Gotta Get the Sticky-Icky
I've had the carpet yanked out of my Jeep for over a year and I was beginning to get tired of all the mud, sand, and beer residue building up in the tub. After Rhinolinings and Line-X telling me they want $500 to coat the tub (I would still have to strip the guts myself), I started looking at finding a do it yourself coating. After some research, I landed on the decision to pick up a gallon of Durabak. They advertise the stuff as a "slip restistant" coating that is so tough it can be used for painting factory/werehouse floors, heavy equipment garages, fishing boat decks, airport hangers, and helicopter pads. You can pretty much coat anything you want. Oh ya, the stuff works good on Jeep tubs too. There are even some guys who coat their entire Jeep w/this stuff. Sounds good, but I'll wait until I've got enough body damage to go that route. One gallon of this stuff is about $100 and they even throw in a couple of rollers!!!
Application
Ok, so this project that much of a pain in my ass, but it was very time consuming. The website has good insturctions, so I won't get into all the details. Most of the work is getting the Jeep prepped to be coated. You've got to rip everything out, seats, seat belts, center console, and any wiring. Oh ya, you've got to rip the carpet out if you haven't already. If you've had the carpet out and have all kinds of residue built up, you've got to scrub out the whole tub before you even get started sanding. I took me over 2 hours to do all the sanding. I would definitely recommend buying some of those foam sanding pads so you can get all the hard to reach areas. Be sure to really scuff up the driver's side floor area where you heels touch so this shit will stick really well. After sanding, you've got to wash the tub out one more time before applying the Xylene. That shit is pretty toxic, you definitely want to use rubber gloves and hook up a fan even if you're outside. The best way to apply it is with a large sponge. After that just use some heavy duty masking tape to plug up all the holes and cover bolts that you still want to use. I would recommend buying a stirring bit for your drill to mix this stuff up. I also decided to coat the tops of the rails where the soft top windows attach, so you'll want to mask that off too. This stuff rolls on really easy, the hard part is getting all the areas the roller can't reach. Definitely wear some gloves unless you want to wear this shit for a week. It would also be a good idea to get a couple of 2" brushes, mine looked like fro by the time I was done. Just remember to "dab" the stuff on and don't coat it too thick. After that, just wait about 1 hour while it gets tacky before you apply the second coat. It's kinda hard to tell where to roll the second coat (especially if you have a black Jeep), so just do your best. Right after the second coat, remove all the masking tape. I used an awl to pick the tape out of the holes since it was covered with the Durabak. Then just let it set up for at least 12 hrs. before you put everything back together.
Super Grip
After all the time I spent on this project, I definitely think it was worth saving $500. I've got more time than money anyway. The finish looks great and is super grippy. Now I can't wait to get the tub filled up with muck from mud/sand/beer and throw in some firewood or rocks with reckless abandon. Time will tell how durable this stuff is, but considering it's primary uses, I think it will be stuck to my Jeep's tub for many years to come!!! |
