Truck Cap Good or Bad

[#41]

Both good and bad. With a cap I can secure stuff, camp in it, keep stuff dry, etc. But, I can't haul soil and bark, move taller objects, etc. It's also just generally easier to load and unload a truck bed without a cap in place. For me, that means wood building products, firewood, and mountain bikes.

So..... I do have a fiberglass mid-height cap for the truck, but I built a 4-post dock that is the same height as the truck bed so I can slide it off and on by myself. It's just four 4x4 posts and some cross pieces with a sliding surface and guide bars. Back the truck up to it, and it's only a ten minute process to move the cap from the dock to the bed or reverse. I have it on the side of the shop behind a fence so it is not an eyesore.

In this way, I have the convenience of both.

 

[Thrashingcows]

Nice thing about the softopper is the fact it folds up to the head of the box and you can get a load of mulch, gravel etc then just put the top back up. Takes less than 2 min to fold the top down and maybe 3 min to put it back up. If you need to haul tall stuff just fold the top down and haul it then fold the top back up. And if you need to remove the canopy it take less than 15 min to totally remove it from your box and it only weighs 30 lbs? so it's easy to get off and you can store it in the corner of the garage.

When we moved north I was the only one around town with one and for close to 3 years I had numerous people approach me with questions on the top, there are now a dozen or more people running around with softoppers on their trucks.

 

[Triplegreen500]

I have a cab-high cap for my '01 Cummins. I also have a tonneau cover (soft cover, bed rail height). Primary use for the truck is my sound production company (live bands). My "small" system for bar gigs consists of four subs, 2 loudspeakers, mixer, cable bins, microphone case, in-ear monitor rack, and adaptor box. All that, fits in the bed under the soft cover. The cover is hinged at the front, and lifts like a hood, with two gas struts (one on each side). It looks like this:

I can unsnap the bottoms of the gas struts from the pins on the bed rail, and "over-extend" the cover (lift it further), and it simply pops out of the front hinge channel, for a quick 30 second removal if I need an open bed. I have a rack on my garage ceiling I store it in, right above the truck. Tilt cover open, climb in bed, unsnap struts, tilt/lift, put on ceiling rack....done.

My larger sound system (county fairs and stuff) is six subs, six speakers, cable bins, mixer rack, mic case, an extra bin full of extension cords, a 10x10 easy-up tent, tarps, leveling blocks, chairs, coolers, etc. That can fit in the cab-high cap, but I have to climb IN the cap to get stuff from the front of the bed, where with the flip-up, I can reach in from the side to grab stuff. The flip-up is MUCH easier, but not as much room as the full cap. Also the cap has deep tint windows on it. Combined with the deep tint on the truck, it makes it near-impossible to back into the garage after dark, even with my LED backup lights.

I hated the cap so much, I now own a 6x12 cargo trailer that I use for bigger shows. The cap is still here if I need it, I built a 4 post rig with 2 rails for it behind the garage that I back into, unbolt the cap, lift one end, insert a 4x4 across under the cap and over the rails, lift the other end, insert another 4x4, and drive the truck out from under it.

But, I swear by the tilting soft cover. Can't see in the bed. I put a power lock on my tailgate so when I lock the doors, you can't open the gate either. Yes, it unsnaps - but people would have to be REALLY curious before starting that. And, I never unsnap it so I'm sure the snaps are pretty corroded and stuck. I may even super glue them. Since it DOES snap, I can unsnap and roll the cover towards the bed if I get a "surprise" big load...but as easy as it is to remove, if I think I might get a big something while I'm out...I just pop it off before I leave the garage. And it is absolutely water-tight - I've had my gear, in the truck, at work all day before a gig, in torrential downpours...not a drop inside the bed. Love it.

 

[patrick66]

I've owned full slide-in campers that you actually CAMP in, cab-height camper shells, and one hard tonneau I actually built in 1987 for my '85 D150 short bed 4x2. The hard tonneau was the best, so far as keeping cargo out of sight and secure. It was 3/4" plywood and vinyl top material, with a custom Pentastar sewn into the center. It was quite the stir in my part of Germany when I was stationed there! It was a bear to remove from the truck if I needed to haul a large item like furniture, or a stripped upside-down VW Beetle (pic of that in the photo archives!)

 

[YY1]

For the last 2 years I've had a cap on my Dakota.

It's kinda love/hate.

It does keep 95% dry (I have a small weatherstrip leak around the hatch).
(BTW- that's a bitch to seal up)

...and I can leave stuff in it overnight or in parking lots.

...but climbing in to get stuff from behind the cab SUCKS, as does not being able to just spontaneously but a refrigerator, or stop to pick up a BBQ grill off the side of the road.