Tow Vehicle Bed Covers

[Gneiss Guy]

It depends a lot on the "toys" you carry. I have had both a tonneau and a "cap" and I much prefer the cap. It allows us to keep our bikes inside, out of the weather and away from the thieves. It also gives me a good place to carry two kayaks (on top) and paddles inside. A few plastic tubs keep other things organized. It's something to think about.

Richard

[wvstreamer]

Check TRUXEDO Deuce. truxedo.com. latches in front for access to fuel tank in bed and rolls from rear for completely clear bed space. Looks great and is dry and secure. Around $500. High quality and any parts available. Perfect for the many uses for my truck.

[Alwaysready]

We have a truxedo tonneau cover on our 2008 3/4 ton chev diesel. Extra weight of heavy fiberglass and visibility issues with a shell were concerns for us. Love the inexpensive tonneau cover

[DutchTreat]

I bought a hard cover that folds in 4 parts and when the final piece folds up the rear window is obstructed and it's heavy/cumbersome to fold. I negotiated the price lower but I would get a retractable cover if I bought another one.

[wavelength]

I have a leer hard tonneau cover and hate it. You can't put anything tall in your bed, you can't reach anything in the front of the bed and when it rains the water runs in when you open it. Buy a camper shell .

[DHart]

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

I got an Extang Solidfold.

Extang - America's Best Selling Tonneau Covers

They are not cheap, but very well made. The panels are an aluminum and foam sandwich which is both strong and insulating. They have a video on the site showing a 4-wheeler sitting on top of the cover. IT is not rated for that, but they show it as a measure of the strength. I have knelt on mine when folded to get to the top of the cab.

It is very easy to put on and take off if I need to carry something tall. They also claim a mileage increase, probably due to smoothing out the airflow over the bed.

Al

Another vote for the Extang SolidFold.

We didn't want to spend the $2000 for a heavy duty aluminum roll back (which are nice), as we are thinking we may want to go with a shell down the road. Or alternate between a shell and a tonneau, possibly. So, we decided to start with a quality tonneau, without spending a LOT of money. Great thing with the SolidFold is that it is only 45 lbs., very high quality, well engineered, does not require any drilling, drain tubes, nor anything but two butterfly clamps at the head of the bed and two spring clamps at the tail end. Very easy to use, and very quick and easy to install or remove if the bed is needed to be used in a different way.

If we get a shell later on, we've decided the SnugTop is the way to go (not cheap though). And in that event, we would still keep the SolidFold on hand, should we want to use it. We paid about $800 for the Extang SolidFold. It looks great, isn't terribly expensive, and so far serves our needs well. Items like the Honda EU2000i easily fit under it. Our tailgate locks, thus locking down the SolidFold, as well.

[Mrmill]

We have put the Pace Edwards Bedlocker on our last 2 trucks. Its totally awesome because it can shut incrementally and lock at any position. Makes our truck bed completely secure. We bought the automatic one that comes with a remote control which is really nice because you can open and close it while in your truck cab. The auto one costs just over $2500 but it does come in a manual cover and it cost about $1000 less.

[ChuckFeldt]

we went with the LEER color matched hard shell cover. Makes the truck bed into a really big trunk space. We are not retired yet and have other work trucks for hauling at home. I will likely look at the camper shell after we retire. 2015 Chevy 2500HD LTZ Z71 Duramax, 2014 27FB Int. CCD.

[manook]

I tow my 21" Airstream with my 2014 Chevy Crew cab, 6.5' bed I was planning on buying a shell. Then I decided on the BakFlip F1 with the cargo rack. It is great.

Pro's for a hard cover:
- Nothing to remove when you want to Carry tall items.
- If something is all the way at the front of the bed, you do not need to crawl in, Just lift the cover to that point. Not so hard on my knees.
- Easy to load a bicycle onto this rack
- almost everything fits under the flip top, Honda 2000 generator, tool boxes, storage boxes,

Con's for a flip top
- Not 100% water tight. only 95%


Pro's for a shell
-Can put more stuff in the bed of the truck with a cover shell on it.

['55 Airlight]

Originally Posted by Johndews

We are purchasing a new pick up to tow our recently-acquired Classic 31. Any recommendations on a bed cover? Our auto dealer recommends a Leer 700 for about $1500. Any thoughts or experience of the rigid top vs. the stretched vinyl cover? Don't think we want the camper shell.

Hope I posted this in the right place. We are new to the Forum. Thanks.

I opted for a rigid deck cover onto which I put a pair of full width rack pipes for bikes carriers and a cargo basket for the lightweight camp chairs. Can get a little heavy to lift with a pair of bikes, but it can be done.

[Michael_Wild]

I recently got the Diamondback HD with the Linex coating. It is awesome for so many reasons, plus it looks super cool.

[DHart]

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

I got an Extang Solidfold.

Extang - America's Best Selling Tonneau Covers

They are not cheap, but very well made. The panels are an aluminum and foam sandwich which is both strong and insulating. They have a video on the site showing a 4-wheeler sitting on top of the cover. IT is not rated for that, but they show it as a measure of the strength. I have knelt on mine when folded to get to the top of the cab.

It is very easy to put on and take off if I need to carry something tall. They also claim a mileage increase, probably due to smoothing out the airflow over the bed.

Al

Another vote for the Extang SolidFold.

We didn't want to spend the $2000 for a heavy duty aluminum roll back (which are nice), as we are thinking we may want to go with a shell down the road. Or alternate between a shell and a tonneau, possibly. So, we decided to start with a quality tonneau, without spending a LOT of money. Great thing with the SolidFold is that it is only 45 lbs., very high quality, well engineered, does not require any drilling, drain tubes, nor anything but two butterfly clamps at the head of the bed and two spring clamps at the tail end. Very easy to use, and very quick and easy to install or remove if the bed is needed to be used in a different way.

