Cap or tonneau cover advice

[nc-canuck]

New tow vehicle arrives today. A 2013 F350 Lariat long bed with the 6.2l gas engine (bought online at Carvana) Traded in a 2004 Suburban 2500 that gave us 200k miles. Never owned a pick-up so wondering if I need a cap or tonneau cover. Loved having the inside and protected space in the suburban to store chairs and bikes and other knick knacks. But if I don't need to spend more money that is fine too. What do you pick up owners out there have/recommend?




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[noslofivoh]

I dont have either on my current truck. I am looking to upgrade trucks within the next 2 years and my new truck will get a roll-n-lock tonneau cover. I do have a 5th wheel so I need a way to access it. This will serve my needs well when the hitch is not in the truck.

[Dave Lyon]

That's a nice truck....even though it's a Ford

I've always had caps on my pick up trucks for may of the reasons you cite with the Suburban. You double up on your dry storage space as the cap is double the height of a tonneau cover.

I have a Lear cap (100XL) and like it. great quality. Truck Caps, Toppers and Camper Shells by LEER

A tonneau cover doesn't obstruct your view if that's a concern.

My two cents.

[RollingDownTheHighway]

I have a rollup cover and works greats. I keep bikes and other gear back there when we go camping. Caps are heavy and bulky looking today. I have a GMC 2600 6.5 bed and got the cover for 250 shipped to my door from here: Tonneau Covers | Tonneau Cover Dealers

[Leathergypsy]

I just moved from an F350 Dually to an F250. I had a cap on my Dually during camping season and in the late Fall I would take it off and put it on milk crates on my patio. For the winter I always switched back to my Extang Tri-fecta tonneau cover.

[youroo]

With a Roll up you can haul oversize items if needed,a Cap will have to be removed,not good if far away from home! If you were happy with the Suburban storage a Cap will do fine! Youroo!! PS with the Newer trucks Tailgate height,be sure to put a Step of some sort regardless which cover you put on,or you will NOT be able to reach Anything!

[howie70]

Depends on what you haul while camping or at other times. I tried a tonneau cover but with fire wood, chairs, pop-up canopy, cooler, 5-gallon water jug, fold-up table, corn-hole boards, and seemingly the kitchen sink, I couldn't fit everything under the cover. I went with the topper (or cap) and racks on the topper for my canoe.
The topper also comes in handy during huntin' season for me and while fishing. Allows me to keep some gear in there out of sight and the weather.

[jeff64]

I've always had caps on my TV. As added accessory, the lift up side windows to access all the stuff at the rear of the bed, i.e. firewood, wouldn't have a cap that the side windows wouldn't lift up. Just me.

[shughey00]

I'va had both...tough to say for me. Many times I got stuck taking the cap off because I was hauling something too tall. Taking that thing off is a pain and if you are alone and need to do it now you have to phone a friend.

Now that was rare but happened enough it was a reason I did not get one this time.

The tonneau is a compromise. Definitely nice when it rains and you need to keep stuff dry verses an open bed. But down side is it obviously now everything has to be below the bedrails. On the other hand it rolls out of the way if I move my daughters furniture....yet again.

So kind of six of one and half dozen of the other I guess. Probably really matters if you expect to need the cap off ever and if so how often. Once a year..yah no big deal but sometimes mine was off once a month.

If I can leave em on I like caps best though....especially a nice color matched.

[Ejs4029]

Using a BAK Revolver rolling aluminum cover so far it's worked out great.

[B and B]

I have a soft Truxedo tonneau cover. With the fifth wheel and no where to store the cap this works best. I did have a cap with my old truck and spent more time off the truck than on. after I unhitch I just the cover back and the generator, blue tank, firewood, spare 20 lb er etc is all covered up.

[KMP44]

Nice truck!


I put a Genesis tri-fold cover on my truck. Best investment I could have made. Its super easy to use and keeps the bed covered and sealed. About $225 and 10 minutes to install. It folds up 2/3 of the way by just pulling 2 handles. If I need the whole bed, I just pull the front 2 handles and its off. Goes back on just as quick.


There are nicer / more expensive covers out there, but I really like the Genesis. And If you don't mind the drawbacks of a cap - cost, difficulty to remove, reduced visibility - that would give you a ton of dry, secure storage.

[gfarmcafe]

We use a tri-fold hard cover for our Chevy 2500 HD. It covers all our camping gear and will fold forward and latch via snaps behind the rear window. Our tailgate didn't have a lock, so that had to be installed at the same time. So far, we love it.

[BandJCarm]

Retrax.

Trust me.

