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Herculiner

The first step is to wash out the bed with soap and water, use degreaser if needed to remove
all greasy spots. Also remove any other foreign materials at this time. If you're like me,
your bed probably contains some rust in the corners. The kit instructions are not very clear
as what to do with bad rust, so I made sure to grind out all of the rust. After all, once
this stuff goes on, it doesn't come off.
NOTE: This step is OPTIONAL! Unless you know the rollbar has been taken out, seriously
consider performing this step. I took out the rollbar because I have seen several Scramblers
with herculiner applied and I thought that the rollbar made it look sloppy because of the
way some people applied it halfway up the rollbar. I don't like that, but that's me. Plus
I knew there was bad rust where the rollbar mounted and I wanted to take care of it. The
roll bar has 16 TORX 45 bolts. Hopefully yours will come out easier than mine. Be careful
when you take the rollbar out of the bed, you will have to twist it to get it out of the bed.
Grind out all rust where the rollbar mounts and on the 4 mounting feet. Apply POR-15 to
mounting feet to be sure the red bandit doesn't come back.
If you buy the complete Herculiner kit, there is a supplied scuff pad. If not, go to your local
auto parts store and get a red Scotch-Brite sanding pad(about $1). Scuff all surfaces until
the gloss is gone. If you want to insure that rust will not come back, now's a good time to
apply POR-15 to any surface you're worried about. I took the extra precaution of doing the
whole bed floor and any surface that I removed rust from. Once you're satisfied that the
surface is ready, wipe all of it down with Xylene or Acetone(cheaper). Let dry for a few
minutes. Tape off all areas you do not want the liner to be on! Make sure you press the tape
onto the surface to give you clean tape lines, believe me, it makes a difference.
Assuming you have completed the other steps correctly, this step is easy. The kit provides a
roller and brush. Use the brush in areas that the roller can't reach. The roller does a super
job, so use it wherever you can. I started at the top of the bed closest to the cab. Brush in
the areas under the rail, and roll sidewalls and bed partition. Work your way towards the
back of the Jeep making sure that you don't work yourself into a corner if you're in the bed.
Rolling the floor is easy and only takes a couple of minutes, so spend your time making
sure the sides, partition, and wheel housings are right. The first coat shouldn't be that heavy,
so go lightly. Coat tailgate and any other surface you want as well. When using the roller
note that the tends to throw little specs of the liner, so keep a wet cloth of Xylene or
Acetone near.
Let the first coat dry until tacky to the touch, usually 1-2 hours depending on temp and humidity.
Perform the same steps for the first coat.Take your time and make sure you use the roller in
the opposite direction as the first coat and keep it in that direction for this coat. Once your
finished, remove all tape quickly as it will bond to the liner. It needs to dry for about 12 hours
before you subject it to any traffic or loads. Now you can install any parts you removed.
For me, I reinstalled the spare tire carrier supports, the rollbar, etc. Note if you performed the
optional step 2, you may have to tap your rollbar mounting bolts before you put it back in. I
also used stainless hex head bolts for the rollbar because I hate those !@#$ TORX bolts.
That's it!!
I have to be real honest, I am very impressed with the Herculiner kit. It looks just as good
as a sprayed in $400 rhino-liner and I did it myself in about a day. I did a few things to
mine that are personal preferences like doing the outer lip of the tailgate and the rear
edges of the bed to prevent paint chipping when hauling. I am pleased with the way the
rollbar looks against the black liner and am glad I took the extra time to take it out.
Overall, I would highly recommend this product and give 5 out of 5 round headlights.

Total Costs:
1 Herculiner kit - $99.95
1 Gallon Acetone - $7.99
16 Stainless bolts for rollbar - $7.84
Paint roller tray - Already had
Masking tape - Already had
Misc stainless bolts for other items - $3.00
New drain plugs - Already had
New covers for seat bolts - Made
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TOTALS :: $118.78 plus local sales tax
*************************UPDATE***************************
After the liner has aged for a month or so, it begins to fade from the sunlight. It's not
that the faded part looks bad, it's the fact that all of the bed is not faded. It fades
based on the exposure to the sun, so not all parts are faded, and that looks bad.
So, I decided to fix this little annoyance. Took the roll bar back out, a process made
much easier since I used new stainless hex head bolts when I reinstalled it before.
Then I taped everything off and used some cheap Wal-Mart spray Gloss Black to
spray the whole bed. Looks like brand new again! I hope that this will not fade as
the original coating did. I have even considered spraying the liner the same color
as the body, but I haven't convinced myself on that one yet.