Bedliner

Thinking about coating the outside of my boat with steelflex and inside with bedliner. Can anyone tell me what a suggested bedliner would be and where to get it?

Thanks,

I think Herculiner is what's recommended because its easily available, and supposedly easy to apply. Do your homework though. I want to do the same thing and after doing some research I'm not so sure anymore. A lot of people are having problems with it peeling shortly after applying it. Not sure if its a preparation problem or not, cuz everyone says they're prepping it exactly how they're supposed to. Not sure if I wanna take the chance now...

We have rolled the interior of the boat with Herculiner; you can see the progress through the link in my signature. Prep work is simple: If you're going over bare aluminum, you'll have to use a "self etching primer" first because the Herculiner has a tough time sticking to bare metal (aluminum, stainless steel screws, etc). So, that's simple enough right?

If you're applying over old paint, you'll want to remove any loose or chipping areas. After that, you could lightly sand the surface with 400 grit sandpaper to rough it up. Wipe down with mineral spirits, and lay down your first coat of herculiner.

After about 3-4 hours (when the first coat is no longer tacky), you can apply the second and final coat of the Herculiner. The final result is actually very impressive. It's durable, easy to wash down, and very easy to apply.

Anyone having issues with it coming up should take a gander at the directions again. It will virtually stick to anything with the correct prep work.

MeanMouth: thank you for your enthusiasm about the herculiner. I had kinda dismissed the idea of using it, but if you're that confident in it, I may consider it again...

Where can I get the Gray Herculiner and how much did you pay MeanMouth?

Does anyone know where I can get the Gray Herculiner for the same amount as the black or at least cheaper than what is advertised on the internet at $130?

Hey man, do a search on here for herculiner. I remember pretty recently a bunch of posts about getting it at advance auto parts or ace hardware. I think they were talking about the black herculiner, but since they gotta order it, I'm sure they could get gray. Can't imagine it costing too much more. Think I remember something in the $75-80 range. Post up what you find out...

Look up a product called raptor liner, its made by U-pol. I used it on my last boat. It looks just like line-x but not as thick and heavy, dries nice and hard and its a DIY spray in liner. You can tint it to match just about any color, or you can just get black. I am actually planning on spraying it in my polarkraft I have now. Its very popular with the jeep scene with guys spraying it on the inside of there tubs ect. Oh and just fyi I have no affiliation with this product, it just worked very well for me on my last product!

I recently used a product called Grizzly Grip. I ordered it off their web site. I was very impressed with it. Many colors, I used dove grey. Just google grizzly grip and you will find their web page.
LundA12

Well I'm one of those that had not-so-good results from Herculiner. I used the gray tint which cost about $115 off of ebay. The colors other than black are a bit more exspensive because of the tint and they have the UV protectant already mixed in, black Herculiner requires the UV protectant to be added later. I think it costs about $20-25. I followed the directions exactly and I even emailed the company before applying just to make sure I did it right. Like I said I followed both the instructions and the response I recieved in an email to a "T" but after taking the boat out twice since applying, it's already starting to pull away from the surface. Needless to say, I'm pretty disapointed with the results. The finished product looked really good and it does provide traction and noise deadening qualities but all I know is I applied it exactly right and it didn't stick. I spent about 4-6 hours on prep and another 3-4 hours on applying and, man does that stuff stink. I'd have to give Herculiner a thumbs down but it does seem that others have had more positive results.

The results you had with the herculiner are exactly why I didnt want to use it. At the time I did my boat I had a yj jeep wranger. I did the boat and the jeep with the spray in raptor liner and boat turned out fantastic. I have since sold both, but I sold the baot to a friend of mine and the liner is still holding strong! Was installed over a year ago. I did a lot of salt water fishing with that boat, and the new owner is very hard on stuff and doesnt take care of the boat anythignlike I used to!

