Tonneau cover or Camper Shell?

13527 Views 19 Replies 20 Participants Last post by bvoelker, May 5, 2010

Tla3688

Discussion Starter · Apr 24, 2010

I'm looking to get a cover for my truck bed, but i'm not sure what to get? Any ideas? Also do you guys know other trucks with the same bed size? Because i'm having a hard time trying to find a shell or tonneau for my tundra & was wondering if there are other trucks out there with the same bed size. Any one got dimensions on the shortbed?

1 - 20 of 20 Posts

TRDSport

· #2 · Apr 24, 2010

I like the flexibility of my tonneau cover. I'm able to have an *almost* watertight trunk but then am able to roll up the cover and have complete access to the bed to haul large items in under a minute. I don't have to deal with having to remove a several hundred pound shell everytime I need the full bed. It all depends on how you're going to be using the bed.

Edit: I have a Truxedo TonneauTrax cover. Basically a Truxedo Lo Pro with an integrated tie-down rail system. It's been through a few rain storms as well as the car wash and only a few drops of water made it into the bed by the tailgate.

accrockett

· #3 · Apr 24, 2010

I have a Retrax retractable tonneau cover on my 2006 DC.

I used to have a Leer camper shell on my old Ford Ranger.

Then I had a roll up tonneau cover on my Chevy truck.

I must say that the Retrax (or some other retractable cover) is the best way to go BY FAR!

No huge shell to have to lift off and store when I need to carry my bike. And no cover to have to roll up and tire down.

I am very happy with the Retrax.

spenser24

· #4 · Apr 24, 2010

I have Retrax on my Gen 1. Pix are in my gallery. PistolPete has more pix in his. I love the Retrax but it does cost more. If you want to spend less and are not concerned with security then look at Agricover.com: Truck Bed Covers and Caps - Pickup Tonneau Covers They make quality soft roll-ups.

TightyWhitey

· #5 · Apr 24, 2010

TRDSport said:
I like the flexibility of my tonneau cover. I'm able to have an *almost* watertight trunk but then am able to roll up the cover and have complete access to the bed to haul large items in under a minute. I don't have to deal with having to remove a several hundred pound shell everytime I need the full bed. It all depends on how you're going to be using the bed.

yep yep yep!!!

ondown

· #6 · Apr 24, 2010

Had a hard tonneau on a chevy and loved it. Amazing how much camp gear you could carry and keep dry. Had a pair of aluminum surf/bike racks(4 boards or 4 bike or 2&2) made for it. Had a camper shell on my old tacoma 4x4 cause I carried a boat on top plus needed it for camp gear and the dog. Currently building a aluminum camper for my tundra for camping at the beach,(I hate tents at the beach). Either one will do ya, just need to figure what you need it to do. I will add, my wife doesn't like driving trucks with campers, but didn't mind driving the truck with the tonneau.

raf215

· #7 · Apr 24, 2010

TRDSport said:
I like the flexibility of my tonneau cover. I'm able to have an *almost* watertight trunk but then am able to roll up the cover and have complete access to the bed to haul large items in under a minute. I don't have to deal with having to remove a several hundred pound shell everytime I need the full bed. It all depends on how you're going to be using the bed.

What he said

had one on my 07 Tacoma, need to get one for my 03 Tundra

2003bajatundra4x4ac

· #8 · Apr 24, 2010

i traded my tonneau to a retired guy for his snug top straight across. i think i got the best part of the deal. so did he!

jimc1959

· #9 · Apr 25, 2010

I have a Extang Trifecta and love it. I can take it off in 2 minutes when I need the bed to haul stuff. I own a truck for work and play.

Barney_Fife

· #10 · Apr 26, 2010

i never understood the 80s soft style ones...they do nothing for being able to carry anythign securely and just look odd. a hard locking one of some sort is by far the most secure in my opinion...other than a hard retaracting one..and they can get quite pricey but are convienent. a shell should only be used if you absolutely need it, and then a cab height only one and it MUST MATCH (not like someone on here with a gold truck with red camper)...if u get a taller one then it screams grandpa. a nice cab height one with a thule rack on top says you are all about having fun outdoors even if its never used haha.

2007 Super White DC SR5 , TRD OffRoad; Sand Beige leather, 4.7, tinted windows, OEM running boards, tow mirrors with chrome covers, Armorlid tonneau, billet grille, aftermarket reverse sensors, flowmaster true duals with 3.5 rolled edge stainless tips, Sirius added via OEM module, 5000K HID lowbeams, KMC XD Hoss 20'' wheels in gloss black, Nitto Terra Grappler AT 285/55/20's, chrome door handle covers, smoothed and painted tailgate handle, 3 inch lift/levelling kit,1.5'' Rough Country lift blocks in rear, DVD headrest player/monitors, Rostra backup camera, SS bull bar with 6'' lights, Faux Carbon Fiber dash,console and door trim. Work stuff: red/blue LEDs in grille, headlight wig wag flasher, red/blue LED windshield light, red/blue LED deck lights in back glass, red/blue split 4 LED lights either side of license plate, wig wag backup and brake lamps. 100 watt siren and PA.

steppy;1635689 said:
what barney said sounds reasonable

JMSinMD;1636362 said:
what barney said sounds reasonable

Best Car Insurance | Auto Protection Today | FREE Trade-In Quote

Edwardbikenski

· #11 · May 4, 2010

I'm partial to the shell - you can jump in there, organize, stack it high, take the dog, hide in there when it rains, and even carry a canoe!
Snug top, with the a bit of a dome/not flush with the cab top.

