Line-X spray-in bedliner: It’s more than a coat of paint
Being one of the youngest, perhaps the very youngest, franchise store owner to operate a Line-X dealership has its challenges. But soon after Blaine Paige opened his shop in Santa Maria, California he understood that hard work and
attention to detail would be his best shot at running a successful business. We’ve worked with Paige in the past, where he and his associates have gained a reputation around the Central Coast auto dealerships and individual customers for being reliable, honest, and quick to turn around as many trucks a day as doing good business could send his way.
The Central Coast of California is an agricultural community, recreational region, and home to Vandenberg Air Force as well as Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power facility. So Paige and his mobile Line-X unit are able to leave the shop when the job calls to apply Line-X to a myriad of applications other than the bed of a pickup truck. They’ve been called on to shoot Line-X on rocket launch pads, out-buildings exposed to salt air at Diablo Canyon, livestock feed containers, grain silos, dog runs, outdoor ponds, horse trailers, buck boards, boat trailers, etc.
One of the stand-out advantages of Line-X material is that it dries instantly. You don’t have to wait for the material to cure or set. It’s that instant cure, and ready-to-go soon as the Line-X hits the surface quality that makes Line-X so flexible and durable. So when we had the requirement for a spray-in bedliner for one of our project trucks, we looked to Paige for help.
Line-X bedliners offer several advantages over drop-in plastic or painted metal. Moisture trapped between the truck bed and a plastic drop-in bed liner leads to rust. And we’ve all seen drop-in plastic bedliners that have blown out of a truck on the highway.
Just as there are several spray-on bedliner products available to the automotive enthusiast, each offers a different process and texture that makes them different from the competitors. Any spray-on bedliner is preferable to unprotected painted metal or a drop-in for protecting the truck bed. Nowadays you can choose from a pallet of Line-X spray-in colors to coordinate your vehicle’s paint. But basic black works great for most trucks, and if you just want the protection and long-wear.
Part of our requirement for this project truck was to have over-the-bedrail protection. Over-the-bedrail may cost a little more as it demands more material and prep-time, but it’s worth it to have that extra measure of security when you haul equipment or toys that could flop over and ding your new truck.
Here’s the essential process for preparing your truck for Line-X spray-in bedliner. Paige and his guys have done so many Line-X installs that they have their procedures down to a T. Check it out, if you are thinking about a spray-in bedliner for your truck, this is how its done at the Line-X, Santa Maria shop owned by Blain Paige.
SOURCE:
Line-X, Santa Maria
1915 N. Broadway, Ste. C
Dept. Truck's Mag.com
Santa Maria, CA 93454
Contact: Blain Paige
hpaige@verizon.net
(805) 347-7387
 Scuffed, dinged, gouged...it doesn't have to be this way. This truck bed has seen more than its share of winter firewood, hay bales, and horse tack. |  Tailgate and bed rails deteriorate rapido' when the only protection from the abuse is a coat of paint from the factory. At resale, having a spray-in bedliner is thought to add roughly $200.00 to the value of a truck. |  Getting straight lines with masking tape and wire-tape comes with practice. Here, Blaine Paige starts the preparation for over-the-bed rail application of Line-X spray-in material on our project truck. |
 With the bed-rails lined-up, Paige preps the trailgate with masking paper. |  The tailgate comes off the truck first thing, disassembled, and treated as a single piece. |  Paige sets the bottom perimeter of the truckbed with wire-tape. |
 Next, masking paper is placed on the truckbed sides to prevent over-spray onto the painted surface. There are several layers of protection that are part of the preparation for each truck. |  Tailgate is stripped of its component parts. Each part will be sprayed separately, then reassembled. |  Here's the prepped tailgate. The painted surface has been clean and scuffed to provide instant adhesion of Line-X material. |
 For protection, the truck body is covered in plastic sheeting and kept in place with Line-X coated magnates. |  Here's a closer look at a magnate used to hold protective plastic sheeting onto the truck without damaging the finish. |  In the spray booth, the truckbed will be scuffed with abrasive-wheel, cleaned, then sprayed with Line-X. When the actual application is being performed in the spray-booth, overspray can kill a camera lens. So no photos of the spray action which is the next step. |
 Tailgate is reattached, assembled, and all nuts and bolts are replaced to original positions. This truck had a reverse fifth-wheel hitch, so care was taking to accurately mask it off, and it worked great. |  Close-up of the tailgate detail. You be the judge. We're happy. |  Over-the bedrail prevents a lot of damage in the coarse of the truck's lifecycle. |
 Here's the line-up match of the tailgate's relationship to the bedsides. Those straight lines come from years of experience, and that's something to consider when choosing who and where you have your truck worked on. | | |
