How to make the bed look good?

In all seriousness, I love my bed mat. It's annoying sometimes, like trying to get a full cooler to the tailgate with the camper on but I won't ever take it out.

 

Bought my 2010 2 months ago.....
Power washed
Removed bed bolts that were rusted, reconditioned and painted black to match bed
Hand rubbed “back to black”, although the Turtle wax product has come out better n testing.
bought a Toyota bed mat (love it)
And finally put a hard cover on it........suns brutal here in TX.

 

This bed reminds me of something called G10.
Fiberglass mat, or cloth, layered and compressed. Crazy strong and machine-able.

It's not plastic. Drill into the bed and you'll see.
I have, so I know.

 

Has anyone tried using an orbital polisher with an appropriate compound?

 

I don't know specifically what they use for the bed, but I think I have a pretty good idea. Look up SMC or Sheet Molded Compound. It's likely an unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) with an MEK Peroxide catalyst that is mixed with glass fiber and calcium carbonate (mineral filler), then compression molded in a BIG hydraulic press at about 340 degrees F. So, the resin is a polymer, it's a thermoset so it's cured, not cooled, so it won't 'melt' again, but the overall mix as molded, is a composite (like @TnShooter said). These mixes are generally about 30 percent resin, 30 percent filler, 30 percent chopped fiber glass and 10 percent additives, release agents, etc. The release agents are what allow the molder to get it out of the mold after it's cured. Usually, zinc stearate is used in the mix as well as topically on the mold. This is why so many people have trouble getting anything to stick to this material. It literally has it in the mix so it blooms to the surface during the molding process, allowing the operator to get the part to release. Imagine rubbing a light coat of wax on your car right before you paint it.....

So, to get anything to stick to it, you'll have to physically abrade (sand/grind) the surface, to give it some 'tooth'. This will also likely break through the top resin layer and into the fiber glass. Then, you'll have to wipe it down really well with a strong solvent (we used the hell out of MEK) to remove the zinc stearate from the surface, then start with an epoxy primer. After that, you should be able to paint it.
I didn't read the article about the bed liner application but if the surface is rough enough, I would expect decent results. If not, it'll look good for a while then one day, it will begin to peel off.

You could try just wiping a small area on a side wall down with MEK, and hitting it with a little satin black spray paint. See how that holds up. If it holds up well, you could do the sides and throw in a bed mat. After all, the big truck hoods and air dams are SMC and they are painted. But, they are sanded and epoxy primed first.

I used to work for a company that was a solid surface kitchen and bath manufacturer. We had a handful of folks that used to work for Rockwell where they molded the big truck hoods and even some stuff for the Corvette. Our process was very similar to the SMC molding process they used at Rockwell, but our recipes were a little different. The base materials were the same but we mixed in different ratios to get different properties.
In my opinion, SMC is great stuff, but it can be a booger to work with if you aren't familiar with it or how to get something to stick to it.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!

 

Unless you are wiping it down for a show in the next hour or so, 303 is a waste of money.

The material does not allow absorption. It sort of dries on the surface, which is why the recommendation on the bottle is to buff it.

The first rain/snow/wash and it will start to wash away.

I used it on a drop top for a couple of months until I realized it was just running off and streaking the paint and glass when it rained. Rest went in the trash.

 

The Gen 2/Gen 3 beds are made of SMC (Sheet Molding Compound). It's a composite fiber reinforced plastic based on chopped glass fiber, mineral fillers, and unsaturated polyester resin. It's produced as a partially-cured doughy sheet that's cut into precisely measured pieces and placed in a two-part mold. Very often there's a gel coat on the main surface to prevent fibers from showing through. (Especially for things like big truck front bodywork.) It's compressed and heated to finish the cure.

"Composite", as noted, refers to a material with a dispersed reinforcing phase distributed throughout a continuous matrix phase. Usually the term composite is used where the dispersed phase is a fiber, like glass, carbon, aramid (Kevlar) or others, to distinguish it from polymers "filled" with minerals like talc, calcium carbonate or other dispersed materials like carbon black. Technically, filled polymers could be called composites but they're usually not.

