Deck restorer as bedliner -TESTED

Hello TW! I setup this account just to post my results. about two months ago I came across this post and was debating on paying a ridiculous $1400 for a bedliner or doing this (for what turned out to be a total of $96~) . Unfortunately I didn't take before or sanding pics, time didn't permit as I was attempting to beat burning daylight and possible evening rain. I also was installing my two swing out storage boxes and my aluminum bed cover in the same day, all of which I had not done before...if I didn't succeed in getting the bed cover on in time, then the rain would ruin all the day's work of applying the Rustoleum to the bed.

Here's what I did:

I purchased two (gallon) cans of Rustoleum deck restore 10x for $24.98 at Home Depot. I asked the gentleman to add black to them and said "use whatever inexpensive black paint you can", since it's simply an additive to the mix. Total for two Rustoleum (gallon) cans mixed with black, plus some rollers (I chose the nice thick rollers that are made for rough uneven surfaces), masking tape (the good kind, it matters), a Payday candybar that I had eaten while I shopped and a Mocha Rockstar on the way out, less than a hundred bucks.

I removed my plastic liner. I hadn't done this before but it was extremely simple, didn't need to google it, and you'd have to be a melon to not figure it out. Then I washed the bed out with dishwashing soap, something with a bit of degreasing power. I dried the bed with a sham and a towel (I had limited time, if you want to sit and wait for it to dry, cool beans).

Next was sanding. Sanding is crucial. If you are lazy with sanding your results will be just as equally non-impressive as your effort. I used (a total of two sanding sheets, $1.69 each at Ace hardware) 50 grit sandpaper on my electric sander, then hand sanded all the nooks and crannies I wasn't able to get in to. Total time for sanding (no masking was needed) was 1hr 30 min. I did not take it down to a clean perfect metal sand, I just made sure that every surface area I intended to apply the Rustoleum deck restore to, was thoroughly scratched. I went harder on areas I knew received more abrasion, like the two wheel arches. During the sanding I removed the plastic bed door cover and sanded it as well.

After sanding, I washed it again, this time more thoroughly, and dried it with towels and shams again.

I only needed to mask a few parts, your truck may vary but it took me 10 minutes.

I laid down 80% of one gallon starting from the back of the bed (closest to cab) and worked my way back to the tailgate. Then I stood on my tires and did the sides, in hindsight I should have definitely painted it while inside the bed .

I let it dry for 1hr and 30 min in the direct sun. It was only 48-50f that day so it didn't dry well in that time, but it was hard enough to allow the rest of the first gallon down. I then borrowed my wife's 1800watt carbon fiber hairdryer and assisted it in drying. It only took about 40-50 minutes of this to get it to a dryer than previous feel. By this point it didn't look bad but there were some spots that looked thin in coverage. On the second gallon I slopped it on heavily while rolling it lightly everywhere.

I assisted it in drying again and immediately started assembling my Gatortraxx aluminum bed cover because it was approaching dusk and getting really dm cold. Clouds had rolled in and judging by the temp we were looking at snow not rain. While the instructions for the bed cover said it would take 1hr and 30min, it took me 14 minutes. 4 minutes of which I spent attempting to depict the horribly drawn instructions and understand the poorly written verbiage. There was only six screws and four parts to the entire bed cover, so I'm not sure how it would take anyone an hour and a half, unless you read like dried molasses and work like a DMV worker.

There was an "oh frak" moment when installing the bed cover. I had forgotten I had removed the screws that hold in the access panel on the tailgate. When I lifted the tailgate two things happened... One the access panel came off and landed sticky side to sticky side on the bed, and then about a gallon of water came rushing out into the entire bed and all over the tailgate!

I've been trained on how to handle intense and hostile situations, so I quickly grabbed a sham and *dabbed* the water up while cursing 8,774 times. While I can't post the actual transcription, here is a PG 13 version of what I said:

"Make love to me"
"Make love to me"
"Defecate"
"Defecate"
"Defecate"
"Make love to meeeee"

Amazingly it held up extremely well even exposed to water that soon. I do however have to make some touchups with Rustoleum once the weather gets warmer, hopefully next week.

It's been a few days and honestly, it's still drying. It's hard and not sticky to the touch, but with the thickness of the layers I put down, it will take about 3 days in really hot weather to bake it on properly. It feels soft underneath the top layer still, but some parts have dried and are rock solid. Also it didn't help that it hailed and snowed the day after I laid it down.

I really like the way it looks as is but I might use two cans of Rustoleum triple thick glaze on top of it to further seal it and make it a whole lot easier to hose fine dust out (Moab, Zion, DV). I've used the triple thick glaze to protect 3D printed pots for outdoor use and they've held up well over the years.

It could easily be done in an afternoon and was well worth it. All Rustoleum has to do is slap this inside a "heavy duty" spray guy kit and sell it for $65.

 

It's been a couple of months now. How's the bedliner holding up? Did you end up putting the glaze on it? If so, which one did you use and how well did it apply?

Thanks!

 

Also curious here about how it's holding my bed needs protection and I'm trying to decide between this and harbor freight bed liner

 

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I've been working on it this weekend. I'll try and write up a guide when it's finished. Then I'll try to remember to check in after 6 months.

So far it's looking good though.

 

Is that the glaze that's drying on top or are you applying a second coat

 

That was a second coat. Haven't found any glaze I want to apply without someone chiming in about a given glaze working well, so for now I'm just applying and letting it weather.

 

I'm dying

 

What's this about a deck restorer?
I've never found those to work.

 

I used this stuff on my aluminum boat deck and the floor and as mentioned, it don't stick to raw metal in any condition, it will only stick to an etched/sanded painted surface

anyway, after just over a year of having it in my boat, it holds up just fine to lots of foot traffic and sliding tackle boxes and an ice chest around, but that's not anything like the type of conditions experienced in a truck bed.

I don't know about how well it can hold up to a truck bed where sharper edge objects might get moved around but im may try it in my truck soon if we ever get any follow up real test results from someone who has real world reviews after having stuff sliding around and stuff being thrown in the bed all the time.

 

Not looking good for hard impacts, guys. I put a 50+ pound cheap wooden desk in the back of the truck to haul to Goodwill. Tossed it in kinda rough to test the bedliner. A sharpish (for wood) corner plus the weight was able to scrape through the liner. I'm going to patch it up, but as a note, this might not be a great solution for people who use their truck as a work truck and toss in heavy stuff often.

 

Just wanted to updated everyone, it's 2018, the deck sealer has been on for two years. It held up very well for my usage. I think I'm very rough and tend to NGAS (not give a s**t). I think it's important to mention that I purchased the 10x deck restore. The 4x is much thinner and doesn't hold up so well.

Though it states that it dries in 24-48 hours, this is way off. It doesn't fully dry for several weeks (much faster under hot sun or hot weather, where I live it's mostly cold). During the "not dry" phase it feels semi-hard, similar to dried caulk. Most people would assume "it's dry". With some effort...it can be smudged and messed up during this period. Once it is fully dried, it should feel like asphalt and can withstand some decent damage. I have several spots in my bed where the bed itself became majorly dented and the bed liner held up just fine.

I recently bought a 5 gallon Rustoleum (Black) 10x Deck Sealer since it was on sale a few weeks ago. I took my GatorTrax aluminum rollup cover off and bought a Leer camper shell so I decided to redo the bed again. Second time going over it definitely makes it look thicker and should add more durability.

 

I ended up selling the truck a few years a ago so I can't update mine. It didn't look any worse when the truck went than after I trashed it. I'd pretty much forgotten I'd started this thread