Spray painting the bed?

Has anyone tried to spray paint their bed? My truck bed has some scratches in it from normal wear and tear. I have a nice Bed mat installed to protect the bottom but just curious if a black spray paint would cover up the scratches?

I can always to a roll on kit but thougth i would ask first...

 

My experience with Painting is that you CAN NOT hide a scratch with paint without first either removing the scratch or filling it with something first! !! Simply spraying over it will not do it.

Good Luck

Don G

 

What ? cover up your battle scars ? pish posh !

 

Do you mean scratches on the metal or plastic bed cover? If you dont have have the plastic then you should investigate rubberized or epoxy paint for your bed.

 

I have the plastic covers.
I have some scratches that are not the same color (black) as the plastic.
they are gray or white... i thought a spray paint might cover some of it up and make it less noticable.

 

Try black shoe polish. It wont flake off like spray paint.

 

hmmm... shoe polish...

i wonder if it would match the current black?

 

Just go with Rhino Lining or LineX bed spray on. Looks nice and very cheap. You wont find any more scratches after using those products last truck I had worked very well.

 

I dont understand why you would want to cover the scratches in the bed, thats what you got a truck for. show 'em with pride, i know i do

 

Call me Anal.... if you ever want to buy a vehicle... Mine alway look better and are in better shape after i get them and own them.

I just like things to look NICE AND NEW as long as possible.

 

Since you put it that way, here's something you can do after you paint your bed. Drop a sheet of plywood or OSB to fit between your wheel wells and to fit the length of the bed. Now when you load/unload heavy stuff, all you have to do it to pull the sheet of plywood out up to the tailgate and load your (lets say) patio stones on the wood and slide it in and do the same when unloading. It will protect you bed and nobody will know you are anal except us. Eat Steak!

 

WTF........what's the point of a composite bed?

Sorry if that sounded a little irate, but I have been boggled over why all you people got bed liners on a composite bed. I can understand the mat to prevent sliding. someone enlighten me.

 

IMHO i think the composite bed is WEAK... a 400 Spray in bedliner works much better and I think they hold up to normal wear and tear much better as well...

no problem for sounding irate... like i said before i am just anal and like the CLEAN LOOK... the plywood would be great when hauling anything that could scratch the bed but that why i bough the heavy duty liner... 1 in thick compounded rubber.

 

OK. Here's your solution.

Start off with a propane torch and carefully melt the scratches. Try to get the material on the edges to fill in the crevases.

Now take a hand held orbital sander with about 100 grit paper to the entire bed. Step up to 200, 400, 600, 1200, 2000 each in turn. You now have the smoothest bed you've ever seen. Polish with a plastic polish for a glass-like appearance.

At this point you'll want to take a picture cause it won't stay that way without some effort but it'd be cool until you used the bed the first time. I bet you could find a drop-in liner to use when you needed to haul stuff. Just put some padding on the bottom so it doesn't scratch the polished surface.

Not my thing personally, but I bet it would look cool on a show truck.

 

Its been said before...i put the spray in liner and you will be so happy with it....i have had 4 inches of mud and clay in the back of my truck before i sprayed the pressure washer over it for a few minutes and it looks likes new also when you haul things in the back you dont have to worry cargo slipping and sliding around. You dont have to get a rhino..look around there are plenty of other brands that are cheaper and just as durable..plus it will raise the value of your vehicle

 

I dont think a spray in liner will raise teh resale value of a truck that comes with a composite bed. If i were buying a truck that i knew had a composite bed from teh factory, i wouldnt even notice if it had been sprayed. and if someone tried to jack up the price for it i definately wouldn't pay it. its a bed, its suppose to be scratched, thats what the original liner is for.

 

lol yeah good point, of course i am also the guy who tore everything out of a 98 wrangler and spray lined the floor...so let me rephrase what i said, if you are going to be using your truck to play in the mud i would recomend a spray in liner....what is a composite liner?

 

the 2nd gen's come with a "composite lined" truck bed. Our beds are made out of a composite mateial that is pretty much the same as a bed liner. Our trucks dont have metal beds.... at all. The beds themselves are suppose to be stonger and lighter than steel (dont know if thats true or not) and the exposed part of the bed is already lined with the equivilant of rhino liner (except its not spayed on). Thats why i dont understand why he cares if his bed gets scratched. It would be like you getting your bed rhino lined and then complaining cause it got scratched. its thick rough black plastic, who cares what it looks like?

BTW, spraylining the floor is an awesome idea if your rig is solely for offroad.

Here is a pic of what the factory beds look like. i hope it works...