What do you guys have on your trucks? Do you like it? Would you buy another? I've got to start thinking about how I'm going to pack all my hunting gear into the new ride. I went with Dan weekend before last to my camp, and it started to rain/sleet all over our gear in the back of the truck. Most of the gear it doesn't really matter, but it makes me cringe to know my bowcase, etc is getting soaked. We also stopped at Gander Mountain on the way, and it made me cringe to know there was literally thousands of $$$ of gear in the back of that truck, just sitting there for the taking. I know a cover isn't going to deter a hardcore theif, but at least they won't be tempted if they don't see whats in there. I've also heard that tonneau covers will help improve gas mileage, and since I just put all terrain tires on the truck that made my already terrible mileage worse, it would be nice to see a slight improvement to offset that with. When Matt was at my camp earlier this fall, he had a cover on his Frontier that was on gas struts and was hinged on top of the bed towards the cab. That was pretty slick, but I'd like to eventually put in a portable "flush" mounted type of truck box in there eventually for tools/tire chains/etc, and it would be nice to have access to something like that fairly easy without having to completely take the cover off. I've also seen tri-fold styles as well that look interesting, but I'm not sure if they give the kind of access I'm looking for. My main thing is that I want it to last 5+ years without looking like crap or breaking, prevent most water from getting in the truck, I'd prefer if it cost less than $400, and it's got to look half decent. I figured we have enough truck owners here to give me some ideas. Any thoughts?
I've been thinking long and hard about this lately, and I came to the decision I'm buying a cap. I too grew tired of my gear gettting rained and snowed on, and since I can't park my truck inside at night I can never leave anything in the back which is a total pain. Soft tonneaus don't provide the security I'm looking for, and I think they look cheap. Hard tonneaus are nice, but don't allow for much room to put things in your bed if you need it. Caps have come a long way and look a lot nicer than they used to, provide the shelter I'm looking for, and can be locked up at night. They're a bit pricey, but I plan on keeping my truck for at least another 3 years so I'm going to bite the bullet and just get one. Right now I'm leaning towards a Leer or an A.R.E. I'll let you know what the outcome is. I'm gonna stop in at the local truck accessory shop this week and see what kind of deal they'll cut me on a cap and some Westin tube bars.
I used to have a truck that had one of those vinyl/velcro tonneau covers. It sucked. For a long time I resisted getting a cap for my truck because even when paint matched, they aren't as 'cool' looking, it's harder to put big stuff in the bed and they hold in dead carp/deer smell. But after having a generator and toolboxes stolen from my capless truck at a boat ramp... A friend actually bought me one. (A.R.E. used for $50) It doesn't match my truck but let me tell you.. it rocks having it. I can go to the ramp with a spare genny in the back without worrying somebody is going run up and take off with it. (now they have to work for it) My stuff doesn't blow away, get rained on or freeze to the truck bed. My capless and slightly cooler looking truck. Note that in this picture, my treestand and deer cart are frozen to the bed. It was another week before I could break them free. I forgot to mention that a friend of mine put a brand new cap on his dodge pickup. Shortly thereafter he went out bowfishing. He parked the truck... went down to the boat and watched as his truck popped out of gear... rolled out of the parking lot, missing all the trees and plopped into the lake.... A total loss. I joked that his truck committed suicide rather than be seen with the cap on it. I parked my truck really far from the water after I put the cap on mine.
I have a soft Tonneau and I love it, Definitely improves gas mileage by 1-2mpg at least. Going to the beach last summer I got 28 MPG out of a 4.3 V6 with the cover, I havent tested without it, but I don't know anyone who gets that kind of mileage out of the 4.3. (I also have a cold air intake though) But yeh seriously worth it in my book, just to keep thing dry if nothing else.
The soft ones suck if you have freezing temps. The get hard, and don't want to close back up. The hard ones suck if you have larger stuff to put in the bed. You either have to remove it, or try to make it fit, while in the up position. "campers", or "toppers" depending on where in the US you are, is probably your best bet. Still annoying, but less than the others. Just my .02. I was looking at a pickup, but opted for a Jeep. (Never looked back, and could not be happier.) Especially when your dog is a Pusbull, and can't take temps below 80 degrees.
