So my 87' 4runner has some body damage and a bit of rust on the fender wells in front. All the body damage is below the body crease about 1/4 of the way up the sides. I was thinking that since i'm not good enough at body work to get the body flat enough for the glossy black paint to look good (i would probably have to repaint the whole thing anyway, and the rest of the paint looks great) i was thinking of just getting it PRETTY flat and bedlining the sides. What i would do is bedline just up to that crease all the way around and do the front and rear fenders after rust repair. Opinions on whether that would look good or absolutely terrible? Has anybody bedlined the sides on their truck/4runner? Thanks guys! Always appreciative of the help i've gotten on this forum over the years.

 

Fix the rust first and then paint. That liner just doesn't look good IMO but put on right it lasts. Put on wrong it flakes off bad.

:wabbit2:

 

a bad bedliner job will look much worse than a bad paint job.

 

^^x2! check this thread out...--->https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/a...panels-244933/

 

That's my thread there. I did my rocker panels with Herculiner (as the thread says) last winter and I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out. I've just realized I still need to get some good pictures to put up. The Herculiner was easy to install. Like someone said at the beginning of that thread; if you take the time to do the prep work right, that's all that really matters. That, and STIR, STIR, STIR while installing. I'll try to remember to get some pictures soon and do a write-up. I say go for it!

 

FYI... as a recent buyer, I stayed clear of purchasing anything that had bedliner on the body. It just made me think that the owner was hiding some underlying issues.

If you have any plans to ever re-sell this vehicle, do yourself a favor and repair the dents and creases, then give it a nice paint job.

My .02 cents worth

CB

 

I've seen a bunch of rigs with bedliner along the entire length of the vehicle, about 4" inches up from the bottom edges. Looks decent.
The problem with bedliner is that it's textured and dirt/mud sticks to it.
It's basically permanently dirty all the time, just from road dust.
A flat black would have the same look without the dirt holding power.

And, just to re-iterate the above:
If you ever plan on selling it, I wouldn't go with bedliner other than in the bed/cargo area.

 

Great points, guys. I love this thing to the point that i REALLY don't think i'll ever sell it, but that's a valid concern if i ever needed to. I would definitely prefer keeping it nice black paint, but all the dents are in places inaccessible to a hammer. Anybody have any tips for bodywork then? I've been considering getting a stud welder and slide hammer and going that route. Any thoughts? I'll try and get some pictures later. BTW Bassinfool, yours turned out nice, i like it a lot with the white on black contrast.

 

Thanks, I love it! I think the contrast added a lot of character and made it look more utilitarian and less of a mall queen (although that's about all it's been for the last couple months; NO time to take her out anywhere fun).

 

I have been contemplating the same thing on my recent purchase (87 SR5), but have decided that I'd rather either: a)cut out most of the rust on the rear wheel panels, sand the rest, fabricate and weld new panels, and coat and paint. OR: b) go with some fiberglass replacement quarter panels. Expensive, but mite be worth it for the long haul.

Either way, first I need money :-)

 

Get some desert runner style quarter panels for that sucker! It's only money, right?

Oh BTW I finally got around to posting some pictures of the project all finished. Here's a link if it helps make up your mind.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/a...33/index2.html

 

That looks clean man.

Better on newer Pickups like yours than say, a first/secon-grn 4runner IMO.