By Carrie Lawton of Trucking Times
A new generation of revolutionary spray-in bedliners is about to hit the market. What makes them revolutionary? It’s the low start-up costs to truck accessory retailers.
Custom-sprayed bedliners have established a strong foothold in the truck aftermarket industry with contour fitting, ant-skid features, chemically resistant surfaces, longer life, less corrosion, increased value and low maintenance. But truck accessory retailers have been hesitant to offer the installation of the products because of the substantial start-up costs.
That is all changing thanks to Industrial Polymers Inc. of Houston, Texas, and Performance Coating Specialists of Perland, Texas. Through a special arrangement, the two are offering truck accessory installers a new product, Speedliner – a tough, polyurethane coating that uses conventional paint equipment to drop startup costs below $2,000. This cost includes training, equipment, brochures and enough product to cover eight truck beds. With Speedliner, installers can expect to break even after selling just five or six bedliners.
“Speedliner can be summed up in really just one word – simplicity,” said Carl Body of Industrial Polymers Inc. Speedliner is very user friendly, coming in pre-packaged, pre-measured kits which include a color package, catalyst and resin. All three components start as liquids to allow for easy mixing and will slowly thicken to primary gel after mixing.
“This is a very simple system that almost anyone can use,” Body added.
Independent lab test have shown Speedliner to be over 80 percent stronger than competitors with 4,000 psi tensile strength. Speedliner has nine basic colors that can be applied either singly or in combination. The system has the ability to match almost any color, so truck owners can be more creative using two-tone styling, logos and racing stripes to jazz up any truck bed, old or new. For example, a bedliner can be marine blue with a splash of aqua on top. All colors are available except white.
Speedliner excels with the capacity for creating graphic effects; no risk of paint damage; no required cutting; maximum color stability. When up against plastic bedliners, Speedliner again compares well. Speedliner won’t rust or corrode; reduces cargo noise; won’t warp, crack or break; fits perfectly in all vehicles; doesn’t reduce cargo space and has a durable non-slip surface.
Speedliner is also easy to apply. Special environment conditions, high-tech equipment and highly skilled labor are not necessary. In most cases, Speedliner can be applied in an open bay and still meet EPA regulations.
Speedliner is applied much like paint. Installers begin by removing the top glaze of paint from the truck bed with 80 grit sandpaper. After wiping the entire bed with solvent, they tape off the truck to prevent Speedliner from adhering to other parts of the truck. Next, the installer must prime the bed. This must dry completely before applying Speedliner.
With the entire process completed, the truck is untapped. If a small amount of Speedliner adheres to a portion of the truck while untaping, the spill can be removed with rubbing alcohol.
Speedliner has a shelf life of one year and can dramatically increase the resale value of a truck. A distinct advantage of Speedliner is that installers can use the equipment for purposes other than just bedliners – for example, sealing warehouse floors. The base cost of all start-up equipment is only $375, but that cost will vary from dealer to dealer.