Fibers can be continuous (like the composite tub in a Formula 1 car or aircraft where the weave pattern or side-by-side fibers are often visible in an epoxy matrix). Or the fibers can be discontinuous, shorter fibers. In fiber reinforced nylons in injection molding, the fiber length is really short due to breakage in the compounding and extrusion process. SMC has the advantage of preserving a lot of fiber length -- several inches in some case -- so they can provide a lot of strength. A broken fender or front shroud on an over-the-road truck will often show the fibrous torn edge where the composite has been ripped apart.

The matrix in a composite can be a thermoset (non-melting) resin like used in our Tacoma's SMC, and also thermoplastics. But a composite doesn't have to use a polymer matrix. There are metal-matrix and ceramic-matrix composites, and some of the very highest-tech composites are those with carbon fiber reinforcement in a carbon matrix. It's super-high temperature resistant exotic stuff in aerospace and some motorsport brakes. When you hear carbon-carbon, that's what they're referring to.

Our Tacoma beds aren't as exotic, but it's really quite good technology for a pickup bed. Having had rusted out beds on Toyota pickups since 1980, I'm very happy to have an SMC bed on my 2015 Tacoma.

 

Wow, what a great explanation...impressive!

 

What are Plastics: the Chemistry
The chemistry of plastics can be complex, but the basics are straightforward. Think back to your high school science lessons about atoms and molecules (groups of atoms). Plastics are simply chains of like molecules linked together. These chains are called polymers. This is why many plastics begin with “poly,” such as polyethylene, polystyrene, and polypropylene. Polymers often are made of carbon and hydrogen and sometimes oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, chlorine, fluorine, phosphorous, or silicon.

The term “plastics” encompasses all these various polymers.

Although there are many polymers, plastics in general are lightweight with significant degrees of strength. Plastics can be molded, extruded, cast and blown into seemingly limitless shapes and films or foams or even drawn into fibers for textiles. Many types of coatings, sealants and glues are actually plastics, too.

So yeah, reinforced plastic.

 

for me..

Step 1 was a bed mat
Step 2 was a canopy (sold it)
Step 3 is saving for a canopy with side windoors

 

I stand corrected.

 

Thanks for that explanation, I've always wondered just what the bed was made of. Wonder why the Big Three don't use that, instead of aluminum or steel?

When I saw the thread title, "how to make the Bed Look Good", my first thought was, Put HER in it":

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMtLdE5Zq-8

 

Hey sorry it took so long. I sanded everything down with 220 grit and wiped it with denatured alcohol. I did 3 coats on the floor of the bed and 2 coats on the walls of the bed. The only chips it has is from me hauling some metal tubing. I will say on the body it sticks great where it was sanded but I taped my lines off and then sanded so that I didnt accidentally sand where I didn't want to and all the edges have chipped because I couldnt sand all the way to the tape edge without messing up the tape. My clear coat has started getting pretty bad and one day I will raptor line my whole truck hopefully

 

Thanks for the update
Hopefully you found a better way to do it than by hand?
Getting in the grooves of the bed floor would be “tough”.

 

Yeah, but a new truck with a new bed would probably be cheaper.
I’d you live long enough, you’ll start to see it all looks good for a little while.
Then it just looks expensive.

Hell, I’m in expensive stage myself.
Getting old cost a lot of money. Lol

 

just drilled my 19 to mount bed box

hardest composite iv ever encountered

may be some type hybrid ......................some fibers

tougher than corvette body work

 

There’s a product called “Solution Finish Black Plastic & Trim Restorer.” It’s pricey, but works good.

 

Exactly what I was about to recommend. @Meadow2019, if 303 doesn't cut it, Solution Finish is your best bet. It has done wonders for my faded black fender flares.