Bed cap/tonneau/nothing?.

Iubootgater

Iubootgater

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13' supercrew f150 with short bed.
Can fit a amazing amount of gear in back of these supercrews without even using bed, that being said there are trips and other things such as tailgating that using the bed is a necessity. We also haul kayaks around that are about 4 feet longer than truck bed so have to keep that in mind.
Have thought a cap would be nice to turn bed into a sleeping quarters and ditch the tent. A cover would be nice to at least keep gear that is in back under cover but pretty limited beyond that.
Change my mind daily on better route which leaves me with do nothing....

Any thoughts? Advise?

Another thing is part of reason for truck was I had got sick of strapping things, gear, boats to the top of SUV's and have no intention of buying a rooftop tent, even if I really wish I could justify one.
 
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On my 2008 Supercrew F150 I had a tonneau cover and loved it. On the 97 F150 that I'm restoring I plan to put a tonneau cover that fits behind the toolbox.
 
I've had a hard tonneau cover and a cap on trucks I owned in the past, my vote is for a cap. It makes the bed so much more useful for gear and camping trips. You can always remove it if you need to haul a fridge or a load of gravel.
 
I have a snugtop top tonneau and a gem top bed cap. We usually throw an air mattress in the back when camping.
Its what we used at expo west last year. Lil water started to get in on some of the worst parts of the weather. Love it. Rigged up some L.E.D. lights in the back. It's pretty awesome
The tonneau cover isn't being used anymore due to putting an 08 tailgate on my truck. Wasent as versatile but cleaned up the look of the truck and offerd a means to lock up good in the back.

I believe the bed caps are reinforced to handle load, where as I wouldn't trust loading up the top of the one I got.
 
stoney126 said:
I have a snugtop top tonneau and a gem top bed cap. We usually throw an air mattress in the back when camping.
Its what we used at expo west last year. Lil water started to get in on some of the worst parts of the weather. Love it. Rigged up some L.E.D. lights in the back. It's pretty awesome
The tonneau cover isn't being used anymore due to putting an 08 tailgate on my truck. Wasent as versatile but cleaned up the look of the truck and offerd a means to lock up good in the back.

I believe the bed caps are reinforced to handle load, where as I wouldn't trust loading up the top of the one I got.
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I like the cap options, I see they have come along way, seems now days you can basically build to your own spec for lights, storage, Ect. would hate to see what that would cost me specced out for overlanding...
 
Iubootgater said:
I like the cap options, I see they have come along way, seems now days you can basically build to your own spec for lights, storage, Ect. would hate to see what that would cost me specced out for overlanding...
Click to expand...
I got sticker shock that recurs everytime I think of the price for my requested options...
 
maktruk said:
I got sticker shock that recurs everytime I think of the price for my requested options...
Click to expand...
Yes... Just looked at A.R.E., Wow, 2k plus for the overland series. Think i will go back to tent options, Im too tall to sleep in bed of truck with tailgate up anyway.....damn cool cap though.
 
I've been keeping my eye open for a used slide in Four wheel camper. But ya the tent is the go to or bunking in the back for now. Set up and packing up takes a Lil longer but it's cheap lol
 
I did the truck camping thing for 5 months. By that I mean living solely in the back of a truck with a dog. It was so awesome....But you wont be able to sleep in your 5.5ft bed. It will be so uncomfortable. I had a 6.5ft bed on my first gen tundra and it still got small. Granted i had things built in to accommodate. Just using a mattress will probably leave you with more room. I would vote for a rack and RTT or a good ground tent.....But my guilty pleasure is a slide in camper and 4x4 vans. So I can understand your want for the slide in. If its just locking up purposes. Id go with a cap, you can find used ones on craigslist. It might not be EXACTLY what you want....but for $1500+ cheaper. I can learn to look past some things.
 
I used in bed tents on my Tacoma, Tundra, and F250 Super Duty. They worked great. Now I use my 2 door Rubicon for off road trips and sleep in a oversized tent cot. It works great as well. Oh, I put a cap (shell) on the Tundra and at 6'1" my feet were against the tail gate. With the in bed tent the gate was down, much more comfortable.


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Iubootgater said:
13' supercrew f150 with short bed.
Can fit a amazing amount of gear in back of these supercrews without even using bed, that being said there are trips and other things such as tailgating that using the bed is a necessity. We also haul kayaks around that are about 4 feet longer than truck bed so have to keep that in mind.
Have thought a cap would be nice to turn bed into a sleeping quarters and ditch the tent. A cover would be nice to at least keep gear that is in back under cover but pretty limited beyond that.
Change my mind daily on better route which leaves me with do nothing....

Any thoughts? Advise?

Another thing is part of reason for truck was I had got sick of strapping things, gear, boats to the top of SUV's and have no intention of buying a rooftop tent, even if I really wish I could justify one.
Click to expand...

Hey Lubootgater,
My girlfriend and i also have a 2013 Ford f-150 supercrew with the 6'5" bed and the 5.0L. We are also amazed at how much gear we can pack in the supercrew with the back seats folded up and its nice to have the flat floor across the back too. I am having the same dilemma in deciding in what to do with the bed to make it more practical for overlanding although i am fully convinced the truck canopy is the way to go. A simple raised sleeping platform in the back will enable gear storage underneath and a bed on top. Canopies can also have a roof rack installed or a roof rack over the cab to haul the kayaks. However canopies are so expensive i cant afford one yet so i have just been using my boat rack to haul my canoe with the pick up bed for extra gear storage and sleeping in the tent. Hope you figure out something for this summer and if i change my setup i will post back here.
 
I just sold my leer 100 cap. It got in the way too often. It was also not sturdy enough for my overlanding/camping needs.

I am going to run two setups. My F150 is my get stuff done truck, trip truck, DD, and camping rig. I need it to perform in many different functions. My regular daily set up will be a diamond back truck cover. They are super strong and secure. I have the 5.5 bed so it will be nice to load items on top of the cover

My second set up will be for overlanding. I am hopefully getting the RCI bed rack to hold my RTT and other items. Leaving the bed for my Plano bins and gear.

There are some great caps out there. Just make sure they will hold up and work for you.
 
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