Rust Never Sleeps: Rhino Linings

It's a terrible scenario, one that happens all the time. Imagine lugging two large dog crates in the back of your brand-new pickup for a few hours and, by the time you get home, you discover the bed's paint is worn completely through (even past the e-coat), right down to bare metal. A little rain or morning dew could be enough to start the rust process. How can you stop it from happening? Get a polyurethane bedliner installed, like one from Rhino Linings.

Unlike drop-in bedliners, the spray-on process forms a permanent airtight bond with the surface, preventing metal from being exposed to moisture. Drop-in liners protect the bed from dents, scuffs, and scrapes, but can also "sandpaper" the paint and trap moisture against the surface.

The material can be sprayed up to a quarter-inch thick, which provides considerable dent and ding protection. Rhino's polyurethane also is formulated to offer a cushion and act as a nonslip surface; it's even impervious to most chemicals, including gasoline. While many truck owners choose black or gray, the bedliner can be colormatched to the vehicle's paint. It can even be applied to a wide variety of surfaces, including plastic, rubber, fiberglass, wood, and concrete. It's an effective Jeep tub coating and can be used on everything from bumpers and rocker panels to the inside of trailers.

This isn't a do-it-yourself project. Rhino Lining is applied only by an authorized dealer. Here, an F-150 recently spent the afternoon getting a new bedliner at Rhino Linings of Central Ohio.