Pickup Truck Caps

If there is one downside to owning a pickup truck, it might be the size of the cab. In recent years the industry has provided many options to help with this as extended cabs or crew cabs. But many of us pickup truck lovers like to stick with the basic standard cab due to its price and its simple look.

Again, the down side is you can only fit so much behind the seat so most guys are faced with a decision of mounting a tool box on the back, a tonneau cover or looking at pickup truck caps.

The tool box option only extends your storage area a relativity small amount. The next step up is to go with a soft or hard tonneau cover. These covers will cover the entire truck bed but only allow you to carry things that will sit lower then the height of the truck bed rail. There are soft covers and a limited amount of retractable truck bed covers that will allow you to get them out of the way when carrying larger items. The downside is whatever you want to carry will be exposed to the weather as well as the possibility of easy theft.

So the best choice might be to look at pickup truck caps. The full truck cap is made of aluminum or fiberglass. The aluminum caps are usually more suited to those who use their trucks for work. You can find them in all shapes and sizes and they can be customized to fit the needs of just about any tradesman.

The cap that most are familiar with is the fiberglass pickup truck cap. There are only a few manufacturers of these high quality caps. Most would judge the ARE truck cap and the Leer truck cap as the most familiar on the market. You would be hard pressed to find any major differences between the ARE truck cap and the Leer truck cap.

They provide custom fit covers for all the most popular pickup trucks on the market. The benefit of these full pickup truck caps is that they offer excellent security and will protect your cargo from weather and any prying eyes. 

At the time of this writing, ARE truck caps could be ordered with the ladder rack system from Yakima while Leer truck caps provide Thule rack systems as accessories.  Of course there are many other rack systems that can mounted on the fiberglass tops.  You'll find you can easily customize either brand truck cap with options to make your cap specific to your business or personal needs.

When shopping for pickup truck caps you will find there are several versions offering different cap heights.  The most common are cab high caps which make many pickups look more like SUV's then pickups.  The benefit of the high caps is you will be able to carry taller items.  This could be a consideration if you carry large machines or furniture.  They are aerodynamic and blend nicely with your truck's lines.  If you find both major brands make caps for your truck, be sure to get a price from both completely customized as you desire.  The final prices will include delivery and installation.