I need some help.

My headliner is sagging BAD in my truck. The problem is that the cab is stretched like 2 feet over a quad cab so I can't buy an off the shelf headliner or I would have.

I don't know what is under there yet because I haven't pulled it down but the foam is really thick. It feels like it has an inch of foam under the material.

I have been reading up on headliners And I see that there are different types... cardboard backed, abs backed, bow types etc....

and interior shops are hard to come by around me.

So, do I have any options. I want it to look good but I don't care if it is factory looking or not.

I am not opposed to vinyl or any other material, as long as it looks o.k.

If I paid to have a custom one done (because of the odd cab size) what would it cost?

thanks for any advice.
Jason

 

Ive seen a few custom headliners with speakers/ flipdown tvs ect that had some type of fiberglass resin put over the uppolstry and then painted I have now Idea how difficult that would be to do but it could be something to think about.

 

I have regular cab and I got a replacement kit from E-Bay. From my experience, I would just get whatever fabric you want to see up there and use it. Buy some spray contact cement, make sure that it will not dissolve foam, and use that. The spray from E-Bay let go after a few months, and now it sags again. The whole project is easy to do, you really don't need anythig special. You just have to be quite careful taking out the old headliner, but that is the extent of it. No custom work is necessary, except your own. Go for it.

 

Baja,
The problem is I don't know if there is even any backing up there or if they stuck the foam directly to the roof. I guess I'll have to check tonight.

Buck...
I like that idea but I'm sure that if I tried that it would look worse than it does now I don't have any fiberglass experience.

I'm thinking like baja said. I'll take it out and see what I have to work with.

Jason

 

When I replaced my headliner I used a kit I ordered over the internet(sorry, I can't remember the name of the web site). I do remember that just about everyplace that carried a kit for my truck also had the option to buy lengths of material for "custom" installs. Just google headliner kits and I'm sure you'll come across the same thing I did.

 

After you find out if you have any kind of backerboard, just go to your local fabric store and get the fabric you want.

Although I haven't tried it, you might be able to use pegboard for the backerboard if yours doesn't have any????

My local fabric store is "jo anne fabrics" They have rolls of headliner material with foam already attached to the fabric in black or grey. You buy it by the yard. Then go to your local autozone or equivalent and buy the headliner specific spray glue (~$10.00 a can for glue) You will need quite a bit of glue for a quad cab.

 

Thanks. we have those same stores here in PA. I didn't realize that they had the fabric with foam already attached. That makes it a lot easier.

I need to see what I am dealing with before I get too carried away. I'll try to take it down one of these weekends.

Thanks for the help.

 

Try this thread

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...ight=headliner

 

Well, I got the old one removed today. They glued this 1/2" foam to the roof on the rear of my cab and the front part appears to have the stock board underneath of this same foam. So, I started ripping all the material and headliner foam off leaving the 1/2" foam underneath.

Basically, I can't remove this thing to work on it in the garage since it's glued to the roof. Either I rip everything down or I repair it while it's in the truck.

So, has anyone repaired the headliner while in the truck? The foam is really solid to the roof so I'd rather go right over it with new stuff and I'm getting everything loose off before I start.

I knew this was going to be a job.

Thanks for the help.
Jason

 

Well, my two cents....

Since you will have to work inside the truck, and it sounds like you will be having to use spray adhesive (aerosol cans), my FIRST suggestion is going to be to mask off or cover EVERYTHING in the cab before you start spraying. The spray foam and upholstery adhesives I've used are darn near impossible to remove once they hit a surface, and a couple of them (notably the 3M #74 foam and fabric bonding adhesive that's orangey in color) stain like a *****. I had awful bleed-through on a set of lovely cream-white quilted vinyl door panels I made up for a '53 Olds 88 project, it was terrible... a week later.

Mask off all dash areas, steering wheel, glass, doors, etc. Drape old sheets or plastic tarps over the doors and tape/tie them securely. Ditto the seat - heck, I'd take the seats OUT of the truck and set aside, gives you much more room to work and you will be happy you did. Tarp off the whole floor too. Oh, and wear old clothes!

Do a dry fit - get help (many more hands) if you need to, but make sure the darn thing is gonna cover completely before you start spraying. MUCH better to have extra material to trim off than to be short a few inches on one side!

Start at one end, and work in overlapping bands about a foot wide by the width of the cab at a time. Don't try to do any more area than that at one time - you'll be very sorry. Smooth from center/leading edge outward, QUICKLY - this stuff sets up fast, and there's not a lot of ability to pull and reset as the adhesive really bonds fast.

If you have not done this type of work, it would definitely be worth it to mock up a trial run panel and use some additional material to get a feel for it -working overhead is a booger anyhow and practice will pay off hugely.

Can you tell I HATE overheads/ headliners?? When I was still doing interiors, I would just refuse to do them.

Best of luck with this - it's something I'd consider farming out to a shop that does a lot of it!

Kate

 

Kate,
Excellent info.. thanks for that. It sounds like you are very familiar with this so I'm going to take your advice and farm this out.

I have new seats for the truck in my garage and the floor carpet is junk anyway (i'll do that myself).

So I really will need to make sure they protect the dash and door panels.

I'm guessing this won't be cheap, either. But this truck is nice enough that I don't want to cheapen up the inside. I want it done right.

I want something tough that lasts a while. It needs to look good but I don't care if it looks "factory" or not.

With that said, would you recomment a vinyl, fabric or what? Pros and cons of both, does one stick better, etc?

Thanks!
Jason

 

sweet looking truck!!!

 

Well however built built your truck, you're gonna have to just track down who that is and ask them what the headliner construction is. Sorry to say, but obviously 'we' don't know what it is.

You can buy adhesive spray for headliners and DIY, that would seem the simplest thing to do.

 

motomac, thanks.

MikeR,
they aren't in business anymore. but Kate was a lot of help in her post above. thanks anyway...

 

Hi Jason,

Fabric is nice - most fabric headliner fabric is bonded to "something" either a foam backer or similar. Vinyl is washable (think kid's gooey little handprints or muddy dog nose prints) and the good grades hold up really well.

Any reputable shop that does interiors will be using good adhesives, and they can tell you more about how well the materials they are using will hold up than I can from here, flying blind!

Just for grins - you mention foam in the truck that's bonded to the overhead cab metal - so the headliner came off the foam? that kinda sounds to me like the foam may be degrading or something, too - maybe the whole thing needs to be scraped off and a new soundproofing layer put in before the headliner goes in..... just ruminating here.

Kate