A REMOVABLE Truck Bed Liner
I THOUGHT SOME of your readers might be running into the same problem that I encountered with a restored classic truck bed. I put new wood and stainless steel strips into my Dodge. A great U.S.- made product, the wood was high quality and everything went back together real nice.
The problem is that I still use the truck around the ranch. I don’t use it for anything real heavy, as I have a modern oneton to do the heavy hauling, trailer pulling and such. Still, while it may be older, my Dodge continues to be a working truck.
For instance, soon after I finished the bed of this truck I had to run some wire fence. I started tossing tools, fence posts and spools of wire into the back. The sides are coated with Line-X spray-on bed liner(linex.com) but I was messing up the new wood.
So I bought some floor mats that are meant to be put in front of your work bench. They’re available everywhere; I got mine at Home Depot. The product comes in three-by-three squares. I cut them into squares to fit into the bed.
They’re light, easy to handle by myself; easy to cut, but the biggest deal is that the squares have holes in them to let water evaporate. No standing water under a solid mat!
It is molded with lines in it every one foot, so it is easy to see where you need to cut. Short bed or long, you can piece it together and keep it in place with the locking tabs on the sides.
Still another plus that you can pull all or some out to show off your truck’s wood when you want to.
I have been a subscriber to your fine magazine since issue one. I lived though the black-and-white days and back again. Keep up the good work.
—Richard Carlson, Niwot, Colorado
Editor’s note: For more on rebuilding a pickup truck bed and installing new wooden floorboards and metal skid strips, see the November 2011 issue. It’s a job that calls for precise measuring and a good deal of patience, so whether you’re putting in a new floor or just want to preserve the one you have now, you might want to consider a removable layer of floor protection like the one shown here. And if you have other tips for restoring or protecting a pickup bed, we’d like to hear about them.
