The History of Fly Away Plastic Bed Liners

This may not seem to have anything to do with a plastic bed liner, but bear with me. The setting is a family trip. We are navigating a 4 lane highway in rural Kentucky on the way home from Illinois. That’s where my mother-in-law lives. Almost no traffic and perfect visibility.

I’m driving our Chevy truck and it’s quiet, probably the kids in the back are napping … Then something up ahead comes into view. It is either on the road or right next to the road ahead. It’s big and dark, but it’s not clear what it is … We get closer. It gets bigger … What is that? Approaches. I still can’t understand it.

Finally, it is clear that it is not moving and is right at the edge of the road. It’s getting closer … What the hell is that ???

Ahhh … Now I see …

It’s a plastic bed liner … right there on the road. I bet the guy didn’t even notice he flew away, but he did. You probably wondered where that thing went when you got out of the truck and looked back. And that thing could have killed someone when it flew back. A plastic bedding is a serious material.

You see, plastic liners are one of the best liners to protect a truck bed if you do a really tough haul. However, here is the problem. Baggy liners leave air behind them and that does several bad things:

• The coating vibrates and wears away the paint underneath, causing rust and corrosion.
• Moving liners can eventually come loose and fly like our example,
• Coatings can trap water underneath and rust a truck bed,
• Loose liners are noisy from the whipping and spinning wind.

So if you get a plastic bed liner, make sure it fits you well and make sure it is made to drain well. Probably the best way to get this type of lining is to look at a multi-piece liner rather than a one-piece liner.