Birthday present

[cpaharley2008]

I have a birthday coming up next month and I'm leaning toward getting a fiberglass cap on my 2014 Ram. The truck has around 40,000K miles, all towing and the tonneau cover hinge broke on the last trip home. I carry a full sized spare back there as well as camping gear plus a small air compressor. I toyed with the idea of trading it in on another vehicle but I like that there is no payment. So I figure it is good for at least another 40k miles and the cap may help with towing by keeping the air up high. Anyone else experience any change in towing by installing a cap on their truck. It weights about 200# so my payload is being reduced. Thoughts, pro and con on the purchase?

[Iowa Dave]

I always liked a cap on my pickups. The last one on my Dakota was a Leer. The cap was ok the whole time I owned it but the locking mechanism was poor. I wanted a cap with simple twist locks on both corners but could only get a center lock which I replaced twice and rebuilt myself a couple times too. No more Leer for me. Since I didn’t tow much with that pickup I never worried about the weight. Mileage stayed about the same.
Iowa Dave

[cpaharley2008]

This one is a Jeraco and will match the truck paint code. It has a lock at each corner and dark tinted siders on side.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

This one is a Jeraco and will match the truck paint code. It has a lock at each corner and dark tinted siders on side.

The Leer was a paint match code too and looked great and never faded, chipped or peeled. I like the corner locks, very positive on the ones I’ve had.
Iowa Dave

[steve dunham]

I had a Unicover FG topper on my 2014 Ram .
Rear window had 2 separate locking handles as did the passenger side access window
Topper was painted to match my truck . Unicover is made in Iowa and their service was excellent
I have a toneau cover on my 2019 Ram


HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIM !!!

[Ron in BC]

I've had a love-hate relationship with caps all my driving life. I've had them on every pickup that I've owned. Every time I swore no new cap on the new pickup. But for one reason or another I always ended up with one. Until my F150 on which I've installed a fliplock hard tonneau. Love it.

I didn't notice any difference with or without towing but I usually have a couple of kayaks either on the cap or ladder racks. My major dislike of caps is the multiple layers of glass and all the headlight reflections at night as well as obscured visibility when backing up. Not as big an issue now with backup cameras and proximity warnings but I don't like the reduction in rear visibility. My view now is that if I feel the need for a cap I'll switch to an SUV.

Ron

[Olddog]

I've always purchased ARE caps. Paint to match vehicle and good hardware.
They are a little pricey though.

[jumboscott]

I have an ARE topper on my Tundra and very happy with it. Found one on Craigslist which matched my truck color. Topper added approx 250lbs of total weight to truck. I store all of my camping gear and ebike in truck. Everything stays dry when raining. At night, valuable stuff gets locked away in topper. I couldn't tell a difference towing with and without a topper.

[Jim Bennett]

I obviously can't have a topper and a fifth wheel hitch, but I have become quite accustomed to using a tonneau cover and even without the 5.0TA would keep using one. I just don't need the volume a topper gives like I did for hauling work tools and stuff.

I know lots of guys who had them on their pickups at one time, but none seem to anymore.

[TZBrown]

I've had one on every truck yet, love the storage and security,.
I don't like removing it to put on the slide in camper.

[escape artist]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

I have a birthday coming up next month and I'm leaning toward getting a fiberglass cap on my 2014 Ram. The truck has around 40,000K miles, all towing and the tonneau cover hinge broke on the last trip home. I carry a full sized spare back there as well as camping gear plus a small air compressor. I toyed with the idea of trading it in on another vehicle but I like that there is no payment. So I figure it is good for at least another 40k miles and the cap may help with towing by keeping the air up high. Anyone else experience any change in towing by installing a cap on their truck. It weights about 200# so my payload is being reduced. Thoughts, pro and con on the purchase?

Hi: cpaharley2008... I'd like a new truck every Bday too... but I'm not having any more... anymore!!! I do like the tonneau cover and use it all the time. It came with the truck as well as the black spray on bed liner. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[ericw]

Originally Posted by jumboscott

I have an ARE topper on my Tundra and very happy with it. Found one on Craigslist which matched my truck color. Topper added approx 250lbs of total weight to truck. I store all of my camping gear and ebike in truck. Everything stays dry when raining. At night, valuable stuff gets locked away in topper. I couldn't tell a difference towing with and without a topper.

I have an ARE topper on my F-150 and am very happy with it. We store a lot of stuff in the back on longer trips. I built a shelf also to increase the useful storage.

[Randy in Maine]

I have a Leer cap on my 2002 Tundra. I am building these drawers to allow me easier access to stuff in there...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELP41pDKaqs

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by Randy in Maine

I have a Leer cap on my 2002 Tundra. I am building these drawers to allow me easier access to stuff in there...

Great idea ! Pat

[Mary F]

We have an ARE cap on our F-150, with a "windoor" on each side. Love it!

[mgfreeman]

My wife has a Leer canopy on her 2014 Ram 1500. It has two locks, one in each corner. If you give the dealer the paint code for your Ram you will get a canopy in that color. We tow a 19ft Escape with her Ram. I don't remember any difference in towing with and without the canopy.

[Radar1]

Originally Posted by Mary F

We have an ARE cap on our F-150, with a "windoor" on each side. Love it!

We found used "windoors" that fit our top at the local dealer. Love those windoors, will never have another top without getting those windoors for easy access to the front.

[pstyer]

I've had ARE caps in the past and was very happy until I purchased the last one. ARE introduced the CX series, which is a simple, no frills model. The fit and finish are up to ARE's quality but, the hardware is cheap. The support struts are glued onto the tail gate and both broke off in the first week. The cap has leaked around the high mounted stop light from the day we purchased it. Their service is useless. I've spent hours on the phone only to be told I have to return it to my dealer. The dealer isn't the problem. The engineering on the CX model is the problem. I would still purchase an ARE cap, just stay away from the CX.
Peter Styer
Frewsburg NY

[Curious Mike]

Originally Posted by Randy in Maine

I have a Leer cap on my 2002 Tundra. I am building these drawers to allow me easier access to stuff in there...

Well done, Randy. Best I've seen for a DIY bed slide.

Your video editing skills are not too shabby either.