I have a 16 ft. boat in which a buddy installed an aluminum floor for me. I use it some for fishing but it really takes a beating in the Fall with all the duck hunting I do.
I have tried using outdoor carpet but with all the mud, weeds, and sand I pick up, it does not last very long. I need it to be non-skid both for me and the dog and it really has to take a beating.

Been thinking about truck bedliner spray, probably in a tan or olive drab if I can find it. Never used it before and so know nothing about the prep or the durability of it. If anyone has any experience they'd like to share it would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Moosetrot

Just make sure that you prep the aluminimum properly. Degrease, sand with something around 120 grit, clean with sticky dust cloth. Then prime with and all etch primer before spraying the truck bed liner on. If you do any shortcuts, you will have a mess on your hands down the road.

Moosy.....I’ll talk to my buds at the Ford Dealership,about the spray liner on Aluminum.

moosetrot , I just bought a 2021 f250 . Ordered it built back in January . The factory was supposed to spray in a bedliner . They didn't for some reason . The local dealer sent it out and had it done locally . Im pretty sure the bed is aluminum cause I dented it already putting in some logs . The liner seems good though .

Aluminum on a 250? That's horrifying.

I had this in my duck boat. https://www.hydroturf.com/product/pwc-boating-45-x-84-molded-diamond/

It held up great even when stored outdoors, it isn't slippery like bedliner and doesn't absorb water. Clean up is a breeze. Don't go with the self adhesive, Weldwood works best. I see that they don't have any blems at this time.

And F350 too ! Body is all aluminum. Chevrolet is not going all aluminum...but instead of loosing weight for bettah gas mileage ...Chevy has more efficient engines to meet Government Standards,and keeping the steel.

So using Japanese engines tec and the bodies will continue to rust out.;)

Coating can add more weight than you think. What wont be noticed in a truck may make a difference on a small boat. I always liked the idea of line x on a boat floor. Less slick and reduced noise . But was always wondering about added weight

Well, there go my plans of ever getting another truck. GM has their head their butt with plans to go all electric, Rams are a disaster, and Ford isn't building them with steel.

Or you can lightly sandblast.I’ve skipped the primer and used black bed liner sprayed through drywall texture sprayer.Use a top coat for color.Autobody supply in Onalaska,WI has some flat drab colors for $20.00 a quart.The paint top coat seems to repel gas spills better than colored bed liner.

F150s went to aluminum in 2015 and F250/350 in 2017. This is pretty old news.

I knew the 150 did it, but never had reason to look at the big boys.

You might try flex seal. It's a lot cheaper and probably work for you.

If it were me, I'd look for a shop that'll do the bedliner and warranty their work. Aluminum is hard to coat, might as well let a professional carry the risk.

TTT

Moosetrot

Hopefully it ended up working for you Moosey.
I just bought a new Silverado this week & am pondering somehow putting my own bedliner in it

LINE-X® Spray-On Bedliners !

I painted 1 aluminum floor in one of my boats with a non skid paint called (total tread non skid paint). It’s not a really rough texture but it’s rough enough for fishing and has held up great. Was real easy to apply also. There are also other brands of non skid boat paints available too. You can also buy (soft sand) to add to different coatings to make them more aggressive.

My other Jon boat which has an aluminum floor I simply roughed it up cleaned it and rolled 2 coats of primer. Then I rolled 1 coat of cheap paint and let it dry over night. Then the next day i rolled another coat and while it was still wet I took black beauty sand blast sand and sprinkled it pretty heavy over it and then rolled a good wet roller over the sand. Next day it has a real rough grip surface to it. You can put another 3rd coat on after that too. It has a real rough texture and looks just like bed liner only it’s a flat olive drab green color. I can’t say how well it will hold up but it looks like it will and was super cheap to do.

Aluminum Ford trucks rock
Got two of them 2017 and 2022 both with spray in bedliners.

Don’t cut corners on the prep work . I’ve done two truck beds , the second one held up pretty good. Lol

P.S. trying to redo one is a major pain .