Bed Liner for Lightning Pro

[Maxx]

It looks like standard Pro bed may come unprotected. Does anyone know if the bed is Aluminum? And what is your preferred way of protecting the bed? Spray? Plastic, …. ? Why? What brand you like? What are your concerns with doing that with Pro? My current truck came with a plastic liner that I love. It is easy to slide the yard trash out of it and it has held up mighty well for the over 11 years and it is easy to clean. In short I never had to shop for one especially for F150. I am new to this whole thing and any insight in general and in it’s application to Pro specifically is appreciated.

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[Snakebitten]

I believe the Lightening is the same Aluminum body as the current F150. And all F150's are body color painted metal from factory unless optioned or treated aftermarket.

Ford offers different bed treatments from the factory. So whatever your preference is for bed protection on a current ICE F150, I suspect those same options will apply to the Lightening.

Ford made a pretty big deal out of how much effort they made to keep the truck bed on the Lightening as close as possible to the truck bed on all F150's.

 

[Pilot2022]

It looks like standard Pro bed may come unprotected. Does anyone know if the bed is Aluminum? And what is your preferred way of protecting the bed? Spray? Plastic, …. ? Why? What brand you like? What are your concerns with doing that with Pro? My current truck came with a plastic liner that I love. It is easy to slide the yard trash out of it and it has held up mighty well for the over 11 years and it is easy to clean. In short I never had to shop for one especially for F150. I am new to this whole thing and any insight in general and in it’s application to Pro specifically is appreciated.

Can you share what you have right now? You mean the whole liner slides out of the bed?

I have a 2002 with Line-X bed liner and it has held pretty well over the past 20 years.

 

[Fordskeptic]

Should be a standard ICE F150 aluminum bed. Can be spray lined, drop in bed liner, bed mat or sme combination of the above from Ford or aftermarket. My son has a drop in and my son-in-law has the spray on and I have a bed mat. All 3 do the job and all trucks have bed covers. Not much help with your decision unfortunately. Personal preference.

 

[Smokewagun]

It’s the same bed. Ford says it can use the same accessories as the ICE counterpart. Get the drop in liner if you like everything sliding all around and wearing the paint off the bed, or spray-in from Line-X if you want better quality than the Ford spray-in, or any bed mats from rubber, to Bed Rug, to Weathertech.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

IMO, there isn’t much room for debate. Spray in liners have always been the best in my experience. There may be some use cases where a drop in liner is better, but spray is works best for most.

I’ve had several brands of spray, over the years, but I’ve found Rhino-liner to be the best. For me it provides all the protection but the color holds up better to UV. I always skip having a factory spray in. Many have reported the spray in as being too thin and not holding its color. My experience is that after market spray is should cost ~$400.

 

[Fordskeptic]

I have no actual experience with a spray liner on the aluminum bed. That's the direction I am thinking of heading. How does the aluminum bed stand up to impacts. I recall when Ford switched to aluminum the competitors were claiming that the bed would dent easily from impact. Looking for people with actual experience with aluminum bed to weigh in. I know any sheet metal can be dented and can speak from experience of denting the steel bed on my old Nissan Frontier. Hopefully, I am more careful anyway.

 

[Snakebitten]

Awww come on Skeptic. Lol
The aluminum F150 is now in its 7th year of production. And I get the feeling that you probably remember those Chevy commercials like you saw them yesterday. ?

Wonder why the competitors stopped disparaging that aspect a few years ago?

And it obviously didn't bother Ford since they went on to do the same even on their SuperDuty trucks as well. You know, the Fleet trucks put into commercial service all over the country?

I'm on my 3rd Aluminum F150.
I don't abuse them, but I use them as a truck. I tow and I carry tools in the bed. But I'm not an animal about it. And so far I have never dented the truck(s).

 

[Garybiker]

Keep in mind the bed has a section with electrical outlets as well as integrated led bed lights. There are tie downs also. So any liner will have to be carefully designed. I’m going with a Ford option here

 

[Fordskeptic]

Sprayin Bedliner it is (for mine) then! Does anyone use a bed liner + a bed mat? I think that's overkill, but under my bed mat the bed looks like new, and I use the bed a lot..... but also have a bed cover.

 

[Whoosh]

Get the drop in liner if you like everything sliding all around and wearing the paint off the bed,

This had been my issue in the past and when the beds were steel instead of aluminum, the plastic bed liner wore off the paint on the elevated ribs which combined with the moisture that got trapped between the liner and the bed caused the ribs to rust through, I did Rhino lining to my trucks (after experiencing the rust issues) before Ford offered the spray in, now I order the spray in as opposed to another scheduling issue once the trucks arrive (I haven't had the quality issues that have been spoken of the ford spray in liner)

 

[Whoosh]

Awww come on Skeptic. Lol
The aluminum F150 is now in its 7th year of production. And I get the feeling that you probably remember those Chevy commercials like you saw them yesterday. ?

Wonder why the competitors stopped disparaging that aspect a few years ago?

And it obviously didn't bother Ford since they went on to do the same even on their SuperDuty trucks as well. You know, the Fleet trucks put into commercial service all over the country?

I'm on my 3rd Aluminum F150.
I don't abuse them, but I use them as a truck. I tow and I carry tools in the bed. But I'm not an animal about it. And so far I have never dented the truck(s).

Not only did they stop disparaging the bed, my neighbor has the fancy GMC and it has a carbon fiber bed!

 

[F150ROD]

The spray in liner for my ICE 21 XLT has been fantastic, I will for sure get it as an option again.

 

[sotek2345]

I am a bit different in that I prefer a bed mat to a bed liner. I like how grippy the rubber is and it is substantially cheaper.

My plan is to take the bed mat and tonneau cover off of my 2016 and use them on the Lightning.

 

[Snakebitten]

Sprayin Bedliner it is (for mine) then! Does anyone use a bed liner + a bed mat? I think that's overkill, but under my bed mat the bed looks like new, and I use the bed a lot..... but also have a bed cover.

That's what I do. On the recent Powerboost acquisition I took it down for a spray-in. They did a great job removing all the components in the bed and the tailgate. Then I throw the Weathertech bed mat in on top because it is less slippery and absorbs the shock/bounce of items bouncing or rolling into the vertical surfaces. Weathertech bed mat covers the first few inches of the walls.

Pics below are after a couple of days of chopping up fallen trees from a recent storm. First the Powerboost kept the lights on during the power outage. And then relocated cut limbs to the burn pile. Bed needs a washing, but the sprayin hasn't marred even the tiniest. Cleans up like brand new.