Anyone have one?

I have a vinyl cover now and like being able to take it off and have full use of the bed. It's great in the summer but in the winter can be a pain to get it back on so I end up crawling underneath it to put stuff in and take it out. So I was thinking of changing to a topper/camper shell.

Anyone have any opinions on the matter?

We had a fiber tanneu cover (spelling) on a previous truck. One hydrolic went out pretty quickly and that made it a PITA. The second issue was not being able to use it the way you may want to use a truck. We couldn't fill the thing with mulch or gravel when we did a garden because the place we were going to get it from uses a bobcat to scoop it in. Small stuff like that gets aggrivating and I don't think I'd want to deal with it. I'm sure there are plenty of applications where it would be beneficial.

Ryan

A hard tonneau cover might be your answer here. They're real easy to pull up and down if the hydro-pistons aren't shot, so you wouldn't ever have to crawl under it. And if the pistons do go, like Ryan said (and they do), just buy new ones. My truck came with a camper shell that had shot pistons and I bought new ones and snapped them in in the parking lot. I think they were about $20 a piece.

I do like the camper shell, its very nice to be able to lock things up in there but I just don't LOVE the way it looks on the truck, I think a tonneau cover looks much better. But if you plan on putting anything in your bed thats taller than the bed rails, you might want to go with a camper shell... I know a lot of the stuff that I haul around would not allow the tonneau to close if I had one... Just depends on how you're using the truckbed.

Also something to consider... The newer style tonneau covers are INCREDIBLY easy to remove (as long as you've got 1 other person). They got sliding pins and can be remove in a matter of a couple minutes... So if you DID need to haul something bigger you could just remove it and set it in the garage.

Something to think about

I don't know why you don't like the way that camper shell looks on your truck.. Personally, I think it looks better with it. Yours looks to be good quality as well.

TheRoadVirus said:

I don't know why you don't like the way that camper shell looks on your truck.. Personally, I think it looks better with it. Yours looks to be good quality as well.

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Yeah mine's a Snugtop, one of the best in my opinion. Just think it makes my truck look too much like a suburban. If I wanted an SUV I woulda bought one!

My truck came with a soft, cheap snap-down tonneau cover. I hated the thing, but it was slightly better than nothing, so I used and cursed it for a couple years.

Picked up an aluminum topper cheap off Craigslist, and I'm very happy. The aluminum one is very light, so it's easy to take off and put on. FG ones require a little extra manpower, since they're a bit heavier.

I leave it on in the winter, take it off in the summer unless I'm going camping, then it goes back on and I sleep underneath. Keeps my tools and stuff sorta secure, mostly dry, and out of my way.

The bed on my truck is almost absurdly small, and when the cap is on, it's more or less useless for big things. Bigger trucks like yours, that's much less of an issue, though still a consideration.

I'd go for it, assuming you seldom need to haul things that it would interfere with, or have ready access to a trailer or someone to help you take it off and a place to put it when you need the truck uncovered.

Side note: it takes a maximum of 2 moderately strong people to remove a fiberglass top like mine. I'm a pretty puny guy and I've done it with 1 other guy before.

My dad had fiberglass campers on previous trucks and I've helped take them off before. It's a pain but it is something that can be done.

Can't really decide what I want to do. I'm picky too, so finding one I like is going to be hard also.

Skandocious said:

Side note: it takes a maximum of 2 moderately strong people to remove a fiberglass top like mine. I'm a pretty puny guy and I've done it with 1 other guy before.

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willing to be i'm the puniest guy here and i can take off my old heavy beast with 1 other person.

i'm with skan - hate the looks, love the storage

slmann said:

My dad had fiberglass campers on previous trucks and I've helped take them off before. It's a pain but it is something that can be done.

Can't really decide what I want to do. I'm picky too, so finding one I like is going to be hard also.

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Check out SnugTop and Leer (for both tonneau's and campers), they've got some pretty sexy styles

I have em all.

If you r going with the hard tonnue may as well get cap .

Both r hard to remove by self. But I can walk to cap to back of truck .

You can fit some big things under a cap. But the hard tonnue tilts so you still have trouble reaching front . If loaded up with snow its a pain.

Hey its up to you . Run cap in winter and tonneau in summer allot of people do it.

I have a snug top tonneau Laying in back of Garage If get one look at them they r well built

Lost said:

Hey its up to you . Run cap in winter and tonneau in summer allot of people do it.

I have a snug top tonneau Laying in back of Garage If get one look at them they r well built

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Running the cap in winter and tonneau in summer sounds like a good idea.

I looked on a few sites and so far the snugtop looks pretty good. There was one from jason (i think) that looked pretty good also.

I missed this thread Scott. I have a Jason cap on mine. I love it. I get it on and off all by myself. Are the rest of ya'll that weak? Nah, I just rigged up a pulley lift system in my garage. I hook it up and lift. Sweet! Also, I just leave it hanging to store it when I'm not using it.

Had a camper shell on my rig when i bought it , took it off immediately , but still have it so if I go on a extended trip I can put it back on for luggage and other stuff. Nice to have when you need it.Took it off by myself , I just walked it down like Larry said , putting it back on will be a different story.

Leer here. I loved the damned thing- my son kept pulling the friggin' thing off. Thing is, in the Pacific Northwest, you have to get used to wet, rusty crap in the bed of your truck if you don't want a canopy. Nick obviously prefers wet, rusty crap.

I don't mind the looks at all, FWIW, but that's a taste thing.

still debating this one. The big thing will be finding one I like enough to put on my truck. I'm kinda picky.