Masonry Magazine February 2003 Page. 24
Truck ACCESSORIES
Years ago there were concerns about drop-in liner vibration against the bed surface. Today's best liners are manufactured from vehicle specific molds that result in a product that conforms exactly to the contours of the truck bed for a tight fit.
"Spray-on liners are entirely different story, however," says Thompson. "The installation of leading spray-on liners calls for scuffing or grinding the original paint finish, which essentially destroys the OEM appearance of the bed. In addition, the installation of a spray-on may void the vehicle's OEM paint warranty. This is a serious enough concern that General Motors now considers the installation of a spray-on to be 'excessive damage' to the truck."
Whoa, that might not be completely accurate. Obviously, when it comes to legal nuisances, there is a lot of flexibility but let's ask some of the Big Three truck companies for their position on warranties. "Normally, installation of aftermarket products does not affect a vehicle's new vehicle warranty," says Tom Henderson, a spokesman for General Motors. "However there are certain circumstances where this may occur. Damage caused by the installation is not covered. Non-GM parts and accessories are not covered, and any parts or product failures caused by the installation are not covered."
That position is similar to the one at Dodge Division of Daimler-Chrysler: "Any modification can violate the warranty if it is determined the aftermarket installation caused the damage. If the drop-in bed liner rubbed on the bed of the truck someplace it could void the warranty," agrees Marc Henretta, manager of Sales, Service and Dealer Communications for the Chrysler Group.
As you can see, there is a strong competition between the drop-in and spray-on liner folks. To counter the other claim by the drop-in crowd, Debbie Anderson, spokesperson for Rhino Linings, San Diego, Calif., explains, "Rhino's training and technical manuals specifically instruct sprayers not to remove the paint surface, but to just lightly scuff the clear coat. The polyurethane spray-in liner then binds directly to the clear coat, giving the strongest bond to the truck bed."
So the issue seems to come down to, how scuffed is scuffed? Lightly scuffed, according to Rhino Linings, or scuffed and ground away, according to Penda? Ah, such are the competitive positions companies take these days.
Another issue is quality. The spray-on approach is available at thousands of small shops around the country. In fact, it is so available that it is suspect because of the unknown quality of the application and the applicator.
While drop-in bed liners are controlled by the branding company, and the molds make quality fit almost a non-issue, spray-on liners are generally under the control of the applier- someone who may or may not be certified or trained by the supplier of the material being used.
Again, Anderson points out, "In terms of the quality control issue, all of Rhino Linings' new dealers are trained both on and off-site. In fact, our technical support staff travels to the dealership and personally trains applicators for three days. Yes, like in any industry where there are dealers or affiliates, bad work can happen since the supplier is not personally there to oversee every application. However, Rhino Linings de-certifies any dealer doing poor work, so we try to control the issue as much as we possibly can from our end."
Founded in 1988, Rhino Linings launched the sprayed-on polyurethane truck bed lining industry and is the largest supplier of the material in the U.S. Russell Lewis, president and founder of Rhino Linings, saw how sprayed-on polyurethane protected mining equipment in South Africa and realized that airtight and watertight polyurethane could function as a superior alternative to drop-in plastic truck bed liners.
Lewis says, "Unlike plastic drop-in truck bed liners, Rhino Linings' sprayed-on polyurethane provides durable watertight and airtight truck bed protection. By forming a permanent bond with the surface of your truck bed, the lining prohibits rust, corrosion and surface abrasion from damaging the truck and reducing its