I am getting the front end of the brat (86) straigtened out at the body shop this week and will get it painted after that. I am thinking of either leaving the bed as is (scratched and dents throughout, but only minor surface rust) or using some kind of paint-on bed liner. What do you guys think? What does the do it yourself Rhino liner cost and does it hold up? I'm not planning on babying the bed. It will be used for carrying building materials regularly. Thanks for you input. Keith

 

PS I'll need to take some before and after pictures to post.

for your bed I would use something tough like Rino. One that dries to a hard surface. The rubberized spray on stuff is nice but it does rub off under stress. Loading and unloading construction material is gonna scrape that rubbetrized spray stuff right off.

 

This will NOT fix your rust problems however. You will mearly be covering it up for the time being

 

Good luck!

I got a deal on the Rhino liner I did on my old 87 Brat (sold it) but it cost $325. I highly recommend it and will be going that route on my current Brat.

I painted in Herculiner in my bed for about 70 dollars. The gallon kit (sells for $89 at Schuck's with a $20 rebate) did 3 full coats. Tough stuff. Dries to a plastic-like texture with a lot of pellitized-like bumps. It's very non-skid and has held up to an Alaskan winter with stuff being bounced around in the bed for 5 months.

Thanks for the replies fellas, I'll probably call the local rhino liner place and see what they'll charge. But the Hurculiner might be the way to go, because once I get the thing lined and start using it, I won't caretoo much if it gets a little banged up. Not sure I can cough up $300 or more for the Rhino. I'd just like to get it spiffied up a bit.

 

 

Keith

Just so you know, Brats are only rated at 800 lbs including passengers and cargo. Much over that, and you risk breaking a torsion bar. Also - don't EVER put anything on top of the bed chrome (especially the tailgate), as it's very flimsy, and rather difficult to find.

 

The rhino stuff seems to be the most durrable, but they charge a ton for it on Brats since their drop down screen system doesn't work for us. The rear of the cab is problematic for it.

 

GD

Thanks for the advice. In fact, the chrome on this brat is already really banged up. The tailgate chrome is currently removed, because several of the clips are missing. I think I will probably improvise something to replace the tailgate chrome that I can rest lumber on. Keith

Ah, so long as your careful driving and you're not in bad shape underneath around the bar and of cours with the bar you can easily get 2000lbs or so in her. Granted it isn't pretty but for short local trips she'll handle just fine so long as turning isn't planned.

I got some rubber matt material at surplus city to use, looks pretty good

I'm tinkering with the idea of just getting a quart of the Herculiner and doing only the floor of the bed. The brat is maroon and will still be maroon after the paint job, so I'll need to decide if I should go with black or grey. I'm not sure I'd like the rubber mat since I often throw lumber debris with nails sticking out in the bed. Could make for problems when sliding that junk out at the dump.

yeah, i used the rubber matting because I won't be putting much in it, at least nothing with nails sticking out of it.