Not long ago, a neighbor asked me to help him split and stack a large pile of firewood. Sure, I thought. As this project progressed, my mental anguish increased and my appreciation for rubber truck bed mats grew. Here’s the story…
Look, the neighbor has a very energetic son and there were other children there too. So they enter a race to see how fast they can build a pile of wood. Now the neighbor’s late-model, like-new, Ford Ranger pickup comes into play.
There is a short collection path from the splitter to the finished woodpile. The bright red Ford is the truck for transportation. So at first the firewood is loaded, with the neighbor’s son in charge, at a careful pace. Heavy pieces of seasoned oak are carefully placed in the Ford. Then, as the afternoon progresses, the competition for speed increases.
Careful placement of firewood turns into firewood throws. Now keep in mind that these are heavy hard oak slabs and the pitches are fifteen to twenty feet out. As things progress, the wood starts to bounce around in the bed of the truck. You can almost feel the teeth. Sure you can hear them. The blows fall faster and harder. The pace picks up.
Now wood is raining down on the fenders, on the rear window, inside, outside, everywhere the hits land. It’s like a demolition derby. It’s the total destruction of a perfectly good truck. Teeth, scratches and damage everywhere. It’s a truck destroyed in a few hours. It’s amazing.
No truck bed mat can protect a truck from serious damage like that.
But rubber truck mats can withstand almost any damage that a HEALTHY person could cause with normal use. Protect your truck from expensive damage with some cheap bed mats.