Prep required to Linex underside completely stem to stern.

[73azbronco]

Besides degreasing powerwashing/steam cleaning, any other tidbits to apply Linex to the underside front to back?

Body is bare, on the frame, 2"BL. Nothing attached. Plan to Linex interior, and underside engine bay, front to back. Will be taping exterior for paint application later.

Do I need to strip paint? Sand? Or just clean and apply? Prep for patches of minor surface rust, underside is rust except for a few quarter size areas of surface rust. I am hoping this stuff can go on over factory sealant which is still in good shape. I know, ask the installer, but just looking for ideas on what to ask or what to look for when I pay up.

 

[ryan287]

Surfaces need to be completely sanded and completely clean in my experience. I've Linex'd my inside twice. Years before this last this last paint, I bead blasted to metal and rattle can primer the inside, then linex'd. Because I never sanded the primer and cleaned it, the linex peeled right up when it was time to do a this last paint job. The linex stayed on for years, but along the edges I always new it would come right off, and I was always worried about what was going on underneath it.

 

[rjrobin2002]

I had mine sand blasted and epoxy primed and it sticks hard. Rattle can primer will not hold. We stood it up on its tail end and blasted both sides of the floor and then primed it. I bed lined both side the same way by starting at the top on a 6' ladder and worked my way down.

 

[tobinj]

What both guys said, clean the metal and prime first with either an epoxy primer or self etcher, scuff the prime then lay the bedliner material down should be good to go. It will pull off if not properly prepped

 

[Landho]

Are you going to LineX it yourself at home, or have a shop do it for you? If doing it from home - where did you order the DIY LineX from?

I have my underside coated in POR-15 (and a bit of Chassis Saver after some repairs), and the inside Epoxy primed (plus rattle-can epoxy primed where some repairs were done)... I plan to do a thin coat of U-POL Raptor Liner the inside of my tub and firewall when it returns from the paint shop... if I decide I do not like that, I will start saving up for a professional LineX job.

For prep work, I will scuff sand and wipe it does with wax/grease remover - then MEK it (I don't have the U-POL yet, so maybe it asks for something other than MEK to prep paint before topcoating with it), then while the paint is still icky from the MEK I will shoot it as per the U-POL instructions.

 

[Landho]

OH - And be warned... I was spraying the underside of my tub (it was removed and on a tub cart, not a rotisserie), to help protect from overspray I had plastic drapped down forming almost a tent under the body.. my breathing mask ended up not fitting properly around my nose and leaked in the fumes - I was on the verge of passing out but was able to rip the plastic down by kicking my legs and crawl out. If I had passed out inside that stupid tent who knows what would have happened.

Dagnerous stuff those fumes are!

 

[jamesf7278]

wax and grease remover will clean rattle can primer right off

 

[allenfahey]

Besides degreasing powerwashing/steam cleaning, any other tidbits to apply Linex to the underside front to back?

Body is bare, on the frame, 2"BL. Nothing attached. Plan to Linex interior, and underside engine bay, front to back. Will be taping exterior for paint application later.

Do I need to strip paint? Sand? Or just clean and apply? Prep for patches of minor surface rust, underside is rust except for a few quarter size areas of surface rust. I am hoping this stuff can go on over factory sealant which is still in good shape. I know, ask the installer, but just looking for ideas on what to ask or what to look for when I pay up.

You need to address the rust areas by sand blasting and possibly POR-15. The rest of it I would call the Linex dealer. They might be able to apply it directly on the bare metal or have a primer they prefer.

A suggestion... Have them do the underside and engine bay now. Then paint the outside of it letting over spray land on the inside of the tub. Then take it back to them to do the inside of the tub. That is how I paint pickup truck beds whether it's going to Linex or Rhino. You will have a better paint job that way, less chance of the paint peeling on the liner edges.

