andy levy <andylevy@yahoo.com> wrote:
: http://www.bedlinerfacts.com/facts_f.html
: Saw this on alt.autos.dodge.trucks this evening. Smells like General
: Motors is behind it, but I can't trace it directly back to them.
: Funny, my dealer was *impressed* w/ my Line-X and seemed to think it was
: better to do that than a plastic drop-in.
What a load of crap!!! (Err, the web site, not you, Andy) :-)
Just about the only thing on the site that isn't an exaggeration or
outright untruth is in regards to dent resistance. Plastic drop-ins
generally have ridges which are great for impact protection, whereas
a spray-in basically lays on top of the bed and the protection is
derived from thickness and somewhat from surface tension. However,
I did see an interesting demonstration where a concrete block was
dropped 20 feet onto concrete and it smashed to bits. Another block
was coated with Line-X and dropped, it just bounced. (The block inside
might be cracked, I don't know, but it did hold together...)
My favorite part of the site is where they make a big deal out of
having to scuff up the bed to apply a spray-in. (Oh, no! You mean
its going to scuff up that paint which I'll never see again anyway?)
The horror! Scuffing the paint removes the corrosion protection?
Ummm, only on the part which is about to have a QUARTER INCH LAYER
of water repellant material on it! Scuffing the paint voids your
paint warranty? Really? Why would I need paint warranty work done
on the paint UNDER THE SPRAY-IN LINER? Scuffing the paint is causing
"excess wear"? What, pray tell, is the GM body shop going to do
if they need to re-paint a bed? Oh yeah - SCUFF UP OR REMOVE THE
PAINT. :-P
Oh, and I also love the part where they say a spray-in's skid
resistance can diminish as the liner wears and becomes smoother.
They don't actually say anything about the plastic drop-in's
skid resistance though. I wonder if that has anything to do with
the fact that they DON'T HAVE ANY?!?? :-P
Sorry about the ranting - sometimes I just get set off in the
face of blatant stupidity. :-) I HAVE a plastic drop-in and
will NEVER get another. (I wish I knew then what I know now about
drop-ins...) I don't care what that site says, a plastic drop-in
WILL wear your paint down to bare metal. And unlike a spray-in,
water CAN and DOES get under a drop-in. The only reason it doesn't
corrode is because the liner's constant wear doesn't allow rust to
stick around. As soon as you remove it though... Better do something
quick!
The smoking gun:
Ok, so who is responsible for this stupid load of crap? I am
99.999% sure it is Penda, makers of aftermarket truck accessories,
including spray-in liners:
A whois shows bedlinerfacts.com to be owned by a company named
Pinnacle Communication Group. A web search shows them to be some
sort of media contact for a few companies such as Dynomax, Monroe,
...and Penda. That's not real conclusive in itself, but now
consider this interesting little press release put out by Pinnacle
Communication Group on behalf of Penda regarding advances in
drop-in bedliners:
http://www.pendacorp.com/files/Skid%20Resistor%20Q&A%2007-10-02.pdf
Here's the relevant part:
"Spray-on liners are entirely different story, however. The
installation of leading spray-on liners calls for scuffing or
grinding the original paint finish, which essentially destroys
the OEM appearance of the bed. In addition, the installation
of a spray-on may void the vehicle’s OEM paint warranty. This
is a serious enough concern that General Motors now considers
the installation of a spray-on to be 'excessive damage' to
the truck. That's a story every lighttruck owner deserves to
hear before committing to one of these very expensive products."
I rest my case. :-)
Although I didn't bother to research any further, if someone was to
check out the plastic bedliner shown in the bed of that Chevy, I bet
they would find its a Penda. (What a cooincidence!)
I think it is rather telling that Penda feels the need to hide
behind this media group. Obviously this crap is so deep that even
they don't want to be connected to it. Or maybe they thought it
would look biased if a plastic drop-in bedliner company had an anti
spray-in website. Well, Penda, how does it look NOW? :-) Not only
does a plastic drop-in bedliner company have an anti spray-in website,
but they tried to hide the fact from the world.
Heh - if someone were to use their feedback form to say something
along the lines of "plastic drop-in liners sound great, where can I
buy one?" I wonder if they would be directed to Penda? :-)
Oh, one last thought - a company which is responsible for this
sort of duplicity and stupidity sure doesn't deserve any of my money -
I think in the future if I need an accessory I'll try *real* hard to
buy from someone BESIDES Penda.
---Jon-
.---- Jon Steiger ------ jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com ------. | I'm the: AOPA, DoD, EAA, NMA, NRA, SPA, USUA. Rec & UL Pilot - SEL | | 70 Cuda, 90 Dak 'vert, 92 Ram 4x4, 96 Dak, 96 Intruder 1400, 96 FireFly | `------------------------------------------ http://www.jonsteiger.com ----'
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