Americans love their trucks. In 2012 alone, for example, there were 1.6 million pickup trucks on the road.
Approximately three years later, pickup sales rose eight percent during August 2015. Interesting to note is that there are more pickup trucks in California than any other state.
The Ford F-150 continues to be the top-selling truck. In 2013, for example, full-size pickup trucks accounted for one-out-of-every-eight sales of new vehicles. approximately 90% of these new truck sales were manufactured by Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors.
Truck beds eventually need to be restored or repaired after normal wear-and-tear and/or when hauling heavy items such as machinery. When it’s time to address this, polyurethane coating is recommended. Originally, polyurethane was developed and utilized during World War II to replace rubber, and it is quite durable when properly applied.
Truck Bed Liner Materials and Application Processes
There are two types, or classes, of material for spray on truck bed liners:
- Aromatic compounds
- Aliphatic compounds
These compounds can be applied with two different processes:
- Low pressure without heat
- High pressure with heat
When determining how much coating will be needed to spray on a bedliner, the standard length of a truck bed is eight feet. There are, of course,variations in truck bed lengths. Other lengths range from 5.5-to-6.5 feet.
When applying the bedliner coating, it’s important to use the right thickness. Thinner coatings can chip and crack more easily, and thicker coatings can potentially alter the truck bed’s contours. The polyurethane can be sprayed from 1/16 of an inch up to four inches.
When using the bedliner spray gun to apply the coating, it’s important to know there is a metered system that mixes the dilscyanate and polyo, which are then applied through the applicator.
Purposes for Polyurethane Coatings
There are two basic purposes for using polyurethane spray:
- Prevents scratching, rusting, and chemical contamination
- Provides an anti-skid and/or slip surface
Make Bedliner Trimming and Detailing Easier with Vinyl Wrap Cut Tape
When you have a truck bedliner and/or detailing job, it’s important to have a good supply of vinyl wrap cut tape on hand. Furthermore, remember that wiretrim is used to trim many types of coatings and that it also helps achieve a perfect edge.