 

[allenfahey]

wax and grease remover will clean rattle can primer right off

You need to find a better rattle can primer. ;D

 

[deltarat]

I had mine blasted to bare metal and primed and the outside painted. I waited a month for the paint to cure,as recommended by the LineX dealer, then had it LineXed. He said it is better to lap the LineX over the paint, than to butt the paint up to the LineX. He also said the he had seen the paint bubble if he LineXed too quickly after a paint job, due to the heat of the LineX.

 

[allenfahey]

I had mine blasted to bare metal and primed and the outside painted. I waited a month for the paint to cure,as recommended by the LineX dealer, then had it LineXed. He said it is better to lap the LineX over the paint, than to butt the paint up to the LineX. He also said the he had seen the paint bubble if he LineXed too quickly after a paint job, due to the heat of the LineX.

Sounds like good advise. All paint jobs I do go thru a bake cycle and if it's going to get a bed liner it is baked an extra 15 minutes for extra insurance of full cure. It also waits at least 2 days before the truck is sent to the liner company which is about right for the trim out by the body man.

 

[deltarat]

Mine didn't get baked, so I would pull it out of the shop in the sun for about 30 days for it to cure.

 

[73azbronco]

A shop is going to do this.

So, I cant just prep the old paint, I need to remove it with media, then prime, then wait, then linex?

Curious because I'm pretty sure when they do truck beds they don't remove the paint to bare metal and prime then wait a month then linex. See where I'm going?

Here is a post from a dealer on another forum:

Couple quick points, I am a LINE-X dealer in Illinois.

First, sandblasting the bed is the last thing you want to do. The bed either needs to be painted or primed properly, as if it was going to be painted, before it can have LINE-X applied. LINE-X needs something to adhere to. This is also the reason why spraying new or recently repaired trucks require us to test the paint first. We scuff the paint then give it a chemical bath before spraying.

Herculiner or the like is not the same product. It is softer and not as durable i.e does not resit dents. it is brusghed on and applied cold, which means it has a cure time. LINE-X is sprayed on "hot", at around 160 degrees, and dies in 2 to 5 seconds. No running and follows all contours of the body so accessories still fit.

Yes, I am biased. I was a customer first (01 taco dbl cab) and that is one reason I bought a franchise. Were I in your area I could show you herculiner type product, both applied and stripped out of a truck, that has rust and water spots under it. It does not bond as well. It also does not have the consistant appearance, which makes it look factory installed. Cold applied tends to look "muddy" and also does not adhere well in vertical areas.

Sounds like scuffing old paint and chemical prep is all that's required, heck even recommended.

More:

ive prepped and sprayed a lot of them at my old job. i used a large (6 inch) abrasive nylon cup brush on a buffer. i could prep a full size bed in about 15 minutes. not counting taping and masking.

edit: i guess they were 5 here is a link. the price is worth it since it has so many uses.

I'll be talking to the Linex dealer next week, my take is sand to scuff, chem prep, mask, spray, done.

 

[jim3326]

If your paint on the underside is good then what your saying is true. I have yet to see a rig that has good paint on the underside. At a minimum you should do all the above cleaning then apply a good epoxy primer. My paint was so good the Line-X guy took it and had the whole thing blasted then he primed the whole body, let it sit for a month and a half then coated it. I have bent places where it's coated a sharp 90* and it remains intact, no cracks or separation, the only thing that separates it is heat like a plasma torch. I have used a cutoff wheel lightly with good results.

Jim W.

 

[allenfahey]

There is no need to wait a month for it to dry. Urethane primers fully cure within 2-3 hours. Urethane clears air dry cures within 12-24 hours.

The waiting 30 days for paint to dry is from the lacquer days which didn't cure for weeks.

 

[deltarat]

You don't have to strip the paint if it is good. I was doing a full restore and blasted to bare metal, primed and painted the outside. The reason I waited was I wrapped the Linex up over the paint on the top of the sides and over the tailgate, like a regular bed liner job. I left just the primer on all the inside of the tub.

 

[73azbronco]

Thanks folks, my underside paint is good, great actually, no rust, just some grease oil here and there. I'll get back with what the dealer said, I'm thinking degrease, sand, chem prep, Linux.