[beerbuggy]

Look at Bakflip... I've had 3 of them and I don't think I could ever do without again. Great build quality and love the fact that once you lock the tailgate your stuff is secure and out of site. Going down the road and it rains... no problem your stuff remains dry. I like the low profile and how it does not alter the look of the truck. Its made of aluminum and is super easy to remove and put back on. It flips up totally out of the way when you need to haul something that takes up the whole bed.

Not the best picture, but all I have...

[rockfordroo]

You need to think about how you'll be using your truck the most. Lots of stuff above the bed rails, or never anything above the bed rails. If you go for a tonneau cover, you have to decide hard top, fold up or roll up. If you have a 5ver, they make some that can still enclose your bed with the 5ver attached.

My 1/2 ton had a Truxedo Lo Pro QT rollup tonneau cover. It came with the truck. I was pretty happy with it.

For my new 3/4 ton, I just ordered a Truxedo Deuce 2 that's similar to the Lo Pro QT except it can open at the cab end, too, so I won't have to roll it up completely to get to something near the cab. It's being delivered today. I'm not exactly sure how it opens by the cab, but I'm about to find out!

There are many different tonneau covers ranging from the rollup type to hard tops. Prices range, too.

Go to etrailer.com and take a look at what they have.

[rvb]

I used soft tonneaus over a couple of trucks and briefly had a hard folding tonneau that I hated (total of 15 yrs w/ various tonneaus) until we started camping, then I put a cap on. Depends on what you want/need to carry, but a tonneau really limits the size of items you can carry, because if stuff can't fit under, you can't close it, which means you cant keep it dry or locked up.


Now w/ the cap I can fit 4 bikes, grill, coolers, firewood, kids toys, etc. And when loading/unloading, I and the stuff can stay dry if it's raining. I had to pack the truck in the rain a couple times w/ the soft tonneau, and everything got soaked since I had to have it open to get stuff packed in. 2 kids bikes w/ training wheels and a couple coolers were about all I could fit.


I don't regret it one bit. And my cap has lighting, making finding stuff at night much nicer!


It only really limits you on VERY large stuff. How often is that an issue for you? I use my truck a lot. 8x4 material still fits, long lumber still fits, just leave the back window up, etc.


Mines ARE, but there are other good brands, like LEER.


-rvb

[timfromma]

I cast my vote for the tonneau cover. It's low profile, rolls up easily and will keep items in my bed both dry and out of sight.

[f5moab]

Type of cover will depend on how you are going to use it. On my Silverados I have had only hard covers, but I only wanted to make the bed into a large locking trunk to keep valuables somewhat save and dry and reduce the amount of dust.

Both covers operated off the remote for unlocking and locking features. On my '13 I have a ARB cover. To open after unlocking, you had to left the cover up from the tailgate, and it was heavy and with an armful of stuff, very difficult. Dealer adjusted a few times but never got it to open easy. It did have some LEDs on the bottom of the cover that helped light the inside of the bed; however, they did not do a good job.

On my '15 I went with a LEER. Operates off the power locks, and when you turn the knob, it raises about 12 inches with no intervention, and easy to lift the rest of the way. It has no LEDs but my '15 came with interior bed lighting that does a great job of lighting the inside of the bed.

The LEER has better sealing and cuts down the dust considerably compared to the ARB. Also the ARB rubbed a slight amount of paint off the front of the bed at the corners.

However, both did what I primarily wanted; they locked, they kept the inside dry.

As for carrying wood, I have transported a heck of a lot of wood from Home Depot just by either leaving the tailgate open and carefully driving home.

What type of cover really depends on what you want. If you are going to be hauling refrigerators, stoves, very large items, then a soft cover or a backflip style will be the best.

Also, the fiberglass covers are considerably more, need to be ordered and take a few weeks to receive since they are painted to match the vehicle.

ARB cover...


LEER Cover...

[Merlin14]

Looks you stirred a hornet's nest of impassioned TV owners!
Like others, what your expected use is may determine what is best for you.
IMHO, I plan to get a new TV in a year or less.

Currently the TV is a 2001 Nissan Frontier 4 cyl, 5 spd, extended cab. It hs been there for 247K miles with never a single problem.

We paid $1k for topper and it matches paint. Topper came from Astro.
When installed, I told installer not to screw it down as I expected to remove it with some frequency. He used really strong bolt together clamps and I can remove cover by myself in 15 min. The 4 clamps are incredbly strong and he notched the camper to accomadate the mounting holes on the bed.

Have always been 100% satisfied with topper, how attached, looks, and everything else. And it has always been 100% water tight.

Just my $.02. Pic below.
Best to you!