Bed Caps?

[Kevin Lang]

How time-consuming is it to take the st bed cap on and off, and can you leave the tonneau brackets on with the cap?



Too bad there isn't a cap that allows the tonneau to sort of stay on, as I don't need unobstructed vertical space--I'm always hauling paper and small loose objects (in quantity) around, and I can only use the space under the tonneau with the gate up, and sometimes the backseats, so I'm wasting a lot of space and making too many trips



I tried using an Odyssey and an Explorer to carry to stuff, but even though it is bagged/boxed, without the bed to secure it, everything just slides around the cabin so I can't pack as much in their either....and using the People Haulers and friends' rides as junk ferries isn't a good long term solution anyway.



Plus, I've always been curious about a cap.

Never had a truck before the ST, so I don't know much about them. If they're easy to take off, then I can go from SUV with bed to Truck at my leisure, and I'd use the cap enough to justify its use. If I remember correctly, someone here had a cap that put a seal between the cap front window and the ST rear window, making the window still useful and the bed accessible from the cabin, which kills all my anti-cap arguments that I made to myself.

 

[Todd Z]

The cap does come on and off in about 10-15 min...

The issue is the 2 brackets will not work together, I tried with my are and it did not work.. The factory cover did not close...



THE OTHER thing is the middle holes in the bed where most caps mount STINK !!! they strip out. They are only nut serts and over time, they go bad and now you have to modify the mounting..



Todd Z

 

[Timm Hutchins]

Not sure how long it would take to just remove a cap, but it takes Todd (with help from Paul) about 25 minutes to move a cap from one Trac to another at a NJ Highway rest stop. Probably would have been quicker if I didn't get in the way



Thanks again guys, and it was great to meet you both. It already came in very handy. The back of the truck was filled to the roof on the drive back to Illinois.



Kevin - sorry for the partial threadjack, wanted to thank those guys and I just got back. Your post was an appropriate title.

 

[Rick Ohnsman]

Perhaps for your application you'd be happier with a camper-shell type cover which would give you more vertical room inside (you could even crawl back in there if you needed to w/o the need to take the shell off.) I have an Advanced tonneau which I'm quite happy with and it's easily taken off in a minute or two, but have also had trucks with the higher camper-shell type cover and they have their advantages.



Something like this perhaps?



[Broken External Image]:

 

[Tom Shirley]

We no longer have an ST but when we did we owned both the tonneau and a Jeraco cap. For general day to day use we used the tonneau but when we went on long trips or vacations and needed more dry cargo space we put the cap on.



It generally took about 15 minutes to switch over and we did have to remove the tonneau brackets. The cap used clamps (4 in all) that secured to one of the screw holes used by the tonneau brackets.



When the cap was not on the ST I stored in the rafters of my garage. I rigged a pulley system that allowed me to raise it, on a platform, up into the rafters. The system worked well. I now use the pulleys to store bicycles up and out of the way.



The ST was my wife's and I was sad to see it go. I really miss it.

 

[Gerald Pierce]

I ahve a cap similar to the one truelight posted.... with a nut driver mounted in my drill, I can remove it in less than 5 minutes. 4 bolts, rock it from side to side to break the seals loose, and lift.



I can remove it myself, but with my son helping, it is easier.



gp