Ford drop-in bed liner warping

[KYT]

Yesterday I went out with a heat gun, a 1x2 and a ratchet strap, to see if I could just heat the thing up and put a new bend in it. Long story short, nah. I was able to heat it and soften the plastic but I can't apply an even enough and high temp enough like a factory would do to form the stupid thing. When I took the 1x2 off, it just went right back to the way it was.

Also, I now have a small shiny spot on the bed cap from the heat.

Cover arrived today, I haven't unpacked it yet, but from watching the install video I'm most likely going to have to trim the corners of the liner since they are thick AND they don't sit flat against the bed front, the rails will most likely impact the tailgate when closed.

Plan-1 :: just trim the corners of the liner so the rails will touch the bed front as prescribed, leaving the rest of the liner as-is

Plan-2 :: If the cover can't smush the remaining liner edge down enough to limit it deforming the cover, I'll take an oscillating tool to it and cut the lip from the bad side over until it all sits flat.

Plan-3 :: if cutting a line across it leaves a bad gap or anything else I haven't thought of or just generally looks crappy, I'll cut the entire length of the lip off so the cover can seal against the paint directly.

If anyone sees this before I get to work in a little bit, your thoughts are appreciated. Worst case, I take the whole stupid thing out and get one of those WeatherTech mats, I like the idea of that one since it has the molded edges, and not just a flat mat. I'd like to protect the wheel well humps if at all possible.

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[fordtruckman2003]

Sounds like different design than my Ford plastic liner Ford tri-fold combo. Hopefully you can come to solution that works for you. I don't see harm trimming it as needed. Still get a lot of protection out of it.

 

[KYT]

I ended up just trimming a chunk from the passenger side and a small notch in the driver side. Unless I spray a hose in the gap anything in the bed should be fine. Rain should just dribble behind the liner, if it fits in at all.
Next time I'm at the hardware store I'll see if I can find some thin flat weatherstripping to fill the gap

 

[fordtruckman2003]

That does look different than my tri-fold. Looks like good solution to me, rain holes will take care of any water. It's not going to rust.

 

[buckslayer5676]

I ended up just trimming a chunk from the passenger side and a small notch in the driver side. Unless I spray a hose in the gap anything in the bed should be fine. Rain should just dribble behind the liner, if it fits in at all.
Next time I'm at the hardware store I'll see if I can find some thin flat weatherstripping to fill the gap

How are you liking the Lomax cover so far? Are you getting any water in the bed?

 

[{tpc}]

I had a similar issue with the drop in liners vs my mx4 folding cover, in model years 2018, 2020, and 2022.

I also cut away a section, though I never went up and over like you did, just cut away a small portion where the rails would meet the bed because if you didn't do that, the rails were just a tad too long. I found that to be a bit cumbersome to do, so with my current truck I purchased a roll up liner instead. Interestingly enough, the rails for that one fit much better with the liner in place, and the liner this year wasn't nearly as malformed.

Essentially we were able to squeeze the liner back in place as it was just a little off, and used the pressure from the rail pushed against it to hold it there. Came out much better than I expected, as my previous plan was to yank the liner out and replace with a bedrug or a rubber mat, but for now I'll keep the liner in there.

Note to self, don't order the next one with the liner lol.

 

[FaaWrenchBndr]

These damn drop in liners are always kind of a pain in the ass. They have always warped, at least going back to the early 90s that I know of. Rhino linings and Line X are such a better option.

The only thing that I saw is a positive for a drop in liner was the impact protection. But it really only comes in beneficial if you’re the type of guy to just throw shit into your bed.

I learned over the years that the cons did not outweigh the pros

 

[KYT]

How are you liking the Lomax cover so far? Are you getting any water in the bed?

Yeah! It's great. We got a good amount of snow and ice dumped on us recently, the weight didn't seem to warp the top any (that I can tell with my eyeballs). I haven't gotten any rain water under this cover despite the cutout in the liner. I do get a little water during a wash but ... duh
I do not use carwash facilities at all. The dirt stripes they leave is more annoying than even coating of dirt, I'll do it myself at home


If I was ordering a truck, or would have had numerous similar options, I would have not gotten the drop-in. This one was everything I wanted, plus a drop-in.. so here we are with one lol
I also had to cut into the sides around the latch plate things, to get the Swingcases installed. I couldn't get to the bolts, the liner covers them just enough ugh.. oh well

 

[buckslayer5676]

Great to hear the Lomax is doing great and you're not getting any (or hardly any) water in the bed with it. I'm definitely going to be getting the Lomax.

Yeah! It's great. We got a good amount of snow and ice dumped on us recently, the weight didn't seem to warp the top any (that I can tell with my eyeballs). I haven't gotten any rain water under this cover despite the cutout in the liner. I do get a little water during a wash but ... duh
I do not use carwash facilities at all. The dirt stripes they leave is more annoying than even coating of dirt, I'll do it myself at home


If I was ordering a truck, or would have had numerous similar options, I would have not gotten the drop-in. This one was everything I wanted, plus a drop-in.. so here we are with one lol
I also had to cut into the sides around the latch plate things, to get the Swingcases installed. I couldn't get to the bolts, the liner covers them just enough ugh.. oh well

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