Why aren't there a lot of canopies on trucks out there?

[OCD Solutions]

I had an 8' snugtop that I ran on 3 different trucks over a period of several years.
The only reason I broke the habit was when I switched to an aluminum sled deck for the winters and then eventually got a fiberglass bed cover.
I really miss the extra cargo space of a canopy but each time I talk about getting one for my current truck, my wife shoots it right down.

 

[jdmartin]

I had an 8' snugtop that I ran on 3 different trucks over a period of several years.
The only reason I broke the habit was when I switched to an aluminum sled deck for the winters and then eventually got a fiberglass bed cover.
I really miss the extra cargo space of a canopy but each time I talk about getting one for my current truck, my wife shoots it right down.

View attachment 125247

You're not selling it right - what you need to do is tell her that it's a good place to doghouse it when she kicks you out for whatever kind of mayhem you've been accused of causing

 

[mophead]

As you pointed out... it depends where you are in life.

Early 20's - 67 F-100, 200-6, 3 on the tree, aluminum cap. Painting for a living. Could keep tools and paint locked up and ready to go, Fabricated ladder rack on top. Pic below close to the condition I got it from my great uncle in early 80's with 100k on it. Needless to say I trashed it. ( I know I was a dumba$$)

Mid 20's - 78 F 350, 351, 4 on floor 4x4 Full size Lance camper. Pull the table out and still fit paint and tools in middle and cabinets, ladder rack. Great on date nights.

Early 30's 92 D 150 318 2wd 8' bed. First new truck. Barely talked the wife into it. Drop in bedliner and happy to even get that. New house, dirt, rock, mulch

Late 30's - 96 2500, 5.9, 4x4 8' bed with Leer cap. Running my bassboat all over to tournaments. Hauling a lot of stuff with me. Lockable and dry. Sleep quarters on long trips. Getting mulch dumped in driveway, lol.

40 - 00 2500 quad, 4x4, 5.9 6.5 bed with Downey tonneau. Still pulling the boat all over, but with a lot less unneeded crap. Wasn't a rollup but off in 2 min. for the mulch and broken up concrete. I could see the whole boat!

early 50's - 2012 2500 hemi, crew, 4x4 with Truxedo Lo Pro. Boat gone, did still pull cousins though. Mostly wife an me travelling to Outer Banks. Had company truck at the time and gas WAS cheap when I bought it.

The 67 and 78 had west coast mirrors, so no problem seeing. Convenient and more secure. It's what I needed for work. Regretted getting the Leer on the 96 for visibility of the boat behind me and I was packing around unnecessary weight. After the first tonneau I'm pretty stuck there for versatility and visibility. It can be a truck or a drama queen.

 

[Kaderast]

Just put a leer on my 19 Ram and love it. I've always had toppers because I like to be able to lock my bikes, tools, fishing equip, etc. inside and out of sight.
Also sleep in there on occasion on overnight fishing trips. Had a soft tonneau for a while and that was nice for keeping stuff back there dry, but didn't really work for the bikes.
I have an old ranger with a rack and open bed for picking up gravel, lumber, mulch, etc.

Looks sharp. White on white on white.

Toppers are awesome, the only downside is the ridiculous price.

 

[jdmartin]

Looks sharp. White on white on white.

Toppers are awesome, the only downside is the ridiculous price.

No doubt they used to be a hell of a lot cheaper, for sure. I remember when I paid a grand for the custom one I got for my 98 Nissan Frontier and I thought that was a crazy amount of money - then I paid about 2 grand for this Leer one I've got now, although in all honesty it's a nicer cap.

 

[rzims]

Looks sharp. White on white on white.

Toppers are awesome, the only downside is the ridiculous price.

yes, I think in 05 I paid 1200 for mine which was a pretty nice topper. This one was double that cost for the same lid

 

[OCD Solutions]

Spotted this gem on my drive home tonight.

 

[Dewey]

I prefer toppers and had them on all my trucks over the last 25 years. I like having everything closed in and lockable.

Last ARE topper I bought was in 2013 for a black Laramie. It was the top of the line one and cost almost $4000 installed. Nothing changed when I bought my current 2017 so just reused it and had a bodyshop paint match it to my new color Blue Streak Pearl. They did a great job. Figure I got my money’s worth out of that one over the last 9 years. Still looks like new.

My BackCountry on order comes with a tonneau cover in the package so gonna give that a try for awhile but suspect I’ll eventually end up with a topper again.

 

[Grimgreg]

I had a work box type on my last truck, I bought the truck used with it on there. It came down all the way to the bed in the back so it had no tailgate, rather a full back lift door. It was great for work, and hauling some things, but most of the time it was just big and annoying. I loved the times I had it off, bought a bed net to cover the missing tailgate. On my Ram I got the factory tonneau cover that I run most of the time, but bought some clamp on ladder racks for if I need to haul long lumber and such. I can pull the cover and clamp the racks in place in 10 minutes, and even quicker to remove them and get the cover back on.

