Bedliner on the exterior of a boat??

Couldn't find an answer to this searching, so I will ask.

Has anybody put DIY bedliner on the exterior of their boat? Why or why not and what are the pluses and or minuses?

I would think that it would add some drag to the boat in the water and slow it down some.

Why are you considering it? I've heard of people having trouble with this stuff trying to seal up leaks because it does not flex the same as the aluminum it is covering and separates.

a friend used it to coat the inside of his tin. it was good for traction because of the rough finish, i'd imagine it's not good for the outside because of drag.

For the exterior you would be better to use one of the other products designed for what you need.

Steel Flex,Gator Glide, and Frog spit are the more common ones that I am aware of. they are a flexible but extremely durable coating. They are also very slippery! Some of them have teflon or other like substances in them. Airboaters use it to run over dry ground. Even though it flexes with the hull of the boat it also makes it stronger. Plus it will fill in gaps in rivets and small imperfections.

It is still a good idea to re-buck/replace any loose rivets and fix any leaks you have prior to putting it on.

You can get LineX sprayed in a smooth finish and that (I have heard) is great for the underside, or any where else on the boat.

Not sure how many LineX shops there are in PI though? I assumed you were talking about one of the do it yourself bedliners like Herculiner or something. I wouldnt use anything like that on the outside of a boat!

Thank you for the information. I was just thinking about adding bedliner to the exterior to make the beat up boat I got my hands on stronger. Sounds like I should maybe forget about it.

Mine has it on the outside (was there when I bought it). Not sure if it wasn't done right or what, but it is coming off in a few places. Also, I leave my boat in the water a lot and it seems to get pretty nasty comaired to other boats and harder to clean.