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I just sprayed a bedliner material on the under side of my camper and am very pleased with the results, it feels durable and saved me many hours it would have taken to either paint or varnish the underside. The liner product was U-POL Raptor in Black and came as a spray on kit with 4 bottles and the spray gun. I used 1 bottle per coat and 2 coats were plenty. I will need to come up with something else to spray this stuff on since I have 2 bottles left.
Prep and application were simple, sand with 120-180 grit paper to give it tooth, clean off the dust and wipe with a tack cloth. They recommend for epoxy applications to spray 2 coats of U-Pol GRIP#4 Universal Adhesion Promoter. I propped the camper up about 3ft off the ground on some custom saw horses so i could spray it without flipping the camper. This worked well as long as I was spraying at about 45deg and not directly over my head. Wear plenty of protection and a proper mask when using this stuff.
I masked 1-inch up the sides so the bedliner can protect the bottom edge. Used 3M automotive tape (the yellow kind) and it works great. Also make sure to put plastic or paper on anything you don’t want sprayed since its messy and goes everywhere (you can also paint it on with a roller if you want). After the first coat of Raptor I let it cure 24hrs (usualy it sets in 60min but I wanted to give it time before putting weight on it). Then I moved my “saw horses” so the second coat would hit the areas previously blocked by the saw horses.
Adam, what kept you from flipping it over and applying it that way? (I have yet to begin my build and I’m betting there is a great reason you didn’t flip it but I just don’t see that far down the build yet)
Another thought… Is there anything keeping a guy from applying it early on before the varnish on the top side?
I painted bottom and up 1″ on sides all around per the building instruction suggestion . Several thousand miles of use has informed me that painted area is NOT where gravel strikes occur at all. They occur on the front of panels #2. My answer is a padded bra with the clam shell vents looking like, you know, nipples. Its a blue sunbrella halter top – with the halter fastening around the roof fan bezel. Looks and works great. Padding is aluminum covered bubble wrap.
As with Eric’s experience, thousand of miles, some gravel roads, lots of snow, and underside still pristine. His bra answer sounds good, as I get spray all the way up to the roof fan. I just let it be, and when it needs to be refinished, that’s what I will do. No sign of wear yet.
Kevin, I decided not to flip it because it is too heavy for my wife and I to flip at this point. I’ve added some additional weight with my custom cabinet and galley modifications. Also the last time we flipped it I heard some cracking noise. No visible damage, but I didn’t want to risk it. In hind sight I suppose I should have sprayed the bedliner material on the bottom when it was flipped the first time, right after I glassed/epoxy the bottom.
I chose to spray the bedliner before any varnish. The the 1″ band of bedliner material along the side of the camper is now sealed under a few coats of varnish. I felt this was the best option to soften the top edge (the bedliner material is thick) and it will prevent any wear or chipping of that edge.
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