Very Technical Information

All tires are made of rubber, therefore all tires are all about the same, right?  No, of course not.  Tires can have very different physical properties even though they have the same rubber base material.  Spray-on truck bedliners are the same way.

Like all tires are made of rubber, spray-on bedliners generally have three possible base materials:

1. 100% polyurethane (hydroxl terminated resin + isocyanate)
2. 100% polyurea (amine terminated resin + isocyanate)
3. Blend of both polyurethane and polyurea (LINE-X)

BEST BASE MATERIALS FOR TRUCK BEDLINERS:
The best bedliners contain a mix of both polyurethane and polyurea for the following reasons: Both polyurethane and polyurea give the bedliner desirable properties.  For example, polyurethane has 2 to 3 times the abrasion resistance of polyurea and also provides for better adhesion to the truck's bed.  But, polyurea is also desirable, it gives the bedliner a higher temperature tolerance, higher tear strength, keeps moisture out of the resin prior to its application which produces a more dense bedliner, and allows LINE-X to dry in about 4 seconds.

DRY TIME IS IMPORTANT:  

Since LINE-X dries so fast, you get a very even application of the bedliner product throughout the entire truck's bed and the bedliner perfectly follows the contours of the truck's bed.  The even application of the product insures protection everywhere with no thin areas.  And, since LINE-X perfectly follows the contours of the bed, the appearance of the product is much more pleasing.  100% polyurethane bedliners take 30 to 45 seconds to gel and about 45 minutes to dry, so they stay in a liquid state longer and gravity makes the product sink for a not so even application of the bedliner product and they do not nicely follow the contours of the bed.  
 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING POLYURETHANES:
Let's look at polyurethane a little deeper.  There are two types of polyurethanes used for truck bedliners: One-part polyurethanes (also called "solvent based") and two-part polyurethanes. One-part polyurethanes work like this: The polyurethane is suspended in a solvent. A catalyst is added that polymerizes the solvent and leaves just the polyurethane. The catalyst can be a liquid chemical or just air. The store bought "Do-It-Yourself" roll-on bedliner brands are solvent based.  Two-part polyurethanes (contained in LINE-X) work like this: A polyol resin is mixed with isocyanate (a hardener) which renders the polyurethane. Two-part polyurethanes are typically harder and much more durable than one-part polyurethanes.

PREFERRED APPLICATION PROCESS:

Most bedliners that use at least some polyurea (including LINE-X) use a heat/high pressure application system.  The advantages of a heat/high pressure system are:  Allows more working time for the polyurea, provides superior adhesion to the truck's bed, and gives the liner a very beautiful final texture.  The final texture of a heat/high pressure application system is much more uniform across the bedliner and has a more "factory" look to it.  Most 100% polyurethane bedliners use a cold/low pressure application system.  Their texture is not as uniform, they splatter different sized droplets as a final texture.  See the Product page to view the different textures.  As mentioned, most 100% polyurethane brands uses a cold/low pressure system.  However, there are a few (very few) 100% polyurea brands that are solvent based that also use a cold/low pressure application system.  Typically, these brands must first apply an adhesive primer to the truck's bed.  If the primer is not used, the bedliner product will not stick to the bed.  You should know that LINE-X is not solvent based, does not need an adhesive primer, and uses the preferred heat/high pressure application system.

Throughout the years, LINE-X has formulated the absolute best bedliner product:  LINE-X with LINE-X Xtra backed by the LINE-X written nationwide lifetime warranty is by far the best bedliner you can buy today.