Bed liner or mat?

[FloridaJT6MT]

I have the factory bedliner, which has worked out really well. It's not as rough as some of the aftermarket liners I've seen. I started out with the soft tri-fold tonneau cover. Since I put the RSI SmartCap on, I have been looking at a rubber pad for the bottom. Something like this: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0844VT...abc_25DQS1Z2FGP6VR58Y4DX?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

That’s the one I was looking at too but I think I like the smartliner more after looking at it. When you say factory liner do you mean a spray on or the Mopar drop in? Because I did see that Mopar has a drop in bed liner for the gladiator. Anybody have that?

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[Mr._Bill]

That’s the one I was looking at too but I think I like the smartliner more after looking at it. When you say factory liner do you mean a spray on or the Mopar drop in? Because I did see that Mopar has a drop in bed liner for the gladiator. Anybody have that?

Mine is the factory spray in bedliner. All my previous trucks had one of the drop in liners. Every time a drop in liner gets brought up here, they get told how awful they are and the truck is going to rust away underneath it. I bought my truck off the lot. One of the things I checked during the test drive was how rough the liner was.

 

[Bwitherel]

I have the factory bedliner, which has worked out really well. It's not as rough as some of the aftermarket liners I've seen. I started out with the soft tri-fold tonneau cover. Since I put the RSI SmartCap on, I have been looking at a rubber pad for the bottom. Something like this: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0844VT...abc_25DQS1Z2FGP6VR58Y4DX?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I went with BedRug and zero regrets. Super durable and easy on the knees. I have a tonneau cover now, but EvoSport cap on order. The BedRug looks great too and made to fit exactly. $163 and can be found at https://bedrug.com/bedrug-classic-bed-mat/2020/jeep/gladiator

 

[AZCooWhip]

@bedrug Impact liner in combo with spray in liner.

Perfect combo.

 

[yoda13]

I am having a spray-in liner done as we speak... I struggled with this decision a bit myself...

 

[cuellar13]

@bedrug Impact liner in combo with spray in liner.

Perfect combo.

I will second this, though it depends on the Ops budget and what they are using the bed for:
-Spray in, if you want pure rugged protection of the entire bed, and not concerned with "softer" items getting damaged or if you don't plan on having to climb in and out on your hands and knees very often.
-Full Bed Rug if you climb in and out a lot, and mainly carry a lot of "softer" items that you don't want beat up
-This set up is the best of both worlds, but your bank account won't be happy

I've probably mentioned this in other posts, but I managed a truck accessories shop in college, and we did a TON of different bed liners, including spray liners before they were common (bed liners alone probably paid the rent). If at all possible, I would avoid a drop in liner- they will absolutely destroy the bed floor over time unless you use some sort of sealed foam pad underneath to help keep moisture out and reduce friction from vibration. Even then, I would go with just a rubber bed mat in the floor before a drop in. I had a Bed Rug in a Dodge Ram at that time, with a carpeted fiberglass topper and camped in it on occasion- it was surprisingly comfortable.

 

[Killroy Was Here]

Bedrug has begun production on their classic bedliner which gives full protection to the side walls of the bed as well as the floor & tailgate.
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...lassic-bed-liner-finally-able-to-order.43819/

 

[Mac]

I have a drop in, $200 which is less than half most spray ins and has 10x the protection. I had a drop in my last truck for 10 years and it still looked fine under the liner, the stories of rust under the liner are from the ‘70s and ‘80s perpetuated by the spray in companies, current steel used in the beds doesn’t rust like that anymore. The drop in for the JT is also very snug and held in the two tow rings in the front of the bed.

 

[spectre6000]

I'll be ordering with the spray in liner to protect the metal, then using some industrial/agricultural conveyor belt material to make a mat so it's easier on soft cargo/my knees. The material is the same rubber as tires, 3/8" thick, and fabric reinforced X2 layers. I've seen it used as a work surface and looking great after something like 20 years of hard daily use. I don't remember how much it was, but not much, and I have enough left over from a previous project to line the bed for sure.

Several years ago, I used some to make a bed liner of sorts for my wife's JKUR. Covers the entire floor, and goes all the way up the backs of the front seats. I've had engines in there, and the interior looks like new.

 

[jenkij]

I carry around a lot of Cisco Routers and Switches, the cardboard and staples scratch the paint pretty good, spray ins cost 3 times as much and are abrasive, so I opted for a bed rug. In hind site I should have gotten the two piece instead of this.

 

[Bear Hunter]

I went with a rubber mat mostly because of price savings but also because I like the padding it provides and am not sure how much the spray in liner would really do for me. It was easy and cheap. For hauling wood and other things I suspect the spray in liner would do a better job of protecting your paint...

 

[FloridaJT6MT]

Thanks for all the input. I went with the Dee Zee Bed Mat that was a Prime Day deal:

DEE ZEE Bed Mat

I also purchased the Rough Country Molle Panel set:

Rough Country JT Molle Panels

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