Siphon
09-06-2005, 05:27 PM
I've installed Herculiner on my last two trucks, but it was sold out of everywhere I looked last weekend, so I decided to try the Dupli-Color stuff. Got a gallon of it for $45, an extra quart for $15, and their 'install kit' with a roller, cutting brush, scuff pad (useless), and pan for $10 at a local auto parts store. The cost of the product, plus some sandpaper, solvent, and other misc stuff for install came to just under $100. I can't say enough about how important the prep work is when you're doing this sort of project -- I spent about six hours sanding and solvent-washing on Saturday (which my knees, thighs, and back are still complaining about as I type). Anyway, here are my observations about this product:
1. It's totally liquid, versus the Herculiner, which has visible rubber granules in it. However, the Duplicolor product did seem to have some rubber component in the mix because toward the bottom of a pan it would separate out and clog the roller.
2. It's got a texture that's a little like Rhino and Line-X, which is what I'd call semi-coarse, versus the Herculiner which is very coarse (pros and cons to both).
3. The roller with the install kit has nylon loops on it (looks like one side of Velcro) to create the texture, versus a foam roller with the Herculiner. I found that the Duplicolor roller was better than foam, mostly because it took longer for it to get clogged with the rubbery residue.
4. It sets-up real fast -- it was between 85 and 90 here with very little humidity, and the stuff was dry to the touch about 10 mins after I rolled it on (still waited a couple hours between coats).
5. It doesn't go as far as you'd like it to. I ran out about midway through the second coat, so it was a good thing I'd bought the extra quart.
6. It's hard to get a real thick coat on -- nothing more than a few millimeters -- but it does coat thicker than Herculiner did. I think this is by design, becuase if you were able to put it on as thickly as the Rhino or Line-X it probably wouldn't cure all the way.
7. For some reason it's easier to get full coverage (fewer thin spots or missed spots) with this stuff vs. Herculiner.
8. It looks nice right now -- better than the Herc did the day after install IMO -- but I obviously don't know how it'll hold up over time yet. The Herculiner would chalk up pretty fast, and cleaning it was a bit of a pain. Cleaning the Duplicolor isn't going to be as bad because the texture isn't as coarse.
9. It's inexpensive, relative to the commercial spray-ins.
On the whole, it doesn't seem to me that the quality of either the Duplicolor or Herculiner products is really comparable to the commercial spray-ins out there. While I haven't used Line-X or Rhino or the others, they do seem to be a lot more rugged/better quality than the do-it-yourself products. But I've also never put the Duplicolor or Herc products through a sprayer, so maybe the results would be different. In the end, tho, I'm not going to haul 3/4 ton of loose aggregate around in my bed twice a week, so either of the DIY products will serve my purposes and save me lots of money. The Herc in my last truck stood up pretty well to hauling five loads of 30 inch firewood chunks for the past four years, hopefully the Duplicolor will be able to do the same.
1. It's totally liquid, versus the Herculiner, which has visible rubber granules in it. However, the Duplicolor product did seem to have some rubber component in the mix because toward the bottom of a pan it would separate out and clog the roller.
2. It's got a texture that's a little like Rhino and Line-X, which is what I'd call semi-coarse, versus the Herculiner which is very coarse (pros and cons to both).
3. The roller with the install kit has nylon loops on it (looks like one side of Velcro) to create the texture, versus a foam roller with the Herculiner. I found that the Duplicolor roller was better than foam, mostly because it took longer for it to get clogged with the rubbery residue.
4. It sets-up real fast -- it was between 85 and 90 here with very little humidity, and the stuff was dry to the touch about 10 mins after I rolled it on (still waited a couple hours between coats).
5. It doesn't go as far as you'd like it to. I ran out about midway through the second coat, so it was a good thing I'd bought the extra quart.
6. It's hard to get a real thick coat on -- nothing more than a few millimeters -- but it does coat thicker than Herculiner did. I think this is by design, becuase if you were able to put it on as thickly as the Rhino or Line-X it probably wouldn't cure all the way.
7. For some reason it's easier to get full coverage (fewer thin spots or missed spots) with this stuff vs. Herculiner.
8. It looks nice right now -- better than the Herc did the day after install IMO -- but I obviously don't know how it'll hold up over time yet. The Herculiner would chalk up pretty fast, and cleaning it was a bit of a pain. Cleaning the Duplicolor isn't going to be as bad because the texture isn't as coarse.
9. It's inexpensive, relative to the commercial spray-ins.
On the whole, it doesn't seem to me that the quality of either the Duplicolor or Herculiner products is really comparable to the commercial spray-ins out there. While I haven't used Line-X or Rhino or the others, they do seem to be a lot more rugged/better quality than the do-it-yourself products. But I've also never put the Duplicolor or Herc products through a sprayer, so maybe the results would be different. In the end, tho, I'm not going to haul 3/4 ton of loose aggregate around in my bed twice a week, so either of the DIY products will serve my purposes and save me lots of money. The Herc in my last truck stood up pretty well to hauling five loads of 30 inch firewood chunks for the past four years, hopefully the Duplicolor will be able to do the same.