DIY pickup bed cover that will carry a load.
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sodamo
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Probably not DYI, but might be worth getting a quote.
linex.com
Color Choices (Xtra) | LINE-X
Complete color customization to match your vehicle or your favorite color for an even more personalized look. LINE-X technicians can pigment any of our high-performance coatings to your liking for a custom look for your truck with the added confidence of LINE-X protection.
MossRoad
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Thanks, I submitted a RFQ.Probably not DYI, but might be worth getting a quote.
Color Choices (Xtra) | LINE-X
Complete color customization to match your vehicle or your favorite color for an even more personalized look. LINE-X technicians can pigment any of our high-performance coatings to your liking for a custom look for your truck with the added confidence of LINE-X protection.
Line-x quoted me $1,150 to spray the bed cover. That's 2-3 times what I was expecting and 4 times what I am willing to pay. So I'll be doing it myself, as with most things, can't seem break out of that mindset.
I ordered this Raptor tintable spray-in bed liner kit and acid etch primer they recommend for bare aluminum. I'll stop by a local automotive paint store and get them to mix me up some tint for my color code. We will see how it goes....
I ordered this Raptor tintable spray-in bed liner kit and acid etch primer they recommend for bare aluminum. I'll stop by a local automotive paint store and get them to mix me up some tint for my color code. We will see how it goes....
Midniteoyl
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Raptor would be my recommendation as well.
Gem99ultra
Veteran Member
While your cover really looks neat, and by the way - SUPER job on the fab work, my knees get weak when I think about you stacking a pallet load of brick on top.
I suspect nobody on here has tried such a project but my guess is that your side rails are going to crumple like a sheet of paper when you drop that kind of load on top. If you've ever seen some of those replacement side panels sold by auto restoration suppliers, you'll see that they're really light weight. Any consideration to adding supports from the lid down to the frame?
Of course, the safety aspect of carrying a 2000# load that high has its many dangers. No doubt you've already considered all that. I truly hope this project works out as you planned. You have many many hours of labor and expense to simply let it fail. Hopefully you'll have addressed all of the above concerns and suggestion by the knowledgeable folks on here. Final report, whether good or bad, and pictures will be appreciated by all.
I suspect nobody on here has tried such a project but my guess is that your side rails are going to crumple like a sheet of paper when you drop that kind of load on top. If you've ever seen some of those replacement side panels sold by auto restoration suppliers, you'll see that they're really light weight. Any consideration to adding supports from the lid down to the frame?
Of course, the safety aspect of carrying a 2000# load that high has its many dangers. No doubt you've already considered all that. I truly hope this project works out as you planned. You have many many hours of labor and expense to simply let it fail. Hopefully you'll have addressed all of the above concerns and suggestion by the knowledgeable folks on here. Final report, whether good or bad, and pictures will be appreciated by all.
Thanks. I brought this up in post #7 and the next 4 pages were mostly on that topic. I won't be loading anything heavy up there until I come up with some kind of internal support that transmits the load from the bed cover down into the frame, instead of the bed walls. It will be something that folds up or comes out when not in use. And the center of gravity issue is something I'm cognizant of. I will have to experiment with different loads of different heights and get a feel for how much is too much.
Got the paint yesterday to tint the bed liner. You have to special order the paint and when you do, you have to specify that it's tint only, no binders or fillers or other stuff they usually put in paint. All that other stuff apparently constitutes most of the volume of the paint, and the tint is the most expensive part. So when I told the lady at Tasco paint what I wanted, she said she would do it but she would have to charge me for a quart ($132) when I was only getting a pint. Frustrated, I just said "OK, do it." I have too much on my plate, didn't feel like dropping it all to shop around for a better price.
The cost of the bed liner kit plus the tint is now equal to what I was expecting to pay someone else to do the job, labor plus materials. So I guess a I had an unrealistic expectation of the fair price of spray-in/on bed liner. I've seen guys paint their whole trucks in the stuff. They must have more money than they know what to do with.
The cost of the bed liner kit plus the tint is now equal to what I was expecting to pay someone else to do the job, labor plus materials. So I guess a I had an unrealistic expectation of the fair price of spray-in/on bed liner. I've seen guys paint their whole trucks in the stuff. They must have more money than they know what to do with.
Life has been getting in the way of my project(s)! Didn't get a chance to do the bed liner application until Independence Day, and then, I didn't get past priming before I had to go take care of other things. Just today got to mix & spray the bed liner.
