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Discussion Forum

educate me—-on truck caps!

Hazlett | Posted in Tools for Home Building on July 26, 2007 06:31am

 I am about 80% sure I am going to buy a new truck in the next 4-6 weeks.

 almost certainley going to put a truck cap on it—-which I have never done before on any previous truck

 what do I need to know—– any specific brand to avoid—-or one that is particularly good.

FYI———– a single ladder will ride on top more or less permanently—-although from time to time I will need to move 3-4 ladders and a 16 foot pic.

 hoping for one with access from the sides— though I notice that a lot I see like that the side doors appear to be dented up from INSIDE pretty bad— how to avoid that????

 thanks, Stephen

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  1. catfish | Jul 26, 2007 06:36pm | #1

    I had a Leonard truck cap with toolboxes on the inside and flip up doors down the side.  Boxes ran the length of an 8-foot bed, solid doors on the sides.  Left plenty of room for large tools on the inside.  Mine was on a 87 Dodge Dakota.  I paid 950 dollars in about 1990

    make sure you get solid doors so they won't dent.



    Edited 7/26/2007 11:37 am ET by catfish

    1. Hazlett | Jul 26, 2007 06:43pm | #2

       are these generally aluminum or fiberglass?????

       stephen

      1. catfish | Jul 26, 2007 07:35pm | #3

        mine was aluminum, forgot tomention the ladder rack.  Carried 2 24 footers and a 16 foot laddervator, plus compressor and motor for laddervator. 

        Had enough tools to run 7 man roofing crew.

  2. User avater
    ToolFreakBlue | Jul 26, 2007 08:10pm | #4

    The cap I have is by Century. All aluminum, painted to match factory paint on the truck. The Century was 10% less than the ARE cap I priced. ($2300 vs $2600)

    I have boxes on each side. One door is dead flat the other has a bow. It is as if they tweaked the door to make it latch better. Both doors have little dents from the inside. The bowed door also leaks quite a bit. None of the mfg will guarantee watertightness.

    I have windows front and back. The bed light on the cab of the truck provides enough light in the cap. Also added the security screen on the rear window.

    Have the rack on top, with an added "H" bar. Hauls ladders, trim and the occasional small load of dimensional lumber very well. I do keep it unloaded most of the time to help with gas milage.

    I am pleased with it but will go with the ARE cap next trip.

    Check out the manufacturer websites. They had $50 coupons last summer when I got mine.

    TFB (Bill)

    Edit - Ford F150, 6 1/2 foot bed.



    Edited 7/26/2007 1:15 pm by ToolFreakBlue

    1. schris | Jul 27, 2007 01:10am | #5

      I have an ARE aluminum cap with the full length tool boxes and doors,on my 06 F150 Supercab 8' bed.Heavy duty ARE rack, 250# load. I glued 1/2" Dow board to the inside of the doors to prevent that "hailstone" look, got that from someone's earlier post. Got 29" height, 26" was standard. and 2 interior lights.

  3. User avater
    gdcarpenter | Jul 27, 2007 01:12am | #6

    ARE caps. They are all over and very good quality, I've on my second one on my second truck. They are custom made so you can get whatever you want, front, side and or rear doors. The loads I shouldn't have put on the racks have been amazing at times. Got my last one for my Tundra step side on '06 with 2 doors each side, ran a little over 2 grand.

    All aluminium which I believe to be quite a bit stronger than fiberglass.

    Let's not confuse the issue with facts!

  4. RW | Jul 27, 2007 04:21am | #7

    Doors that open all the way around are good. Locks, and upgrade them if thats an option. After that its all durability, watertight, and for how long. And back to the cliches about getting what you pay for.

    I've seen ARE and Jayson and a pile of others and none of them really strike me as garbage. The one line that does seem to be a few steps up on the finicky scale is glasstite. I dont particularly care for the styling most of the time but I have seen 10 and 12 year old caps that are still solid and dont drip, even through the doors. That stands out to me.

    This is all FG caps. I dont know squat about any other kind. I would look into the kind of ladder racks that straddle around the cap, attach at the bed. Tubes just like a nerf. They're low profile and keep you from trying to attach through the FG to get anchored.

    Real trucks dont have sparkplugs

  5. cap | Jul 27, 2007 07:48am | #8

    Stephen,

    Have a look at the Snugtop Pro.  Fiberglass, can be orderded with a contractors roof rack, toolboxes on the sides, lights etc.  I outfitted the truck with one and then installed a pull-out drawer--110percent extension, 1200 lb capacity.  Will get a couple of pictures and post 'em this weekend.

    It's an excellent system, but wasn't cheap.

    Cliff 

    1. Hudson Valley Carpenter | Jul 27, 2007 09:18am | #9

      I've been down this road and now have a better idea of what I'd do differently, next time.

      I'd start with a full length box on the driver's side and a full length glass door/window on the passenger side.  The glass door/window serves several purposes.  You can see through it easily when backing out of parking spaces in parking lots.  You can access the front of the bed, through the door.  Sticking everyone's tool buckets and/or boxes in there leaves more room in the back for big/heavy tools like generators, table saws, saw horses, etc. 

      Remember that you have a choice of vertical doors without a tailgate in back.  One advantage is ease of entry/exit if you use the cap as a camper.  The lock may be more secure too. 

       

      1. Hazlett | Jul 27, 2007 02:48pm | #10

         thanks so much everyone.

         If anybody wants to share a picture i would be happy to see it.

         I never tire of seeing other peoples, trucks, storage systems, work benches, tool boxes/tool bags-----as I am always looking to blatantly steal good ideas!

         thanks again.

         Stephen

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