Since SPI's start in 1974, they have been a leader in the coatings industry, using urethane based coatings and foams. In the late 1980's, Polyurea transformed SPI and the industry when it was invented in a spray formula. They now manufacture over half of the worlds supply of spray polyureas. SPI was quick to realize its physical properties were far superior to the now obsolete urethanes that the other companies were offering.
Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) is one of SPI's 100% polyurea formulas, and has been specifically designed for the truck bedliner market. It offers the optimal balance of material hardness, tensile strength, flexibility, elongation, plus abrasion, chemical and fade resistance. Most other bedliner products will shred off like cheese on a grater when rubbed against FMJ.
Also, a pure polyurea like FMJ is much more user-friendly, since it is insensitive to moisture or concerns about high humidity or dewpoint. Urethane and hybrid materials are extremely sensitive to moisture, which cause CO² foaming
Lets talk about what this means to you:
Lots of companies will talk about their superior tensile strength, particularly the ones trying to sell you their bedliner that consist of a drywall hopper to apply the material. While these liners will offer phenomenal tensile strength, the material has no flexibility or elongation. This means the liner will chip and crack like paint.
Some companies will go on about their superior hardness. These bedliners are also very brittle, since the metal of a bed expands in the heat of the day, and contracts during the cool of the evening. Sadly, these bedliner do neither.
Others will tout their great elongation and flexibility. These are the cold, low pressure systems that provide bedliners that are very flexible. Unfortunately, these liners are also soft and can be scratched by a fingernail. In addition, the surface textures of these liners has a very unattractive drywall or popcorn look.
Lastly, these materials fade in the sun extremely fast. The pigments oxidize on the surface and turn into a white chalk that you can wipe off with your hand.
Most companies offer bedliner materials with some polyurea. They are called polyurethane blends. They add some polyurea to improve the physical properties of their liners, but fall far short of 100% pure polyurea, with no fillers.
The following is an excerpt from Truck Trend magazine, Oct 99 issue:
"While most spray-on bedliners are made of polyurethane formulas that are 100-percent solids, a few companies offer a different type of formula. For instance, Specialty Products, Inc. (SPI) offers a pure polyurea coating. SPI says polyurea doesn't suffer from blistering when applied in high humidity, which has been a problem with polyurethane formulas.
In contrast, polyurethane bedliner companies say using polyurea on a truck bed is overkill, it is normally used for serious industrial applications."
We couldn't agree more. Now you can have this same "serious industrial" product for your truck. You will only get your truck sprayed once, make sure you get the best!
