Bed Liner vs Paint

[78SovIntl31]

Would like to get some peoples opinion on using truck Bed liner on the tongue of the trailer vs painting.

I'm pretty fussy about the appearance of my stuff, and want to make sure this will be easy to maintain / keep clean before I refinish the tongue.

Thanks!

[DryFly]

I've been considering the same thing. I saw in a previous thread somewhere that someone had done it and was very happy with how well it stood up to the elements. My main concern is that it has a rough finish and may trap dirt and grime and require cleaning more often than a "slick" paint finish.

[polarlyse]

I like the thought of bed liner. My concern would be if a small chip would allow rust to begin and go unnoticed as it progresses behind a bed liner coating that looked to be good. By the time it did become obvious the damage would have progressed. This is me just thinking out loud.

I did use some spray in bed liner inside the rear bumper compartment and was planning to use it in the front "A" frame compartment but only on the inside so far.

[78SovIntl31]

Thanks for your input and private messages. I have decided to go with just painting the tongue. I removed all the hardware, stripped the paint off, primed and re-sprayed using a Chrysler metalic silver I picked up at NAPA. - I also sandblasted the rims and painted them to match.

[DryFly]

That looks nice! Is the silver metallic a bed liner paint or an automotive paint? If it's not bed liner, why did you choose not to use it?

[Skater]

Honestly, our truck has the bed liner spray-in stuff, and it's pretty nice (we bought the truck used and it had been done before we bought it). I don't think twice about dropping our heavy hitch on it, for example. It just makes the bed feel indestructible, and it has a plastic-like finish. Using it on the tongue seems like a good idea to me. I'm curious to hear from anyone who has done it.

I need to repaint ours, too. I said this last year, but... I plan to do it this spring.

[78SovIntl31]

It's automotive paint - my biggest fear with the bedliner spray is that the texture will hold the dirt. - I am going to tape off the propane tank bracket and spray it with the bedliner since the tanks will just rub through the clearcoat on the paint.