Video: No Drop-In or Spray-In: We Chose a DualLiner Bedliner for Our 2021 Ford F-150

Primarily they protect the bed from scratches and gouges. And scratches and paint equal rust in most cases. But we didn't know which type to get. The two primary types are a drop-in bed liner or a spray-in bed liner. And we weren't wild about either type. Drop-in bed liners tend to be more affordable. They're made of plastic, they're molded to form to the side. And the floor section is corrugated to let air in and water out and also to absorb impacts. But generally speaking, they do tend to slide around and even the ones that are made to be molded to specific models don't fit great. And one thing we really don't like about them is that oftentimes they just have big holes cut in them for cleats like this, doesn't look good. And the floor, it actually ends up being almost as slippery as if you don't have a bed liner at all. And then there's the spray-in type, which is more expensive. Now, spray-ins are usually the choice of people who want their truck to do hard work. Because spray-in bed liners are really durable. They are essentially a very strong paint. The surface gets redone and then it's painted in. They're cleaner, they can't slide around, obviously. And the surface prevents cargo from sliding around. But the downside is the way it keeps things from sliding around is the surface is really coarse, it's like 20-grit sandpaper or something like that. So it can also damage your cargo. So if you're using the truck for casual use, which is what we're doing, it can actually damage something. If you're, like, transporting furniture, you don't want to put it directly on it. So a spray-in bed liner also was not our first choice. So, what was our first choice? Our first choice ended up being the DualLiner, which is a hybrid of sorts. It combines the best aspects of a drop-in liner, which is the familiar side panels, but better executed, and a mat, a rubber mat for the floor. Now, to be clear, this is not a paid endorsement. Quite the contrary, Cars.com's editorial department has an ethics policy, we paid full price for this. More than that, we waited many months while DualLiner worked through the pandemic to engineer a solution to fit this particular truck with the Pro Power Onboard goodies in the side bed and lights and all this extra stuff that were not the case in earlier model years. So we waited, and we knew there was a risk, and you can see, unfortunately, in all the scratches in the bed. Now, we took a calculated risk. Our aha-moment was when we realized this is an F-150, which uses an aluminum alloy, so it was not going to rust. And our second choice was a spray-in bed liner. Now, a well applied spray-in bed liner, the first step is to sand off the paint anyway before it is applied. So we figured we're gonna take our time and wait. So now I, and Managing Editor, Joe Bruzek are going to install the DualLiner. It should be a simple installation. It might be complicated a bit by the cover, which was installed by Joe in an earlier video. We'll see how it goes. Now, to be clear, we used power tools to remove the screws and then to reseat them later. But it's wise to tighten them manually afterward, especially if you are dealing with aluminum or aluminum alloy, like you might for a tailgate or in our F-150. A pry bar did appear at one point, but I want to make clear that we did not use it at any point. We were tempted, but we worked around it. And note, we didn't even wear gloves while doing this job. Clean the bed better than we did before you put your new bed liner in. We just didn't get the opportunity and had to do the shoot. It really is a good idea to get it cleaner before you put the bed liner in. Overall, the installation goes quite well. And I could see it taking just, you know, less than a half hour, even for one person possibly. But for us, we actually were pleased with how well it went working around the existing bed cover. We thought we might have to cut our new side panels, but everything kinda fit in there well together. And we had got it back on, and we actually think it might fit better because it added a little bit more height in the front. So all good in the end. So now that it's installed, I can show you the things we appreciate about the DualLiner and why we chose it even clearer. Partly, there are four different tie-down points on each side, and they hold the liner to the side very tightly. And there's a channel for the rubber mat that also holds it tight. So it, you know, really doesn't flop around like your average drop-in bed liner does. It's real tight around the light even, does a nice job of sticking to the Pro Power Onboard outlets. So that's a positive thing. The mat will settle a little bit after a couple of days. It's been rolled up, but as it is, what it does is it gives you protection, yes, but it also gives you some traction, and it does it much better than the other types. The bed without any bed liner is extremely slippery. For cargo, yes, but if you were to stand in here when it's wet, you're probably gonna go down. It almost happened to me. And then when you consider a drop-in bed liner, they tend to still be pretty slippery. And here's another thing, if you're in your bed, which you should be if you're tying down your loads. Which you should do. It's hell to kneel on a plain unlined bed. And the same is true for a drop-in bed liner with the plastic ridges or the rough surface of a spray-in bed liner. Whereas here, this is nice and soft. It frees you from the tyranny. You can finally remove the knee pads. Don't judge, I'm an old man. This is so much more livable. So what did our DualLiner cost us? Well, it started at $429, and I say started, but shipping was free, and it didn't go up from there. It went down $10 to 419 because we didn't need a tailgate panel. We had the optional Ford work surface on our tailgate. So we actually were able to subtract to 419. It's manufactured here in the US just north of Cars.com's Illinois headquarters in Wisconsin. And the mat hails from Ohio. Now, if we were to order today the Ford branded drop-in bed liner, that would be $275, plus from our local dealer, $75 of installation. That same dealer was selling another drop-in for $450 and a spray-in bed liner installed for $550. So at this point we feel we've made the right decision. We will continue reporting on our F-150 and it's new DualLiner bed liner in the coming months.