Make Your (Truck) Bed

For most car owners, keeping their car clean is easy. It’s a simple three-part formula: wash the outside every few weeks, don’t let trash pile up inside, and clean the seats and floormats every once in a while.  For truck owners, however, there is an extra step that can be overlooked—keeping the bed in good shape. While there is a pretty short list of things that go inside a truck cab, mainly people and their belongings, there is an endless catalog of objects that can end up in your truck bed. Add in the occasional wrath of mother nature, and you’ve got the potential for serious damage to a core component of your vehicle. Luckily, there’s a solution to this: a hearty truck bed liner. And no one knows truck bed liners better than your local Chevy dealership.

The Accessory to Have

There are a lot of things to love about trucks. For one, they’re perhaps the most versatile vehicles on the market. Few vehicles can match their combination of towing capacity and payload while still being able to comfortably carry up to 6 people. Pick-ups are also inherently customizable, from lifted trucks with off-road accessories galore to low riders sitting on hidden hydraulics, few trucks go their entire life without the addition of a couple of accessories.

While many accessories are purely for show, some serve important purposes. Bush guards protect the front end, grille and engine from damage while snorkels help trucks ford through deep water. For the everyday pick-up driver, nothing can compete with the simple bed liner. A good bed liner will protect the investment you made in your truck will also providing utility.

A couple of years ago, when Ford announced its brand-new titanium truck bed, Chevy was ready to strike back. In one of its infamous focus group-styled ads, the Chevy representative had his crew drop sharp rocks into the bed of an F-150 and a Silverado 1500. The Ford’s titanium bed was wrecked—the rocks had made multiple holes and indentations. The Silverado’s bed remained largely unharmed save for a few scratches. While the overall ad was a bit overblown (the Venn diagram of people who need to dump boulders and people who don’t know to protect their truck bed is two distinct circles) it makes a solid point. Whether you use your truck for work or pleasure, we put a lot of potentially damaging objects in our truck beds and we should do our best to protect this vital piece of our vehicles.

There are many ways to protect your bed. Some use a tarp to prevent damage to a truck bed or the popular “redneck pool” uses a tarp to turn your truck into a water-tight pool. On a more serious note, you can also use a Tonneau cover or truck cap to protect your bed from the elements and harmful UV rays. Neither of these, however, protect your bed from scratches or sharp objects that could puncture the bed. While you can certainly destroy almost anything with some elbow grease and serious work, nothing protects your truck like a bed liner. If you want to protect your belongings and your truck bed, try pairing a liner with a lockable Tonneau cover or truck cap.

Finding the Right Liner

If you google “truck bed liner,” you’ll see the full cornucopia of liners available. Material-wise, there’s plastic, rubber, wood, various Rust-oleum products, and metal. There are also many ways to apply the liner: roll-on, drop-in, foam spray, brush-painted, and spray-in. Despite all of the DIY methods and materials available we highly recommend having a professional do the work. A trained specialist will make sure that your liner is applied correctly and safely while also ensuring that your liner will protect the way it’s intended.

Rhino Liner

We recommend and use Rhino Liner because it’s the best in the industry. Rhino makes a variety of protective coatings for various industries but is most well-known for its rock-solid truck bed linings. Rhino liners provide the highest level of corrosion, impact, and abrasion resistance for your truck bed, truck grille guards, bumpers, and truck rocker panels. Many of the same components of Rhino’s truck bed liners also go into its military products, which have seen service in war zones across the globe. Although other dealerships and auto shops might try to sell you other “premium” bed liners, we believe that Rhino Liner’s breadth of experience and years of exemplary results speak for themselves. If your Rhino Liner is applied with care, it will give you many years of spectacular service.

Chevy Knowledge

Read through the online forums and blogs and you’ll find one thing everyone can agree on: the quality of the installer is critical. When not installed properly, even the best liner is set up for failure. At McCluskey, we know Chevy products like the back of our hand. The vast majority of cars that enter our shop are Chevrolets, and our techs are experts on what does and doesn’t work when it comes to Chevy products. Even if you bought your Chevy somewhere else, we’re happy to help you get the truck liner you desire. No matter how good your local auto shop or accessory shop is, they’re most likely just typing your truck into a computer and then applying whatever liner it recommends. We use our deep well of experience with your truck to choose a liner that we know will give you years of worry-free protection. Auto shops and other dealers just can’t match our level of expertise. We also know how to care for your liner and will give you advise on how to keep it in tip-top shape.

While it can be tempting to apply your own truck bed liner, we believe it best to leave it to the experts. We have the technology and expertise to apply your new liner as quickly as possible, helping you spend less time and energy worrying about the application. Since we mainly work with Chevy trucks, we know all of the intricacies of each truck and will make sure your Colorado, Silverado or Silverado HD receives the special attention it deserves. Looking for other accessories or a quick tune-up? Why not combine everything into one trip? Drop your truck off for a bed liner installation and get your tires rotated or your oil changed too. There’s no better way to kill two birds with one stone.

The McCluskey Difference

McCluskey Chevrolet is your place to get a bed liner for your new or used Chevy. Whether you’re looking to hit the job site or just protect your asset, we’ll be able to help you find what you’re looking for quickly. Our highly-trained and well-respected staff members will be able to assist you and will provide you with exemplary customer service. If you’re someone who has had a poor experience with truck accessories in the past, don’t let that sway you from stopping by McCluskey Chevrolet. We will show you the respect that you deserve and provide you with a truck bed liner that will give you peace of mind out on the road. If you’re ready to get a brand-new bed liner, or you simply have questions for the experts, it’s time to stop by our conveniently located dealership. You’ll be glad that you did.