 

[kmilke22]

I have mixed feelings about them. At times such as camping or going to Port A, TX where you can park/camp on the beach, I think a canopy would be cool to have. And just overall storage and security. On the other hand, I agree with what others said that if I wanted a closed bed, I should have just gotten a SUV. I think I can honestly say if they werent so expensive and difficult to remove/put on such as some touneau covers, Id probably have one. But for the price of them and the few times I wish I had one, Id rather use that money on other mods. Just my opinion!

 

[Whitty37]

I have been scouring facebook marketplace for a used one to fit my 2022 crew cab 6.4' bed...would all models for the 6.4' bed fit if they were made for 2019+? Reason I'm concerned is some of the manufacturers sites don't list 2022's for fitment. Did the bed or anything change from 2019-2020-2021-2022?
Thanks!

 

[MurphBigHorn]

I actually think I want to get a cap. Just so it’s different. I agree don’t see much of them anymore.

 

[MurphBigHorn]

I have been scouring facebook marketplace for a used one to fit my 2022 crew cab 6.4' bed...would all models for the 6.4' bed fit if they were made for 2019+? Reason I'm concerned is some of the manufacturers sites don't list 2022's for fitment. Did the bed or anything change from 2019-2020-2021-2022?
Thanks!

They just haven’t updated the websites. Don’t believe anything changed.

 

[HSKR R/T]

They just haven’t updated the websites. Don’t believe anything changed.

For liability reasons, manufacturers can not list parts for any vehicle they haven't tested the part in. Even if it's the same model and nothing changed from year to year.

 

[BNJMN]

I had a topper on my s10 20 years ago. Don’t recall ever having it off. First f150 I bought a fiberglass tonneau. That sucked. Heavy and awkward to get off. Second f150 came with a trifold, when that failed I went to a roll up tonneau. Now for my ram I’ve been researching the canvas toppers, would like to get into truck camping for the times I just want to bike and have a fire instead of towing the whole camper. But don’t think I want a hard top because it will make it harder to put the bikes in bed on the close to home trips. Maybe I just need a truck bed tent!

 

[TNRamGuy]

I had a topper on my s10 20 years ago. Don’t recall ever having it off. First f150 I bought a fiberglass tonneau. That sucked. Heavy and awkward to get off. Second f150 came with a trifold, when that failed I went to a roll up tonneau. Now for my ram I’ve been researching the canvas toppers, would like to get into truck camping for the times I just want to bike and have a fire instead of towing the whole camper. But don’t think I want a hard top because it will make it harder to put the bikes in bed on the close to home trips. Maybe I just need a truck bed tent!

I have had a Softopper for 18 months, it has been great. Easy on/off up/folded, only takes a few minutes to move. Keeps stuff or me dry

 

[mikeru82]

I have been scouring facebook marketplace for a used one to fit my 2022 crew cab 6.4' bed...would all models for the 6.4' bed fit if they were made for 2019+? Reason I'm concerned is some of the manufacturers sites don't list 2022's for fitment. Did the bed or anything change from 2019-2020-2021-2022?
Thanks!

As long as it's for a DT you'll be okay ordering one for a 2019 thru 2022. Nothing has changed that would affect a topper fitting your 2022.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Toppers made much more sense back when we actually had 8ft beds.

Now I have an aluminum topper from Mountain Top. Best of both worlds. If it doesn’t fit under, strap it down in top.

It was made for the European market with smaller trucks but it fit my ram well enough after a couple small adjustments. Picked it up locally off Craigslist for $150.

It’s been on both my 2017 and 2019 rams.

Works well combined with a bed slide.

 

[JBV]

here's my Leer on 6 4 box. i need one for sure as i like the dry (ish) storage, lockable space for bikes n gear and cartopping for canoes n kayaks. i have a Seasucker suction cup set up for boats. i'll sleep back there on rare occasion but need to set it up for doing so yet. one PITA is that this cap slid forward as i discovered, the glass was getting harder to close and then i realized it was scratching the paint along the gate, pretty bad too. not happy about that. i'll be fixing it up with a paint pen and getting it PPF'd. good thing it's hidden by the cap.

i have had bike racks for years, honking big things on the back, but the whole point of a giant truck like this, IMO, is to put **** inside. so the bikes can go in the back, and with one click the whole truck is locked, including tailgate, which is a novelty to me coming from the old truck. now i park anywhere with 20 grand of bikes in the back and walk away feeling secure.

 

[BNJMN]

here's my Leer on 6 4 box. i need one for sure as i like the dry (ish) storage, lockable space for bikes n gear and cartopping for canoes n kayaks. i have a Seasucker suction cup set up for boats. i'll sleep back there on rare occasion but need to set it up for doing so yet. one PITA is that this cap slid forward as i discovered, the glass was getting harder to close and then i realized it was scratching the paint along the gate, pretty bad too. not happy about that. i'll be fixing it up with a paint pen and getting it PPF'd. good thing it's hidden by the cap.

i have had bike racks for years, honking big things on the back, but the whole point of a giant truck like this, IMO, is to put **** inside. so the bikes can go in the back, and with one click the whole truck is locked, including tailgate, which is a novelty to me coming from the old truck. now i park anywhere with 20 grand of bikes in the back and walk away feeling secure.

How are you mounting the bikes? Wheels on or off?