PSA: Stay away from Duplicolor bedliner...

So I got my new bumper in the other day. Super stoked to slap some paint on it. I did everything right (as I've read on the internet), sanded it wil 100 grit, used Acetone to clean it, and then sand, then acetone again. I did 3 coats of Rustoleum primer. The stuff went on great, dried super quick, and I was ready for bedliner in about 2 hours. I went to advanced auto and picked up 3 cans of Duplicolor bedliner. Started with the first coat. The stuff went on SUPER thick. If you imagine taking a thick liquid and squirting it out of a squirt bottle, this is what you get. The stuff was not aerosol(sp?) at all. I was less than impressed and more disgusted and let down but I went ahead and finished the bumper hoping that it would dry to the advertised finish. Fast forward to yesterday I woke up and the stuff was still "squishy" like you could just rub it and it would peal off despite me letting it dry in a 70* heated and cooled garage.

At work yesterday, I read that a few people have got "bad batches" of this stuff and their results were just like mine. People tried calling Duplicolor and Duplicolor brushed it off as "sitting on the shelf too long" and the can being too cold. I highly doubt thats the case.

Last night I decided to remove the garbage, and start from scracth this time going with Rustoleum bed liner as the final finish. When removing the Duplicolor bedliner i was able to remove it just like you are with plastidip (almost). Was not a strong finish at all.

Did the same process as listed above and the results turned out fantastic. I woke up this morning and the finish was as advertised and I even scraped the corner with my fingernail and no finish came off. The stuff performed as advertised and seems very strong

I'm going to probably put another light coat on it today, and let it dry overnight again. Then install it saturday.

Cliffs: Used duplicolor bedliner at first and the stuff did not dry and went on super soft. Dropped back and punted, went with Rustoleum bedliner and it worked out great.

good info! Whats best is your cliff notes at the end! :cheesy:

Can you post some pics of your finished bumper? Mine has been sitting in the garage for two months now waiting on me to paint it! Used The Rustoleum on my rims! Gonna do the same on my bumper! Work and hunting season just seem to keep getting in my way!

StrizzyChris said:

good info! Whats best is your cliff notes at the end! :cheesy:

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x2!! The cliff notes are great


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Good info :thumb: I have only used the Duplicolor bed liner once, inside my rear wheel wells (still have that one can), but all my other paint for my jeep is Rustoleum and that stuff has never let me down. I think I may toss that can of Duplicolor.

Firewrangler said:

Can you post some pics of your finished bumper? Mine has been sitting in the garage for two months now waiting on me to paint it! Used The Rustoleum on my rims! Gonna do the same on my bumper! Work and hunting season just seem to keep getting in my way!

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Yea, i'll do it tomorrow. Its dark out and don't feel like braving the cold to the garage right now. :thumb:

One thing I would like to mention. It is good you were in a climate controlled environment. One thing to remember just because the air temperature reads one number you must remember the substrate might be much cooler. Which would slow the dry time down as well. So by putting on multiple coats as directions call between coasts would slow it down even more and would take even longer to dry. This might not have been with your case and you might have gotten a bad batch. Just wanted to throw that out there for future reference.:thumb:

catahoula said:

One thing I would like to mention. It is good you were in a climate controlled environment. One thing to remember just because the air temperature reads one number you must remember the substrate might be much cooler. Which would slow the dry time down as well. So by putting on multiple coats as directions call between coasts would slow it down even more and would take even longer to dry. This might not have been with your case and you might have gotten a bad batch. Just wanted to throw that out there for future reference.:thumb:

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True, but the overspray on the tarp wasn't even dry. Peeled right off just like on the bumper. So I know that wasn't the case.

eeftw said:

True, but the overspray on the tarp wasn't even dry. Peeled right off just like on the bumper. So I know that wasn't the case.

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That does blow! I did use the rustoleum and had great results. If I were to do it again I would have used a coarser grit. I'm getting a few chips. Other than that very happy.

good to know, ill switch over to the rustoleum for now on. Good thing is I can order cases at work for hopefully a better deal :rock:

That sucks I did my whole tub with that stuff and came out perfect then again I did it in 80 degree weather maybe that's why ? Hate when stuff like this happens but I think u just got a bad batch I never had a problem with mine and I did my sliders with it also.


I don't always wheel , but when I do I keep it tight......... Stay dirty my friends.

Personally I do not like the Rustoleum bed liner and prefer the duplicolor bed armor. I know duplicolor has 2 kinds of bedliner, the "bed armor" is a little more expensive but it has a much nicer finish. Maybe you did have a bad batch or something? Rustoleum to me seems more like paint with sand in it rather than bed liner... to each his own i guess...