RE: Rhino Liner vs. Dupli-color (do it yurself)

[pharmer <pharmer@domain.elided>]

Les,

There's a huge selection of products nowadays.  The leading spray-ons
include: Rhino-Liner, Linex, Armor-somthing, Speedliner, etc.  The leading
doit-youselfs include: lava-liner, and durabak.  I've also heard of
Hercaliner, and JC Whittney has a generic similar to durabak.

The spray-ons usually range in price from $400-600 (with minimal prepping of
your vehicle), the doit-yourselfs around $75-300.  You might want to check
how many layers are needed for the stuff you are looking at, and how far 1
gallon goes.  Lava liner recommends 2 gallons for a typical truck bed - 90
sq ft, Durabak is thicker, and a single gallon only goes about 60 sq ft.

Other items to consider are:
*  Another item to consider is the prep work - no product that I am
   aware of bonds with rust.  The spray-on vendors prefer (sometimes
   insist) to use their own primer.  This is fine - they know what
   primer will work with their product.  You might want to consider a
   good primer for the doit-yourself stuff as well.
*  The sprayons give you some thermal & sound insulation, the diys don't.
*  The spray-ons are generally more difficult or expensive to repair.
*  Make sure to get a good bond - you don't want to find yourself in the
   situation I was in when I had to remove 16 square feet of 3M underseal
   from the inside of my Scout.  It took about 30 hours!

Another possibility is using POR-15 as a liner.  It's waterproof, tough,
goes directly over rust, bare metal, or other paint, can be primed, painted,
covered with another liner product, or simply covered with insulation and
carpet.  It is also cheaper than most other solutions ($30 for 96 square
feet).  This is the route I'm headed - as soon as I get a warm weekend.


Good luck,

Ken Farmer