I am disappointed. More with myself than with the Raptor bedliner kit. If I had done the math it would have been obvious that this kit comes nowhere close to matching the thickness of a professional spray-in bed liner (.100"-.200") and that this stuff is marketed to the "I want my entire jeep sprayed in bed liner" crowd. Those guys get what they want out of it and leave glowing reviews. The pictures posted for these glowing reviews seem a whole lot more relevant now than they did before.
The $1,150 that line-x quoted me was for a .125" thickness. The 4-quart raptor kit is marketed as an adequate solution for entirely coating a typical truck bed (I assumed to a thickness around 1/8") and I figured since my bed cover is that same size, minus sidewalls, I would either end up with 1 quart unused or spray all of it and have something around 150% of typical thickness, or about 3/16" thickness. Nope. Sprayed all 4 quarts and got maybe .050" at the thickest. In retrospect the math indicates I would have needed around 4-5 gallons depending on how much evaporates, to reach that thickness.
I am surprised there aren't more 1-star reviews from guys who bought this bed liner kit with intent to actually line their bed with it, and found it shockingly thin. I hope it‘s at least as durable as a thinly-sprayed professional bed liner would be.
I cannot recommend this Raptor product for anyone who actually wants to use it for its namesake purpose. However if you want your entire jeep sprayed in bed liner, this is probably perfect. Maybe if you bought 5 kits and sprayed them back-to-back-to-back in a truck bed it would be ok, but honestly just take it to Line-x and have them do it. I now realize that what they quoted me was actually a good price.
The color match of the tinted raptor is OK I think, maybe a little dark, will confirm after a few days when I put it on the truck. The metallic flake does not pop out like it does in regular paint; really you can't see it all. they might as well have not even mixed it in.
I've made the conscious decision to just be happy with it. It looks good (enough) (barely), will be durable (at least more durable than bare aluminum) and it seals the seams in the aluminum. I'm approaching the finish line and not going to change course so this will just be something I "live with," no point in being bitter about it.
...but, man, I was really counting on that thick bedliner to hide the gnarly seams in the aluminum. This thin stuff (from certain angles) actually makes it look worse! You can even see the screw heads through it! ... but enough of that, we are staying positive... yes, happy thoughts.... happy thoughts...
I am disappointed. More with myself than with the Raptor bedliner kit. If I had done the math it would have been obvious that this kit comes nowhere close to matching the thickness of a professional spray-in bed liner (.100"-.200") and that this stuff is marketed to the "I want my entire jeep sprayed in bed liner" crowd. Those guys get what they want out of it and leave glowing reviews. The pictures posted for these glowing reviews seem a whole lot more relevant now than they did before.
The $1,150 that line-x quoted me was for a .125" thickness. The 4-quart raptor kit is marketed as an adequate solution for entirely coating a typical truck bed (I assumed to a thickness around 1/8") and I figured since my bed cover is that same size, minus sidewalls, I would either end up with 1 quart unused or spray all of it and have something around 150% of typical thickness, or about 3/16" thickness. Nope. Sprayed all 4 quarts and got maybe .050" at the thickest. In retrospect the math indicates I would have needed around 4-5 gallons depending on how much evaporates, to reach that thickness.
I am surprised there aren't more 1-star reviews from guys who bought this bed liner kit with intent to actually line their bed with it, and found it shockingly thin. I hope it‘s at least as durable as a thinly-sprayed professional bed liner would be.
I cannot recommend this Raptor product for anyone who actually wants to use it for its namesake purpose. However if you want your entire jeep sprayed in bed liner, this is probably perfect. Maybe if you bought 5 kits and sprayed them back-to-back-to-back in a truck bed it would be ok, but honestly just take it to Line-x and have them do it. I now realize that what they quoted me was actually a good price.
The color match of the tinted raptor is OK I think, maybe a little dark, will confirm after a few days when I put it on the truck. The metallic flake does not pop out like it does in regular paint; really you can't see it all. they might as well have not even mixed it in.
I've made the conscious decision to just be happy with it. It looks good (enough) (barely), will be durable (at least more durable than bare aluminum) and it seals the seams in the aluminum. I'm approaching the finish line and not going to change course so this will just be something I "live with," no point in being bitter about it.
...but, man, I was really counting on that thick bedliner to hide the gnarly seams in the aluminum. This thin stuff (from certain angles) actually makes it look worse! You can even see the screw heads through it! ... but enough of that, we are staying positive... yes, happy thoughts.... happy thoughts...