BD,

There are quite a few discussions on bedliner that will come up in the Search function top right, but I also think it's great to get new answers too, because as far I as can tell, using a bedliner on the inside of a boat get's mixed reviews (using Herculiner in particular). I used Herculiner on my trailer, and I think it will be a great solution to minimize the chipping of paint I'm used to getting from driving on gravel roads at some of the lakes I fish. I also like the grip it provides anytime I need to step on the trailer. That said, I wouldn't want it on the inside of my boat, because I think the texture is too aggressive for my taste on the inside of a boat. I've heard some people say they love it, and some say they hate it. I chose Herculiner for the trailer because it was easy to get, and compared to other options cheap (about $75 from Ace Hardware). Of course it was black, and I wouldn't put any black flooring on the inside of my boat.

If you can identify the primary reason(s) for using it, it may lead to more clarity on which product/solution is the best for your application.

As a general rule of thumb, if the boat currently leaks....You want to stop the leaks first, and then use your coating as a 2nd defense.

deerslayer said:

The results you had with the herculiner are exactly why I didnt want to use it. At the time I did my boat I had a yj jeep wranger. I did the boat and the jeep with the spray in raptor liner and boat turned out fantastic. I have since sold both, but I sold the baot to a friend of mine and the liner is still holding strong! Was installed over a year ago. I did a lot of salt water fishing with that boat, and the new owner is very hard on stuff and doesnt take care of the boat anythignlike I used to!

Click to expand...

Yeah, that professional spray in stuff is far better than the Herculiner. I had line-x in my last truck and that stuff was sweet. Like I said, the Herculiner created a great surface for traction and noise deadening but it just didn't stick like it should have. I definitely wont be promoting Herculiner to any of my friends and I consider all you tinboaters to be friends!

LUNDA12,

Grizzly Grip looks pretty good. Was the preparation and application of the product hard to do?

Durabak is another linner to checkout. It comes in both smooth and textured.

I have had durabak on my jeep tub for a few years now, Has held up awesome. 200 pound toolbox and chains and fire wood beating it constantly and looks great, Have had to touch up a few spots here and there but pleased with it. More recent I did my trailer for my boat and not pleased at all with it like with the jeep. I don't know if I just got a bad batch or something but it already needs a touch up, I have only towed the boat 3 time since i did it. 2 of those times involved a few miles of gravel. The guy next door owns a small equipment restorationcompany and he is constantly telling me to bring my jeep or boat down so he can spray it with raptor liner or somthing? He raves about the stuff, I need to read about that stuff first. Never heard of it.

Sorry about the delay, was at the camper but didnt fish 30 mph winds. I applied directly over marine plywood with no primer per conversation with the company. They did tell me bare metal had to be primed but not wood. Give them a call they were helpful, they make the product per order and ship. Mine took 3 days. Make sure you get their rollers.
LUNDA12

Were you applying it on bare aluminum Utah?

Despite what the websites that recommend it for boats and some sellers/manufacturers claim, you have to prime it or put it over good *roughed up* paint to get it to adhere. Otherwise large pieces pop loose when the boat flexes.

Although I don't plan on using any steelflex on my current build, and even though it does seem to adhere fairly well to bare aluminum, if I were to use it I'd prep and prime the surface exactly like any other kind of paint. To get anything to adhere well to aluminum the surface has to be deoxidized (etched) and immediately sealed (primer, anodized) There is really no way around this it's almost one of the Laws of Physics.

I know guys who have removed the vinyl stick on crud applied by the manufacturer, properly cleaned and etched/primered the inside and then took it to a shop that professionally applies the bedliner and it's bonded rock solid.

When painting (Including bedliner and such) aluminum there simply are no shortcuts. Anyone that tells you there is is probably trying to sell you something ......

It was applied to painted aluminum. I spoke to a Herculiner representative through email and describe exactly what I was doing and he suggested roughing up the surface and using an aluminum primer so that's exactly what I did. I still can't figure how following directions given directly from somebody who works for the company can result in the product not working like it should. :|

I've finished applying my Herculiner, and it's cured for the past week. I don't know why others had issues, but our application went smooth. It looks great, and looks to be a permanant job.

I'll update my project thread a little later this weekend with pictures.