Your pickup truck is used for everything from recreation to serious hauling. A bed mat is one of the best accessories you can get to protect your truck from damage during all that heavy use. If you're like most truck owners, you have a pickup because you haul home improvement supplies, grills, and don't forget how many times friends have asked you to move furniture or pick up a delivery for them! But everything you toss in the bed of your truck has the potential to either be damaged or cause damage, even when your truck is simply sitting on the curb in the elements, rain and snow can do a number on your pickup's bed.
There are plenty of reasons to invest in a high quality bed mat for your truck, all of them a convincing argument for spending the extra money:
Preventing extra abrasion: Whether you're hauling logs for the fireplace, lumber for that weekend project or mulch for the flowerbeds, the abrasion you'll get when you put materials in your truck bed can seriously scratch the paint. Loads like gravel can cause deep grooving and overall dulling of the finish that can lead to damage to the finish and ruin the look of the truck bed. This extra abrasion also leads to other problems that a good truck mat can protect against such as rust.
Extreme weather: is an enemy of any vehicle, but in a pickup bed rain and snow can collect and pool. Over time this slowly eats away at the paint in your truck bed, which can lead to bubbling of the paint and premature rusting of the underlying metal. Any rust at all in the bed of a pickup truck can lead to a quick 25% decrease in resale value ---not something you want when you're ready to sell or trade in your vehicle.
Decreasing cargo slide: is another great reason to have a good rubber bed mat. Hauling furniture, company cargo, great flea market finds or anything else requires gentle handling. It doesn't matter how smooth the ride is if everything in the bed of your truck is sliding from side to side as you round the turns. A rubber bed mat does double duty as a shock absorber and a skid-resistant matting material so everything stays in place. You'll be protecting both your truck bed and the cargo you're hauling from damage.
Protection from spills: If you have to put something messy in the bed of your truck, a bed mat will save you a lot of clean up time and protect your paint finish from possible chemical damage. You can simply hose off the rubber mat or, if it is damaged, remove and replace it. You don't have that option if you damage the actual finish of your pickup bed! Being safe is much better than being sorry.
Twice the dent protection: that's what you'll get with a bed mat over a spray-on bed liner. Lots of people are surprised to hear this, but rubber truck bed mats are thicker and have more shock absorption than spray-on liners, so they offer superior dent protection for the bed of your truck, which means you'll be preserving the look and value of your truck at a minimal cost.
With five solid reasons to invest in a high quality bed mat for your pickup truck, your next step should be to shop around and compare features. There are contoured and universal styles as well as a variety of thicknesses. Just don't neglect to get one if you want to get the best use out of your pickup and protect your truck at the same time.
