A few years ago I posted some info about how I treated the aluminum flooring of my trailers. This year especially, many people have PM'd me asking for more information. Most of the questions are concerned with the durability of the product, the costs and the ease of its application.

I'm into my fourth year with one trailer floor coating, three on the other. The first year with the first coating, I checked the finish weekly for a month or so. After finding no deterioration or wear, I changed my inspection schedule to a monthly basis of simple flushings, whilst rolling the mats back to expose the butt side of the flooring.

Last year I didn't do any monthly flushings under the mats. After each trailer usage, the manure was swept out and if soiled, the sidewalls and mats were flushed with a garden hose. At the end of the season, armed with a power washer, I intended to remove the mats and attack the flooring surface. It wasn't necessary. A few stains on the butt side flooring were flushed clean with a hose, and the bed liner coating was again intact and undamaged.

My trailers' flooring are built of "planks" that interlock and are welded to the sub frame. The planks are extrusions, that have longitudinal ridges formed into the cross section profiles. When a mat is placed on top of these, the ridges form a channel that allows fluids to drain to the lowest part of the trailer. Both of my trailers allowed fluids to collect and puddle, at the stern most area in front of the rear doors. By drilling a series of holes across these planks, I was able to provide a path for the fluids to escape. There is no longer any collection of fluids.

The OEM mats protect the bed liner material from any physical abrasion caused by the horses. At the same time I coated our second trailer, I also coated the steel dump bed of our then new Kubota RTV. This is used daily to haul manure, concrete blocks, foilage, sand, sawdust, anything we need to carry. The liner is not protected in any way by mats, and has provided the following three years of coverage, with no failures or rusting of the bed.

The material I used for my trailers and dump bed, was Dupii-Color's "Truck Bed Coating" a vinyl polymer product. A recent while ago, Dupli-Color introduced a new product called "Bed Armor". This is a water based polyurethane bed liner product, reinforced with Kevlar materials. Like the other bed liner, it is a single part, cold applied, air dried, surfacing. Unlike the first material, this is advertised as being able to be applied to wood surfaces.

I have never used this newer material. It is a little more expensive than the first, but is advertised to be even more durable and can be used on more products. Many people have now coated their aluminum trailer floors with bed liner materials, and all but eliminated routine corrosion maintenance. This product may be an additional aid in reducing the need to pull mats and flush the flooring.

Disclaimer: I don't work for Dupli-Color or anyone other than my better half. My job is to make my job as easy as possible.

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/truckBedCoating/

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/bedArmor/

http://www.jegs.com/i/Duplicolor/318/BAK2010/10002/-1

Thanks for all the information...I think I just found another project   

Would it be necessary to scuff up floor before applying BedArmor? (never been treated with anything but detergent and water; no corrosion)

Do you think the BedArmor would also work on my BP's running boards? They tend to collect a lot of road dirt, gunk, and mud; besides keeping them intact, I thought maybe it would make for a safer less slippery step into the dressing room.

I think I've heard this before..............

I thought that was chewing gum from back in the "60's"...!!

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Item Number: HFCA819 Price: $1.38 In Stock Yipes! Stripes! Fruit Stripe gum launched in the early 1960’s as an extension of the Beech Nut gum line. Farley's & Sathers Candy Co., Inc. acquired Fruit Stripes in 2003 from Hershey Foods. Yipes is the name of the Fruit Stripe Zebra. Fruit Stripe is the only gum with painted on stripes.