Drop-In Bed Liner - WTH was GM Thinking?

ember1205 · March 12, 2015

Picked up a 2015 Sierra a couple of weeks back and opted to have the GM Drop-In bed liner incorporated into the deal. I've owned plenty of trucks over the last 20 years, and have always been served well by a drop-in liner. I had certain expectations as to what I would be getting.

Fast forward two weeks to today. I ordered a hard tonneau cover and went to install it today. When aligning the rails, there was a gap between the front edge of the rail and the front wall of the bed. So, I went to loosen the bolts that hold the liner so I could shift it a bit.

Those aren't bolts!!! They're self-tapping screws that some garage monkey installed with a drill and stripped half of them out! So, I now have eight brand new holes in the bed of my truck along with two in the tailgate that were made by some "technician" that installed the liner in my truck. I was NEVER told that the DROP-IN LINER (let that sink in for a moment) needed to be SCREWED TO THE BED and that there were NO factory holes that would be used for this purpose!

To say I am absoltely livid in an understatement. I immediately called my sales guy and told him how upset I was that I was not informed that installtion of this liner would require "drilling" into my bed - I would have NEVER okayed that. And, to top it off, not only does the liner interfere with the tonneau rails (which means it will almost certainly need to come out), but it's actually not installed straight anyhow! WTF?

Truck is going to the dealer in the morning to let the service advisor look at it. After that, I will be engaging anyone and everyone up to and including the owner until they agree to remove that liner, REPAIR MY TRUCK, and then comp me with a quality spray-in liner at no extra charge.

I can't believe that GM would design a liner that installs like this. The only other liner I ever saw that even came close was in an older Ford where you removed the factory-installed cleats, installed the liner, then re-installed the cleats to hold the liner in place.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've seen in a long time.

silverWS6 · March 12, 2015

Truck is going to the dealer in the morning to let the service advisor look at it. After that, I will be engaging anyone and everyone up to and including the owner until they agree to remove that liner, REPAIR MY TRUCK, and then comp me with a quality spray-in liner at no extra charge.

That seems like a longshot. I'd love to go to them with the same excuse and get a free spray-in liner. I have the drop in also... I saw that it was drilled in when I was adjusting the LED lights back there. I just thought to myself "Oh well, its the bed of a truck, it might get banged up anyways". I'll eventually get a spray in liner but for now it'll do.

ember1205 · March 12, 2015

Factory liner is $350. Spray-in is $499 through the dealer. $43k truck.

This was my first purchase from them, and them making this is in their best long-term interest. I buy a new car per year, on average, with the two that are in my yard. This truck makes a total of five purchased in the last two years, two of them brand new.

I probably wouldn't be so mad if a) they installed it wrong and had to remove it and re-install it and b) they installed it wrong again and drilled the holes in the wrong place. There's no correcting what they've done because all new holes have to be cut to install it right. Nuh-uh. Not on my truck.

FormerFordGuy · March 12, 2015

No reason a drop in needs to be installed with self tapping screws. The tailgate liner? Maybe. Not the liner. I'd be pissed too.

ember1205 · March 12, 2015

There are existing screws in the tailgate that I would imagine are for the access panel that covers the mechanical latch and such. Those are all that have ever held the tailgate pieces on in previous trucks. On this one, there are two additional self-tapping screws at the bottom of the panel, toward the bed floor.

Given that these beds already have threaded areas for the tie-downs, those could have EASILY been used with a short, stubby bolt to secure the liner.

This is absolutely the dumbest design I have ever encountered for a liner.

brokesilverado · March 12, 2015

The dealer had one in the bed of mine but it wasn't screwed in yet. So I pulled it out & left it laying in their parking lot. Then went in & told them to take the $350 that they were charging off the trucks price. Then got a bedrug.

txchevy4ever · March 12, 2015

Good luck.

ember1205 · March 12, 2015

Dealer is making good on this for me.

Line-X will be installed at no extra charge, and the LIne-X guy knows that I'm looking for the holes to be filled and smoothed over as part of the process.

f8l vnm · March 12, 2015

Ill be first to say , good for the delar to step up . Nice to hear something good for a change

ember1205 · March 12, 2015

Ill be first to say , good for the delar to step up . Nice to hear something good for a change

I agree. My first experience with this dealer, and it has generally been very good so far. Other than the sales person not informing me of this aspect of the liner, all good stuff.

I will point out that I also didn't go in there screaming at them. I was firm in my assertion that I was very upset, WHY I was upset, and that I would never have proceeded with this if I had known. From there, I acknowledged to the Service Manager that he was "only doing what he was told" (put in a bed liner) and that it was a communication issue.

He actually ran with it from there to work with the General Manager to suggest the solution (which is actually what I was thinking would be the direction I would go before even talking with them).

newdude · March 12, 2015

GM bed liners have been drill down since 2007 maybe even prior. Same for the tailgate liner. 2007-2013 the liner used the two bolt handles and then a bunch of self tapping screws. 2014 and newer they use new screws for the access panel on the gate and then have 2 or 4 self tapping screws. Also, there are no "threaded" holes in the bed for tie down hooks. If you are talking about those black plugs around the top of the bed walls, those are just holes with plastic plugs. The tie downs clamp to the bed walls via those holes.

darkfox1 · March 12, 2015

I've got an aftermarket drop in liner in my truck. No screws in it.. its truly "drop in." Only place there's screws is in the tailgate to hold the bed liner cover onto it.

ember1205 · March 12, 2015

GM bed liners have been drill down since 2007 maybe even prior. Same for the tailgate liner. 2007-2013 the liner used the two bolt handles and then a bunch of self tapping screws. 2014 and newer they use new screws for the access panel on the gate and then have 2 or 4 self tapping screws. Also, there are no "threaded" holes in the bed for tie down hooks. If you are talking about those black plugs around the top of the bed walls, those are just holes with plastic plugs. The tie downs clamp to the bed walls via those holes.

Yup... I realized my error that those are "just holes" and aren't actually threaded. Still, GM could have devised a hardware kit for the liner that used molly bolts or similar into those holes if there were no bull rings, and could use the bull ring instead if they were installed. It's an incredibly poor design to screw into the sheet metal.

newdude · March 12, 2015

Yup... I realized my error that those are "just holes" and aren't actually threaded. Still, GM could have devised a hardware kit for the liner that used molly bolts or similar into those holes if there were no bull rings, and could use the bull ring instead if they were installed. It's an incredibly poor design to screw into the sheet metal.

Cost savings. Guarantee is dirt to put self tappers than design a special set of hook screw things to hold it down.