Bedliner in 1996 Ranger: Should I Remove?

A few years ago I bought a 1996 Ranger with a black plastic bedliner that covers up all the hooks and holes. As a result, there is no way to tie anything into the back, and it makes the truck much less useful to me.

I am tempted to try to remove the damn thing. Mostly I have the truck to be able to do occasional light hauling, and unless I can tie stuff down securely it's a lot less useful to me.

  1. Any advice on whether I am likely to regret removing the bedliner? I plan to buy a kayak soon, and maybe the bedliner would protect the bed or the kayak against getting scratched? Or perhaps the bed would rust out sooner without the liner?

  1. If I do decide to remove the bedliner, am I likely to have trouble doing so? It seems to be screwed onto the sides of the bed with screws that have oddly big flat (3" diameter) plastic nuts, but I imagine it might be affixed in other ways that I cannot see. I ran into a few old posts on usenet indicating that some people may have trouble removing bedliners, although this may have been with Toyota trucks.

Many thanks for anyone's thoughts or advice. (Bu thanks, no need to point out that someone who knows as little about trucks as I know shouldn't really own one. :-) )

Hal

Reply to
hal_r_parker
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You might want to keep the bedliner -- it will keep scratches, dents, etc. from the bed.

If you need to attach tie-downs, here are two suggestions.

  1. Check out anyplace that sells tie-down hardware and trailer hitches -- start at an auto parts store, also check out Lowe's or Home Depot -- they sell trailer balls and the like. What you are looking for is a tie-down that fits into the stake holes on the edge of the bed. Look at the edge rail of the bed where you will find four rectangular holes, two up front, two in the rear. You can buy a thing that has a heavy chrome ring on top with a chrome base -- there is a threaded shaft on the bottom of the chrome ring with a wing nut on it -- just slip this into the hole and tighten it -- instant tie-down.

Here are some examples:

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Look at this one -- you can see the wingnuts:
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Look at the photos on this link:
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'll see a chrome ring tie-down installed in the front two stake holes of my truck. I did not install tie-downs in the rear stake holes because I used those holes to mount the antennas for my amateur radio equipment.

  1. Another possibility -- if you are certain where the stock tie-down hooks are located on the bed, you could CAREFULLY cut holes in the bedliner to gain access to the tie-downs. When we bought my daughter a 2000 Ranger, we had the dealer install a bedliner -- it came with holes already cut so we have access to the tie-downs.

Hope this helps.

Reply to
Joe S.

My opinion is to get rid of the thing. I always have, as they trap water and junk and hasten the demise of your truck. I used to use the Rubbermaid style mat that just sits in the back........I got rid of that for the same reason. My solution?

Get a gallon of Herculiner brush on bed liner. It's about $50 on sale......It will take you a week-end, but if you follow the directions, it'll look great! For tie downs, I installed the flat style in holes in the bed. Much easier to tie down stuff with hooks that fold flat when you don't need them. Works great.

MM^^

Reply to
Mountain Mike^^

I agree. Toss that thing ASAP. It has probably already worn the paint down to bare metal in spots. Use a quality brush-on liner, or take it in to a Line X or Rhino Lining place.

Reply to
Matt Macchiarolo

The only way to go - IMHO - is the spray on bed liner which you can get many places or have it commercially done.. Had an '06 F150 done a few months back for $240 south of Atlanta. Looks great, tough as nails and keeps things from slidding around. You still have the use of any tiedowns that may be there and does not trap debris or water under it to wear away paint exposing metal to corrode. The surface is very hard and you will need to put a protective barrier of some sort between it and things that scratch easily. After all, it is intended to protect the truck while you take care of the cargo.

Lugnut

Reply to
lugnut

I bought some 1/8" plastic-coated metal cable from Home Depot, along with some crimp-on cylinders (ferrules?). Cut the cable in 2' lengths. Make a pass with the cable through the truck hooks and crimp the ends with the ferrules. Then you have something that you can hook into. Very easy, very durable.

Reply to
Jay Alperson

Thanks, everybody, for very helpful advice and comments. Much appreciated!

Hal

Reply to
hal_r_parker

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