I was faced with this issue back in 2004 and ended up getting a cap. Got a Leer Browning edition and it rocks. It has a Gun Locker in the ceiling, clothes hanger hooks, roof rack and indoor outdoor carpeting. If I had to do it all over again I'd piss off the old lady and get another cap and look redneck so I can have more room to store my gear etc. Last but not least it puts my bowhunting.com sticker 6.5 feet closer to the tree hugging PITA member behind me!
I was faced with this issue back in 2004 and ended up splurging and getting a cap. It might cost more but you get a lot more storage capacity in the end. Got a Leer Browning edition and it rocks. It has a Gun Locker in the ceiling, clothes hanger hooks, roof rack and indoor outdoor carpeting. If I had to do it all over again I'd piss off the old lady and get another cap and look redneck as she claims. Last but not least it puts my bowhunting.com sticker 6.5 feet closer to the tree hugging PITA member behind me!
I had a soft cover tonneau, it sucked. One day forgot to lock in the back brace, gone on the highway. Went to a high rise cap, awesome. Can stuff a bunch of things in the back, don't have to worry about it getting ripped off, stays dry. Definitely the way to go. I like the high rise style because you can pack more in, especially like a climber. That little bit of room makes the difference.
I personally don't like the limitations on packing height that tonneau covers have. I also don't really like the looks of a cap, or that fact that they aren't as easily removed for full bed access. My solution? I put a softopper on my 96 Tacoma. This top came at the recommendation of many of my offroad acquaintances, and it was great. It was water tight, it allowed more storage than a tonneau, and the best part is, you removed two pins, and the whole unit folded in to the front of the bed so you had full access. Here's the Softopper on my 96: Things I didn't like about this top. The rear flap attached to the tailgate via an adhesive backed Velcro strip that was installed on the top lip of the tailgate. So when you had the back flap rolled up, or the whole unit folded forward, you would always see this Velcro strip. Not only that, the adhesive became weaker the more moisture that it was exposed to, so eventually the strip began falling off. To gain access to the tailgate, you had to open the rear flap, and roll it out of your way. I also did not like the fact that there were no side windows. This really cut down on visibility when backing up, or merging on roads. Fast forward to today. When I sold that truck, I replaced it with an 05 Tacoma. My first purchase after a nice set of 265/75/16 Terra Grapplers was another softop. This time, however, I went with Bestop. Bestop has been making topper products for jeeps for years. They are a well respected company with a great product. What I like about the Bestop is that it offers side windows (which are removable), the unit is more solid (the deck rails are more sturdy, and the canvas is heavier), and most of all, the fact that the tailgate can be opened with the back flap down and still in place (much like a tonneau or cap). The rear window actually attaches to a bar which slides into a J-bracket above each rear tail light...no Velcro, and there's even a rubber seal to prevent water from seeping in. This top doesn't fold down out of the way as quickly as the softopper, as you have to remove the side windows first (two zippers per window, and slide the top and bottom out of the J-channels). So far it's been super water tight, and it's come in handy plenty of times moving my fiance back and forth to different rotations (just got back from taking her to Syracuse). I can still fold the top down and out of the way if I want to use the whole bed, and all is good. The only down side to these tops in comparison to hard shells, is there's no locking mechanism on them. I haven't had any problems with people trying to get in, and I've parked it in some shady places, so maybe just the idea of a fulling closed top leaves people less likely to snoop around in your bed. Let's face it...if someone wants to get in to your stuff in your bed bad enough, they're going to do it whether you have a locked shell on there or no. Anyways, this is just my personal experience with tops, thought I would throw that option out there. Btw, here's a picture of my top on my truck this morning sitting in the freezing rain/ice storm we're having. It's holding up well. You can visit the manufacturer's websites, here: Softopper Bestop
i LOVE mine... I bought a Lorado by Access Covers... thing rocks... I debated for about a year about a hard tonneau, soft tonneau, or full cap... soft tonneau has been perfect for me... stuff stays dry even going thru a high pressure car wash... my tailgate locks and the cover locks on the inside... sure you can cut thru it, but its enough to discourage opportunity thefts... the tension is adjustable to keep it nice and tight... i will say this though... I've seen no appreciable increase in MPG's, but i wouldn't get one with that as a consideration in anyway... after seeing it my brother is getting one for his next truck and letting his hard cover go with his current one and my dad is signing up for one when he gets his new truck as well... worth a look... a friend from another board hooked me up with a good deal and i got it delivered to my door for about $365, installed myself in about 20ish mins...
