Im gonna have to do this to mine soon.

 

Im thinking of doing the panels on my T100. Anyone else with this truck done it? There isnt a clear line to follow so im not sure how far up to cover.

Also, does anyone have pics of the sanded panels before they were coated? How much do you take off? down to bare metal? just enough to give the paint some teeth? How is it holding up over time?

Any experience with duplicolor bed armor? or suggestions for other products (that are easy to find in canada)

Im good to do it myself but is there any reason to have it done by a shop?

 

I wouldn't have a shop do it; they'll charge you 8x or more what you can do it for yourself. I like the Herculiner product; it's held up well so far the last 18 months or so. You don't need to sand down to bare metal; just make sure you scuff it up real good. I used a 60-grit sandpaper and some scotchbrite pads (write up back on page 2 I believe). Just take your time with the prep and don't rush it. Like someone told me; the prep is the most important part. Take the time to do that right and you'll be real happy with the finish result.

 

Have you experienced any fading? I really want to do my bed but I don't want it to turn grey in a few months of CA sun.

 

There may be minimal fading, but I'd chalk it up more to the glossiness fading away. I'd still say the Herculiner is JET black. I'm in Roseville and the truck has never sat in a garage, so it's had plenty of that CA sun over the last 18 months. I say go for it! Get the UV protectant if you're concerned but I'm still in love with the way mine looks!

 

anyone ever try some aerospace 303 to provide some uv protection to the herculiner.

 

I've also heard good things about Al's. And I've heard great things about raptor liner. That's what I'm planning on using on my rockers.

 

I've thought about doing bed liner up to the high body line that runs the full length of the truck just under the top of the fenders/door handles and about 2 inches below the bed rails. It seems like a great line to follow, BUT my truck has a black spray in liner that wraps up over the rails about an inch, so I think the 1" stripe of white paint down the side of the bed would look kinda weird. If my truck was black I would have done it years ago.

 

Interesting idea. I can't picture it looking very good in my head but I'd be curious to see how it actually looks. I think you're right about the bedliner and then 1" of white and then bedliner again. Maybe just angle it up to that height at the back of the cab so it ties in to the bedliner when you get there?

 

I'm sad to say that after only 2 years, I'm beginning to see hundreds of little white spots where the Herculiner appears to be failing. Plenty of prep time and 3 coats of Herculiner and this is how it looks now. And it's not like I've been abusing it. Seriously I've probably washed this thing 5 times in the last couple years and I don't off-road it as much as I'd like or should. So I have no idea why it's failing. The only remedy I see is to scrub the crap out of it and put another 2-3 coats on. Which sucks, but I guess it is what it is. Unless anyone else has a better idea?

 

I don't know about fixing what you already have but I worked on a Dodge Ram this week that had the same thing happening with their Herculiner. I posted in this thread that I was going to do this to my 4runner, and now I'm really glad I never got around to it. I do still plan on bedlining the rockers and lower doors, but I'll be using Raptor.

I guess if you want to start over I'd start sanding with something aggressive like 80 or maybe lower than that, strip it off and prime again, then try a different product. That's all I can think of.

 

I have a positive herculiner experience.
My clear coat was thrashed, so I took 80 grit to the truck, rubbed it down with thinner,



applied 3 consecutive medium coats - starting on the front, I rolled on the Herculine all the way around the truck & when i got back to the front I went around two more times. used 1-1/4 gallons
2 years later, still black, still takes a beating