To spray coat or not to spray coat? That is the question.

Howdy, all!

I have a super white '16 Tacoma TRD Offroad. I bought it pre-owned with what appears to be 1-2" spacers for a lift. My tires rub a little on my mudflaps, and I've been planning to pull my mudflaps off for a little while now, especially since I actually use my truck off road, hence the sliders.

I understand that if I pull off the flaps, the sodes of my truck are a bit more at risk of kick-up from roads and trails. Gravel, debris, that sort of thing. With that in mind, I'm thinking of doing some spray-coating on her. If you look at the photo below, that's my truck. I'm thinking of bedliner from the dimple down, if that makes sense? Basically the lower indentation on the doors.

Has anyone done this or similar before? Or does anyone have any photos? I'm thinking of using plasti-dip first to see what it looks like without making it permanent, before removing that and actually spraying with bedliner. What does TW think?

 

Spray on bed liner will look like it has been done to cover up some damage. Me, I would wait until there actually are some scratches/stone chips that need covering, then apply the covering bed liner product.

 

But don't these trucks have a protective coating in that area and up 4" along the bottom of the doors already? My 07 came with it (looks like sprayed on bed liner under the paint.)

 

It does, toward the bottom I believe? I know it works in conjunction with the mudflaps, but I feel like removing the mudflaps would allow debris to strike slightly higher. I may remove the mudflaps just to see how everything holds up to debris before applying anything, like @DanoTay mentioned

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mPlMtH3qeg

 

This is the best option, I did the top 6 inches of my tailgate with it to prevent scratching when I close the tailgate.

 

Welded top plate on the sliders would help a lot

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...1-factory-order.693313/page-141#post-26462167

 

Maybe try plasti-dip in the bottom section to see how it looks, and then bed-liner over that if it looks good. Similar to those that paint the bottom portion of the tailgates black. With the dip, you’ll get to see if it looks good without being permanent.
I think my phone art is impressive as usual…

 

Honestly, I would replace the spacer lift before anything on a $40K truck. Those 255's shouldn't rub, but I cant confirm that. I believe mud flaps are essential.

 

We got ourselves a regular Banksy

 

They're actually 265s, 265/75/R16. Same ones I had previously from the previous owner; they rubbed a smidge at the extreme turn angles and while stopping. These are newer with more tread so they rub a little more, plus the hundreds of lbs added by the sliders adds a bit of rub on those corner turns

 

Doh! Looked like I replied to someone else's post with 255s.

265/75/16's shouldn't rub on the mudflaps either. You sure your not getting a slight rub on the UCAs?

 

Positive - I can actually see the wear/rub mark on the inside of what may not necessarily be the mudflap itself, but part of the assembly the mudflap is attached to. The bubbled-out plastic inside the wheel well. Does that make sene? I can't take a picture of that until this evening

 

Then removing the mudflaps won't do anything for you.

More caster in your alignment to push the wheels forward could help, or heat gun work in the area where the rub is to reshape it away from the tire.

 

Imo bed liner always looks decent and like you intended at first but does not stand the test of time. You truck is new enough I would spend the money and cover the rocker panel with a 3m style wrap. They are expensive so you might wanna do it yourself or at least try. I personally just let my tires rub the mud flaps till they quit . It only happened on hard turns when I was in reverse.

 

First question I'd ask:
Do I intend to keep this truck a really long time?
Resale will take a huge hit, if you're a vehicle hobby guy that needs a new toy every 2-3 years, I wouldn't.

 

Here's my Tacoma with Line-X recently applied to the sides. It wasn't cheap (just north of $900 for what you're looking at here), but I had the same on my '11 Xterra that I bought new and it still looked perfect when I traded it in for the Tacoma after a decade. For most of that decade, the Xterra was fitted with KO2s and no mud flaps, so the Line-X had plenty of opportunities to serve its intended purpose.

It's well worth the cost, in my opinion, to know that rock chips can't possibly be an issue for the decade-plus that I intend to keep my truck - I got paint protection film on the front for the same reason. I could have saved some money by doing it myself with rattle can bedliner or taking it to a shop that uses a cheaper product, but I prefer to "do it right or do it twice" and never worry about it again. Others' opinions on the aesthetics and cost/benefit balance will vary, of course.

And regarding the post above that said resale value will take a hit - that's 100% untrue in my recent experience. I got an excellent trade-in price for my Xterra and the guys at the dealership said they really liked the Line-X.

 

That's an interesting take on the lining. It appears you did a level line across the truck. I'm looking at filling the contours, as partially depicted @hyrule_trd 's phenomenal rendering lol. Thanks for the great points, too. I'm honestly planning to hang onto this truck for a long, long time!

 

This may be a good option......

2K urethane White bedliner. 1 or 2 cans should do everything.

Just mind the surface prep.

$39 Raptor 2K Bedliner Aerosol, Protective Coating, Spray-On Truck Bed Liner, Impact, Scratch & UV Resistant, White, 13.2 OZ

https://www.amazon.com/U-Pol-Raptor...DGLZ3RD,B0185PU38A,B07LHB3B2Q,B07WSJBSRW&th=1