Bed Covers

[Phishin]

With a standard cab on my new 2018 Chevy 3500HD truck, I really need a bed cover.

My only concern is, all bed covers have a "track" that ties into the top of the bed rail, which means, I have to be careful with loading stuff into my bed: ie, I can't really drop a load of stone into the bed or the track would likely be damaged. I'm not sure how likely or frequent I'd be going to the gravel pit to get a load of stone, but I might....

What type of bed covers to BITOG's like and why? I'm considering all variants at this time: velcro/roll up, retractable, folding, and even removable hard/solid covers.

 

[Schmoe]

I have a hard fiberglass lid on the F150. Pros: keeps rain out and you can lock your stuff up and looks good on the truck. Cons: like you said, can't haul big ticket items BUT you won't get volunteered to help your friends move or haul stuff either. Also, they can get heavy.

 

[irv]

I have a Truxedo soft top tonneau with Velcro down the sides on my Ram. It takes about 5 minutes to uninstall/install it so no worries about picking up a load of dirt or whatever when needed.

I would not be without a Tonneau on my truck.

 

[supton]

I had a Trifecta (?) tri-fold soft cover on mine (until I got the fiberglass topper). Minutes to install or remove. For the
One downside is that if you are getting stone you likely would want to remove altogether before leaving home--they block the front third if folded up, or if removed, well you need to put someplace. The rollup versions would be better in that regard.

 

[RitcheyRch]

I have a Truxedo Lo-Pro QT on my Tundra and like it. It rolls up nice and tight and has a life-time warranty on everything including the velcro.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Schmoe
I have a hard fiberglass lid on the F150. Pros: keeps rain out and you can lock your stuff up and looks good on the truck. Cons: like you said, can't haul big ticket items BUT you won't get volunteered to help your friends move or haul stuff either. Also, they can get heavy.

Very true, my Dad has one on his F150 and it makes the bed surprisingly useless... Also you can't drive on the hwy with the cover up either to fit something big. Atleast his starts vibrating in the wind.
I'd have either the roll up cover or a full size cap on a truck of mine.

 

[PimTac]

My brother has a sprayed on bed liner and it has held up very well. He has hauled pretty much everything in that truck from dirt and gravel to scrap metal.

 

[Phishin]

Originally Posted By: PimTac
My brother has a sprayed on bed liner and it has held up very well. He has hauled pretty much everything in that truck from dirt and gravel to scrap metal.


This is about bed COVERS (ie, Tonneau Covers)...not bed LINERS. My truck came with a factory spray-in bed liner already. I'm looking for a cover.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted By: Phishin
Originally Posted By: PimTac
My brother has a sprayed on bed liner and it has held up very well. He has hauled pretty much everything in that truck from dirt and gravel to scrap metal.


This is about bed COVERS (ie, Tonneau Covers)...not bed LINERS. My truck came with a factory spray-in bed liner already. I'm looking for a cover.



I misread the post. Sorry about that.

 

[HemiHawk]

My Truck came with a hard shell tonneau cover by LEER. It was really nice in its quality and design. BUT it basically made the bed a giant trunk. Couldn't have items taller than the cover. I have it just sitting in my garage now. Any shortbed frontier owners want it? haha

I went the cheap route and got a Gator SR-1 roll up. Keeps the bed surprising dry in pretty much anything but a carwash, and rolls up nice and out of the way. But it does have the tracks you speak of.

 

[MNgopher]

I have a Truxedo LoProQT on my current truck, and had the same on my last. Works well enough for a rollup cover. I've hauled gravel and mulch with no issues with the rolledup cover. Keep things generally dry enough in the back when in use. I wouldn't sweat putting one on...

The hard shells make the back exactly like a trunk, which has its pluses and minuses. I had two trucks with this style, and you couldn't pay me to go back. If I wanted that style, I'd just buy a suburban or expedition and be done with it..