pickup bed covers

[tenderfoot]

I know this is a fishing message board, but obviously many of you are pickup truck owners. I just bought a 2000 Chevrolet Silverado and am looking to install a bed cover. I would like to hear some pro's/con's and learnings over different styles of covers. I'm leaning towards a soft cover,especially one that could easily be installed and removed (like a rolltop cover). Any advice is greatly appreciated - thanks.

[Bronco]

I too just bought a GMC 2000 shortbox 4 door pickup. I went with a Leer fiberglass cap with the side opening windows. I need something that is big enough to haul the dog kennel and also the wifes good clothes since this rig is our main family transport. I like the side openning window-doors since it allows easy access to clothes, fishing rods etc. without the hassel of rolling up a cover. I know you lose a little of the sporty look,but the ease of access and the security makes up for it.

[Stan]

Be sure to check out the price of a fiberglas "lid" or flat cover, they are reasonable in cost and offer security (lockable) to leave valuables in the bed at times. I bought mine for $595 (3years ago). Tonneau covers were in the $200-300 range for quality covers at that time.

Take Care

[Jon]

I had a tonneau cover and hated it. During the winter you had to keep it off if you unbuttoned to get access to the bed because the vinyl wouldn''t stretch back because of the cold. Went to a cap and love it.

[Hans]

I have a soft cover made by "Access". Very durable (over 5 years old now, and like new), and easy to use. This style uses velcro (tm) instead of snaps.

Had a "hard" cover on my last truck -- it was always in the way when I wanted to use my truck as a TRUCK. Pain in the @$$!

Hans

--
"There is nothing; absolutely nothing; half so much worth doing,
as simply messing about in boats." :-)

[POLSKI]

I've had all 3, the cap, soft and now a hard flat cover. They all have there place but here is a couple of drawbacks. The regular cap is great for most things except seeing out the rear or sides, I reaaly like driving a pickup and being able to see everything without blind spots. The soft rollup works good, except in snow country. My friends would not rollup because of ice in the channels and he was so mad he riped the whole cover off. So far the flat hard cover is great for hidding whats in my truck (works like a giant trunk). The only drawback I've seen is when backing my trialer up without the boat on, I can't see the trialer. Before I could just drop the tailgate, now that does not help.
Good fishing, hope this helps.

[Hans]

LAST EDITED ON Jun-16-00 AT 12:38PM (CST)[p]I live in snow country, and the "Access" soft design works wonderfully. There are no channels to fill with ice, no snaps to freeze (or tear out), and it is self adjusting so it's properly taut in any weather.

I can see when backing my trailer down the ramp(just roll it up and drop the tailgate), and it doesn't get in the way like the hard ones when I need to haul something taller than the bed.

The best of all worlds!

Hans

--
"There is nothing; absolutely nothing; half so much worth doing,
as simply messing about in boats." :-)

[crash]

One of my first jobs after getting out of the service was installing aftermarket parts on trucks (what a great job) I've installed all of the popular covers and suggest to you the fold up cover. The roll away is nice but if one day somebody drops something heavy on it it will bend and wont work right anymore, The fold up won't do this. Being able to open it to differnt sizes is a realy nice feature also. You can fold it back to see your trailer too.

[Jim]

Have you considered the 3 piece hard bed covers? Great for hiding things. Light and easy ro remove the panels when hauling something large. When you put something in the back of the truck, you don't have to crawl in after it when it's slid to the front. No gas cylinders to go bad.

[ufda]

Had this problem with my old truck so I put snowmobile white fiberglass flag poles (minus the flags) on the fenders of the boat trailer so I knew where it was. Worked good. Hope this helps.
ufda

[ufda]

Jim, does this 3 piece cover have a manufacutrer's name and do they have a website? Thanks for the help.
ufda

[Tenderfoot]

When you say foldup type, are you referring to the 3 piece sectional hard tops? I see others have mentioned this type. After seeing and reading about them, sounds pretty interesting.

If not, could you better describe a foldup? Thanks.

[Dodge1]

I bought a new Chev Silverado 4 months ago and installed a lid made by "Gaylord". Color match was perfect and it was fairly easy to install. Also bought the carpet kit for the bed.

So far only praise and getting about 1 mpg better.

Look on the WWW for deals. I saved over $400.00 by buying off the net.