If we get a shell later on, we've decided the SnugTop is the way to go (not cheap though). And in that event, we would still keep the SolidFold on hand, should we want to use it. We paid about $800 for the Extang SolidFold. It looks great, isn't terribly expensive, and so far serves our needs well. Items like the Honda EU2000i easily fit under it. Our tailgate locks, thus locking down the SolidFold, as well.

[Labaree]

We like the ARE hard cover plenty of room for generator and other "stuff". We like the visibility with the hard cover vs a shell.

[LOGRIDER]

You've received a lot of input, and here's mine. We are new to the pick-up world, recently switching from an SUV to a 2500 Ram. We too weighed our options, camper shell vs. tonneau-like cover. Although a shell will unquestionably hold more because you can stack stuff up inside it, it can be a bit difficult for an ol' feller like me to crawl in and out of in order to retrieve the item that invariably is up against the cab. It was upon this assessment we opted to go with a retractable cover, and selected, like Robert, the Retrax brand...expensive as a camper shell, yes, but awesome. Wonderfully resilient, rather attractive in my humble opinion, and apparently averse to water (so far).

A couple of downsides: The unit does effectively eat up about 14 inches of valuable bed space with its canister, however you can store a few very small items underneath the unit (emphasis on very small). The second issue, you can't stack all the stuff you may want to carry due to height limitations when the cover is closed. If security or weather is not an issue, leave the cover open as it locks in any position and you can stack-away, just as high if not higher than in a shell. If you ever need to move a very large item, where the shell would prohibit you from doing so lest you remove it, the retractable just slides out of the way.

Each product has its advantages and disadvantages, and just like everything else, tires, tow systems, tow vehicles, solar vs generator etc. everyone has opinion as to which is best. It is after all about what you like- we like our Retrax.

[tomterrific]

I've used a Roll N Lock and been satisfied. Makes it easy to haul taller things in the trailer when needed. OTOH, if you are going to be carrying cargo taller than the bed walls when RVing and want the security, you should opt for the camper shell.

I priced the Roll N Lock on line and then found a local merchant that would sell it to me and install it for the same price.

[GammaDog]

Looks like this topic is well covered... But when has that stopped any Airstreamer from commenting!

I think the real question is "what do you expect from your cover or cap"?

None of them are perfect. Some are water tight, some are inexpensive, some allow easy access to the open bed when you need it, some are more secure, some protect taller cargo. What's your need?

I use an Extang Solid-fold. Why? It's secure (solid, not cloth, no windows for folks to see my generators and stuff and say "for that, I'll break this open"); it allows me easy access to part of the bed (we have a disabled son. When I transport him I fold the back two sections of the cover and put his wheelchair in the bed. Only very tall caps could meet that need); I carry up to 4 bikes on top of it (a common issue with Airstreams is "where to I carry the bikes" a flat solid cover can be part of the answer to that question... It is for me.

What don't I like about at solution? 1. It can't securely carry stuff taller than about 22" in the bed of my tundra (your truck may be more or less) 2. It isn't water tight. The seams on folding covers leak eventually as do the seals around the bed rail on many covers. 3. It was a bit pricier than a soft cover.

Check out a truck supply place like AutoAnything (I've had good luck with them but there are hundreds out there) for pricing before you make the dealer richer with an aftermarket part.

[Adiredneck]

We went with something completely different, a Highway Products "Pickup Pack" and bed roller. All heavy duty aluminum diamondplate, I got 8' boxes that run the lengtn of each side of the bed, plus the 4" dome hatch covering the bed for extra height. A 2000# bed roller allows me to reach everything in the bed without having to crawl in. It came with a headache rack and a detachable boat/ladder/lumber rack for the rear. Good mortise locks and everything secure and out of site.

Here's the link:

SERVICE TRUCK BODIES | TRUCK BEDS | CUSTOM TRUCK BODIES | UTILITY BODY

We're really liking ours, and it never fails to gather admirers at campsites and whenever I stop to fuel!

[paiceman]

We have an F350 and had a soft roll up cover that "locks" as we did on our previous two trucks. While in a grocery store someone cut the cover and helped themselves to whatever they could lift over the side and tailgate as the tailgate was locked. No cameras etc. So, we replaced the roll up with a Lear 700 painted to match our Silver F350. Love it. Everything we carry on a trip fits in nicely, just returned from 10,000 miles using it. The one issue is at times closing it. There is so much air pressure build up when closing sometimes it takes two of us OR I stand on the bumper, lean down while closing and it locks in place.

Did not want the big caps so this is a nice alternative for us.

Bud

[kevin242]

We have the Leer 700 and really like it. It's very weatherproof with the tailgate gaps sealed and much more durable than the vinyl tonneau covers that can be cut or the aluminum ones that can be dented.

I always had a canopy before, and prefer this option. Better visibility, more secure in my opinion and more weatherproof.

[SuzyHomemakr]

Originally Posted by LOGRIDER

We too weighed our options, camper shell vs. tonneau-like cover. Although a shell will unquestionably hold more because you can stack stuff up inside it, it can be a bit difficult for an ol' feller like me to crawl in and out of in order to retrieve the item that invariably is up against the cab.

You forgot to mention having to crawl over (or unload) all the stuff that you piled in front of the thing that you need! I built a bed slide for my RAM 2500 with cab-high cap on it. This basically a gigantic drawer that slides out so that it's easy to grab the items that are up against the cab. Using ball-rearing rollers from Harbor Freight, two sheets of plywood and a few 2X4s, I figure it cost me about $50. I painted it with garage-floor epoxy paint, then sprinkled it with those festive little flakes for non-skid. It works great, and never fails to impress the loader guys at Home Depot!