simple water test. Surprisingly, BedRug doesn't hold much moisture at all. When submerged in water, water will sit in it. However, when I took the BedRug out of the water I would estimate about 90-95% of the water dripped out. Also, none of the water leaked through the BedRug at all. The BedTred performed just as I expected since it more resembles a hard plastic. No water absorbing and no leaking. The underside of the BedTred did take some water but just like the BedRug it all dripped out when out of the water.

The next test was dent protection. I took each to a piece of flat wood. First, I took a hammer to that piece of wood and inspected the damage. Then, I tested each with similar forces and inspected the damage. Amazing... Neither had dents or damage. I figured that I was being too gentle. Increased the force and there was some damage. Both the BedRug and BedTred was forever indented in the spot I hit with the hammer. I tried to get both products to expand back into the same form it was when new but failed. Attempts to expand both products included submerging in water and also heating with both the sun (4-6 hours I believe) and a blow dryer. I forgot to mention I did these tests were with both the flat side of the hammer and also the corner of the flat side (to give it a sharp edge simulation).

Next, compression test. I plan on hauling an ATV and also a dirtbike so I am quite concerned about how each product will hold up against heavy objects. I placed both underneath the front tires of my ML350. Wiggled the steering wheel a bit and then went from full turn left to full turn right. BedRug did not handle this test well. It was compressed to about 50% and also deformed. BedTred did a much better job and no signs of permanent compression or any deformation of any sort. I also attempted to get the BedRug to expand back to normal but those attempts failed (same process as the one above).

In my opinion, the BedRug is awesome if you're not hauling anything heavy. BedRug has better dent protection because it is thicker but once it is compressed/indented then you will lose this additional protection. BedTred held up nicely to heavier equipment and also performed exceptionally well in dent protection, considering it is very thin. Based on my experiments it seems dent protection is the weakest link to these products.

I'd like to add that I understand that real forces that will be exerted onto the bed will not be as extreme as me hammering down something on there but it seemed proper to test the limits of the products. Now if I was a MLB pitcher playing catch with my truck bed... that might be a different story.

So my questions to you all with experience with either product or both...
1. Do you have any concerns with dent protection?
2. Has yours compressed/indented from hauling heavy objects?
3. Considering its exceptional water resistance, why is it that most recommend both BedTred and BedRug to be paired with a tonneau cover?

I may have more questions I can't think of but this will be it for now. I hope I helped some and I hope others will respond to not only help me but others that might be wondering the same...

 

[DEADEYE]

Well it is a truck and mines honeymoon is over.

Bed rug does not have to be covered .

I had a freind who had one in his truck for 9 years and the dam thing still looked like almost new and the truck was used as a truck not a big station wagon.

Good luck , it seems any of the ones you are looking at should work , you just have to decide what will fit your type of use and abuse.

 

[Stepside]

I just put my DualLiner in last week and love it. It goes well with the step protector on the sides and the mat is as non slip as they get. The mat keeps from trapping water like normal drop in beds. Honestly, it took about 15 minutes to install it and it fits well.. I also went with the Truxedo Lowpro tonneau, also great but I have had it before. I am considering trading up to a 2012 in the near future and these can go with, unlike a spray in.

Oh and the hard sides do have notches in them that can be drilled out for the extender, but I dont have one.

So, if there is no tonneau cover and it rains hard, does water get underneath it?
How about some pictures.

 

[Humvee21]

Well not

I don't understand your reply

 

[DEADEYE]

I don't understand your reply

My f'n I pad freaked out and locked up when I was trying to post a reply.

Post fixed.

 

[Humvee21]

DEADEYE, thanks for your input. I was under the impression that it was practically a must have for a tonneau.

 

[Reptar]

So my questions to you all with experience with either product or both...
1. Do you have any concerns with dent protection?
2. Has yours compressed/indented from hauling heavy objects?
3. Considering its exceptional water resistance, why is it that most recommend both BedTred and BedRug to be paired with a tonneau cover?

1. I've dented the floor of my bed with a bedrug dropping a floor jack down. Now that mf'er was heavy and it hit pretty hard, unless you had 3" of foam it would have dented the bed from me being stupid and letting go so high lol. That would be the equivalent test of hitting with a sledgehammer, not a trim hammer lol. Other than that though, I never had a concern with cargo shifting and falling over and denting the bed or anything like that. Mine have held up excellent

2. I think that small sample of bedrug took more of a beating than a larger piece would have. Added strength comes from the material sharing the load a bit better. I've hauled engines on my bedrug and they've never left a dent. And they've sat in there for 12+ hrs at a time. Not much more of a concentrated heavy load you're going to be hauling than an engine.

3. Because they don't know any better. Sorry to be blunt about it, but people don't stop to think the whole situation through. They get so paranoid about moisture getting under the bedrug thinking it will rust. Well you need two things for rust....moisture and bare metal. Why do drop in liners tend to rust underneath? The hard plastic chafes through the paint in no time exposing bare metal, and the bed pocket tiedowns are usually holes through the liner where water really pours through. That leaves you with bare metal and water to rust. The bedrug is so soft on the backside it will never rub through the paint. Also with all the velcro it won't even vibrate or move around. A drop in liner is just dropped in, nothing to secure it from vibrating and rattling and chaffing paint. And the only area for a bedrug to really get water under it is the front bed wall. Take a look at what's at the front of the bed where it meets the bed wall....a gap and drain holes. So if you don't have a liner and you're parked on a hill down, the bed won't fillup with water. Well anything that leaks past the bedrug at the front bedwall is going to run right down and out those drain holes. Running a bedrug or bedtred with no cover is no big deal whatsoever. i've known Lightning guys that have been doing it for literally over a decade now, and zero issues.