sprayed on bra

[bgodfrey]

I was reading some postings about bed liners and thought I'd mention something I did to my new truck. If you live in an area where they sand icy roads or if you travel a lot on gravel, you might want to consider this.
I live in a salty area (about 100 yards from the Pacific surf) and little rock dings are deadly. My old truck has a bug/rock deflector, but the new Tundra has all of that extra painted sheet metal around the grill and lights and a bug deflector doesn't cover it all. When I went to get the Rhino bed lining sprayed on (drop-in linings wear out the paint on the inside of the bed and promote rust) I had them mask off and spray a "bra" on the whole front of the truck. Now I won't have to worry about rock dings on the front, anyway. It only cost a hundred bucks extra and looks good. They can color match (for an extra charge) but I just went for black.

--Brian

[SATundra]

Hum thats an interesting idea. Different thats for sure. Do you have any pics of it, I'm sure there are others out there that would like to see what it looks like.

SATundra

[rodchester]

I would like to see some pictures too.

[bgodfrey]

OK, I'll see what I can do. Might be Monday or Tuesday.

It doesn't look too bad, but I did it for rustproofing more than for looks. If someone was really concerned about looks they could use a color-matched spray and you'd hardly see it.

BTW, you could also spray the rocker panels if you drove a lot on gravel. I considered that, but it was not in the budget at this time. Might do it later.

--Brian

[T'sTOY]

bgodfrey

I think you got a heck of a deal!

I had look into doing the same when I got my Line-X installed a couple of years ago, but the dealers I spoke to (several different brands) weren't doing it or they wanted between $200-$300 extra to do the "bra." They said the extra cost was due to all the angles and extra work preparing the surface.

The idea came to me when I first saw an a local guy with an older Toy truck with the entire lower half of his body "lined." It's a light tan truck with black liner and it looks good, and more importantly as you mentioned, the rust proofing protection is great!

Enjoy your truck,

T

[bgodfrey]

Two to three hundred bucks for the bra when you're already in there buying a lining is awfully steep! The masking and stripping time for the bra may have taken almost as long as for the bed, but the total prep time was much shorter because sanding and cleaning went really quick compared to the bed. The Rhino guy quoted me a flat rate of $6/square foot for spraying their product on other, non-truck, surfaces. There's probably about three square feet of bra and sprayed thinner than the bed (compared to probably 80 or more square feet in the bed) so that's about $18 worth of product and $82 for prep/strip, totaling $100. A very fair price for both of us, I think. The Rhino guy I went to (in Tualatin, Oregon) is a small operator. He's got a 3-bay shop and one technician in addition to himself. This is my second lining job from him and he seems very honest and works hard to make the customer happy.
I thought of the sprayed on bra when I looked under the rock deflector on my T100. I put the deflector on after driving the truck for a year or so and the hood was already pitted. Now I've got rust to fix before I sell the truck.
--Brian

[T'sTOY]

Yeah, I thought it was quite a bit for the small area they covered. I may head back and talk to the guys that did my bed and see what they have to say. They use gravel (instead of sand) on the roads here in Colorado, and it beats the heck out of our vehicles.

$100 for long term worry free protection seems like an excellent investment to me.

Take it easy,

T

[bgodfrey]

Some people call it gravel here, too. It's kind of like really coarse sand, maybe between 1/16 and 3/16" pieces.

OK, I made a photo of the truck with the sprayed on bra. Nothing fancy, just a snapshot. Hopefully I figure out how to correctly include it with this posting.

And if anyone should think it's ugly (I don't care) just remember that you could color match if you prefer.

--Brian

[5 Speed]

I think it looks pretty cool. I have no problem with it, I have a jade green tundra and it would almost blend in. I bet it could me made of black textured ABS plastic and it could be removable. I purchased some big (4x8 feet) sink liners from a company in Texas that made sink liners in whatever size you wanted to pay to make a mold for, maybe they should make truck masks! I wish they sold black ABS fitted sheet plastic to cover all the lower pannels of the trucks from the front fender to the rear bumper. It would cost more in 3M tape than the ABS plastic. I have seen a few of the other 3 with the ABS rock pannels but never a mask for the front end.

As for the sand, during the winter in Montana where my family lives, I don't believe they put anything on the road but rocks. I personally believe they mix in 75 percent dirt with a little sand, keeps the car washes in business big time. Just think if they washed the sand before they put it on the road how clean everything would be, I know they could find sand, after all don't they use it in construction? They don't sand the road, the actually mud the road with just a touch of sand

[bgodfrey]

I'm glad you like the look of it. I don't think it looks bad, either.

If you live where rust is not a problem, a removable ABS one might be a good idea. It certainly wouldn't be as permanent as this is. But it would eventually wear through the paint at the rub points and would rust here on the Oregon coast. That's why I use the sprayed on liners and why I had this bra sprayed on. (Or what did you call it? a mask? better name, since it probably won't do anything to keep the front end from sagging.) I go out in the morning and, if it isn't raining, there is a coating of salt on my windshield. Rust is a serious threat around here and anything that penetrates the paint is a problem.

--Brian