Truck Bed Liner for Bottom

Has anyone used truck bed liner for the bottom of their drifters?  If so, any suggestions on which brand to use?

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Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on April 11, 2014 at 5:26am

Austin:If you are talking about the outsde There are 2 that come to mind.  Linex and Rhinoliner.  Both are factory applied .  I used Rhino- cheaper than Linex but still around $ 400 about 8 years ago. There may be others on the market now.

Good Luck

Permalink Reply by John Ahlbin on April 11, 2014 at 6:35am

I had Rhino Liner installed in my pu bed in 2001, very tough stuff. The Rhino product works great as a bed liner and helps to keep the cargo from sliding around. I would not want the hull of my db gripping rocks like Rhino grips the cargo. There is a diy bed liner available at auto part stores if you don't want the expense of the national brands.

Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on April 11, 2014 at 7:07am

There has been quite a discussion over the years on the application of truck bed liner to the outside of your boat's bottom. The issue revolves around the difficulty of removal of the product if and when repairs must be made. The same toughness that provides a degree of protection also makes it very difficult to remove.

There have been several bottom treatments that have proven them selves over the test of time are; a 1/4" plywood skid shoe. Treated with a variety of treatment such as boat soup, an oil based mixture (find it with the search function) 2. additional coats of epoxy mixed with graphite.

Advantages to both are siad to be; relatively slick surface, easy to repair, quite inexpensive, easy to remove for repairs and proven over the test of time.

Steve Putnam and I did a great deal of research last year concerning truck bed liners to apply to the interior of his Don Hill boat that we restored. The least expensive but seemingly easiest to apply, tough, and quality materials was Herculiner. Available in black or white only, it is made by the same folks that make Duraback. Application was easy and fairly quick. We only applied it to the floor not the ribs or chine logs where it could potentially trap water providing conditions for rot. Before we applied the Herculiner I applied 18 oz triaxial fiberglass to the front three sections of the floor and the two rear sections where it is quite common to suffer impacts. I applied six ounce fiberglass to the remaining sections. The boat is older and the floor had suffered some damage from checking so we wanted to prevent further damage.

It is my experience that most of the damage that occurs to driftboats is to the chine caps from hitting rocks. Hence the concept of having them easily replaceable. Secondly the stern floor area hits rocks and thirdly boats hit the front floor area. Boats will also slide across or sometimes stick on rocks under the main floor section.

Rick N

Permalink Reply by Austin Waggoner on April 11, 2014 at 7:18am
Thanks Guys,

I'm in Michigan, so no boulders or white white water here. So, I'm looking to use the bedliner on the floor and the bottom. I have found Durabak and they have colors and somewhat reasonable pricing for DIY kits - $120 plus shipping for a gallon.

I know I'll be missing out on the repair option, but not too concerned knowing the major obstacles are not rocks but tubers and trees.
Permalink Reply by John Ahlbin on April 11, 2014 at 7:23am

Please let us know how the Durabak holds up to tubers.

Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on April 12, 2014 at 3:14am

I took samples of my bottom PW/FG bottom to both dealers and said I wanted a smooth finish  - the Rhino Liner was better than Linex.  Have no idea how he did it- he even apologized for some spots of sweat that were visible.

Permalink Reply by Dan Hooper on April 11, 2014 at 8:52am

I used Raptor bed liner on the interior of my boat.  I'm very pleased with it.  I used a close nap roller to apply it & it gives it a nice finish.

Permalink Reply by Cameron Britt on April 12, 2014 at 1:07pm

I did on the boat I am almost finished with now.  I just used the paint that comes in a gallon with the texture already mixed in.  It is called Herculiner or something like that.  Hasn't been put in the water yet, as I have about another week on the build, but I was happy with the price and how it went on to the fiberglass that was on the bottom of the boat.

Permalink Reply by Erik Myre on April 18, 2014 at 7:02am

I used Durabak smooth on the bottom of my freestone skiff and the gripped version on the inside.

I couldnt be happier with it in both applications. The bottom I applied about 3 coats and it laid down pretty smooth and after a number of river miles and plenty of bottom strikes. Its holding up great.  

I had a buddy on the oars last summer who nailed a rock hard.. very hard. After the noise it made, I was sure I was going to have to do a glass repair on the bottom.  When I got the boat on the trailer I couldnt find anything more than the usual small scuff that comes from dragging it up on the ramp across rocks etc.

I wont hesitate to use it again.

Permalink Reply by Austin Waggoner on April 18, 2014 at 7:55am

Thanks Erik,


That's the route I'm going to go in. It's good to hear about the Durabak smooth finish working out too, I was curious about that.


Austin

Permalink Reply by scott goddard on April 18, 2014 at 12:44pm

did it on mine with a smooth finish love it

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