How To Clean The Inside Of A Work Truck

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I've always wondered why pickup trucks have painted beds. Hauling annihilation immediately scratches a make-new truck bed. It'southward glace every bit heck when wet. Of form, there are alternatives: Old trucks used to use forest, which rotted in a few years. Y'all tin can buy a drop-in plastic bed liner, only it might rub off paint and trap moisture underneath, which leads to rust. I'm starting to think the best solution is an applied surface that's tougher than paint, similar an epoxy concrete-floor coating. In the industry, these coatings are called spray-in bed liners, and there are several companies that volition coat your bed. Using catalyzed-urethane-based polymers at 800 to 2000 psi, these liners are thicker and tougher than the driveway-practical roll-in liners—they're also considerably more expensive, with prices ranging from $400 to virtually $1000. This is a perfect DIY project: In only iv hours, we did the job ourselves for about $50. Here's how.

It's All in the Prep

Start past washing the truck, paying special attention to getting the within of the bed squeaky clean. Skip the wax setting at the quarter car launder, because the bed-liner material needs bare, clean paint to stick. Requite the box a total day to completely dry.

Discover a shady, outdoor place. Trust me, you won't want to piece of work indoors— this stuff stinks like dead dinosaurs when information technology'due south drying.

Vesture old wearing apparel. And old shoes. Rubber gloves are a very good idea because it takes days to come out of your fingerprints. (Don't enquire.)

Use a leaf blower or a store vac to clean the inside of the bed of any dust, leaves or h2o. If y'all've spilled whatsoever oil, ever, information technology'll need to be cleaned with mineral spirits. If there's any loose, peeling paint or rust on the sheet metal, you'll need to wire-brush, sandpaper or sandblast down to make clean metal. Don't exit any loose rust around. And then accident out or vacuum the debris over again. Prime number the bare spots with a zinc-based primer, which you tin can spray from an aerosol tin or fifty-fifty castor on.

More Helpful Hints

You'll need to apply two coats. Do both on the aforementioned day, but await long plenty, an hour or two, to allow the first coat to fix. Wait as well long and the 2nd glaze may not bail properly. Achieving a consistent texture isn't niggling. Information technology's a constant juggling act betwixt having enough and too much material on the roller, rolling out what'due south there and backtracking to catch drips. Spotter any inner corners, seams or fittings, equally the liner material can sag several minutes later on. No trouble—only roller over it and catch the drips. Again, patience is the watchword. Use mineral spirits or lacquer thinner to make clean up any spills.

Remove the masking tape within four hours or so. Let the bed dry out for near 24 hours, longer if the weather is absurd.

Be aware that the intense flat-blackness color of your liner volition fade within a few months to charcoal greyness. Only then, and so will the expensive spray-in liner.

Brush On, Roller On

The existent hugger-mugger to doing a proper bed-lining task is patience. Don't rush initial cleanup or proper scuff-sanding. Bonus: You lot can use leftover coating to touch up scratches periodically. If and then, don't forget to degrease the surface before recoating.

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i. In one case the bed is clean and dry and any blank steel is primered, mask off the bed tops, the tailgate, the hinges and the latch pins. Careful masking will considerably improve the aesthetics of the chore.

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2. Scuff the entire interior of the bed with either the kit's Scotch-Brite pad or some 150-grit sandpaper. Be thorough or the new liner will skin off in sheets afterwards.

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three. Hither's an example of paint that's been scuffed properly. There will still be some shine, but you definitely need to leave a patina of scratches backside. I recommend a dual-activeness or orbital sander for most of the job and saving the Scotch-Brite for the inside corners.

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4. Employ solvent and fresh paper towels to degrease the bed. It's vitally important to go every inch. Change the toweling when it looks dirty. Wipe in merely one direction, from the front of the bed to the back, to continue any greasy spots from migrating to the back. Needless to say, piece of work out of doors for this footstep.

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v. Using a disposable brush, touch-paint any inside corners where the roller won't fit. Starting at the front end of the bed, roller on the liner fabric. For the first coat, yous won't see the final texture, so simply concentrate on getting an even coat without any missed spots, drips or sags.

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6. The 2d coat will show a uniformly crude high-traction surface left backside by the roller. Texture areas y'all can't roller by dabbing with the stop of the slightly wetted brush.