Togman

· #12 · May 4, 2010

I have both.
I have a cab high, Matching paint ARE Z-Cap, top of the line ($2K) with the electric locks and my truck screams grandpa with it on.

I like the tonneau because it does not obstruct my vision, but the shell is great for hauling lots of gear and you can stack it high., carry many fishing poles on a rack etc.

Right now, I have the shell off the truck in my back yard on a specially built rack. It has always been a love/hate relationship, hate it when I am backing or driving at night, but love it when it is raining or snowing.

2-DRY

· #13 · May 4, 2010

I have the Advantage Hard Hat premier. Offers the hard tonneau cover with tri-fold capability and a HARD TOP. This tends to defer potential theives (although if they want to get in... they will!) It just clamps to the underrail of the bed leaving nothing behind. It is easy to remove and I can handle it myself.
I have NO complaints thus far.

Battman

· #14 · May 4, 2010

I went the A.R.E. shell route. I am what you call a "lazy camper". I like to pull up, throw a mat in my bed and crack open a nice frosty beverage.

I can sleep in the back of my truck which keeps me high and dry.

I also have a Yakima rack set up on my shell and will probably be buying a basket to mount up so then I can have more storage.

Like everyone has said before, it's all on what you plan on doing with your truck. I live in Idaho where we decide last minute to go camping and such, I just throw my **** in the back and I am ready to roll. No tent set up for me. Ha!

Okay, shutting up now.

ctateusa

· #15 · May 4, 2010

I have a snug top, I can lock both sides of it so anything I carry stays safe. Yhea its heavy, yhea I cant haul my quad in the bed. Big Deal I have a 16ft trailer I can haul anything I need to on.

I didnt want a roll up or soft tonneau because IMO they look cheap, they crack after a few years and I always figured they would leak more than a hard cap.

Plus my snugTop is color matched to the truck and I bought it used for less than 1/4 of the price of a new one.

David Jones

· #16 · May 4, 2010

What you get pretty much depends on what you'll use it for.
I run a Tonneau Masters soft cover on mine and it has 118,000 miles on it. I also had one on each of the previous 3 trucks I've owned. I use it to keep things dry and I do not depend on it for security. I like it because I can quickly remove it if I need to haul something taller than the bed. A hard cover would not work for me because of that. Hard to stow one of those easily when you're away from home and have the need to haul a refrigerator or that big item you forgot about. But they can be more secure for smaller items. I've also had a camper shell in the past and it served well in some situations but mine had windows and whatever you had in the cover was on display for all to see.

Marauder

· #17 · May 4, 2010

I've had all 3 kinds with the trucks i've had over the years.

The camper shell is good for when you need it, but that's pretty rare, IMO. They are much better if you have a dog to take with you often.

The hard toneau cover is bad far the worse choice. Its hard to have complete bed access and just makes your bed into a very large trunk that's difficult to get into. You must use some kind of net or something to keep things close to the tailgate, if you don't want it to slide all the way to the cab and have to crawl in after it.

Currently I have a soft roll-up cover. I just LOVE IT. I don't need security, only to put things in it from the store and go home. If I have a large item, I roll it up in no time. That was useful for the haul I just made to the dump with a complete bathroom gut job I did. Sure, it might look cheap, but i don't care. It was cheap! $250 and if the cover starts to wear out, I pay prob $100 for a new vinyl replacement. I bought the Truxport Truxedo. It keeps the water out too, never seen any water inside during rain.

The roll up for me is just an better all-around cover. The expensive hard roll-ups are a cross between a soft and a completely solid one-piece cover, but the storage box takes up bed space. That's the space I want when I need the cover rolled up! So its not worth it to spend $1000 on one, for me.

See less See more

seadragon

· #18 · May 4, 2010

I had 3 different hard covers when I first got my Tundra, 2 Toyota and 1 Raider. All 3 had defects.

Out of frustration, I picked up a Trifecta soft folding cover as a temporary move and have never looked back. I now realize that I wouldn't have been happy with a hard cover because they are a pain in the a$$ to remove and reinstall.

I really like being able to pop the cover off completely in about 2 minutes and be able to dump stuff in the bed.

eharri3

· #19 · May 4, 2010

My ideal, one of the folding hard covers that's lockable and can be folded up and taken off the truck in a minute or two. Campers are great if you regularly travel with stuff piled above the bedsides and need the locking storage. I don't, and don't want to have to figure out what to do with it if on short notice I have to go pick something up that requires an open bed. I prefer the flexibility of something hard and lockable that I can take off by myself in a few minutes if need be.

Had a cheap aluminum contractor's cap on my old Ranger. VERY useful, but this was a tiny regular cab truck with ZERO secure interior storage. If I had one passenger, the interior storage space for stuff like TVs, computers, or other bulky valuables went to zero. When I moved myself to and from school, pretty much everything had to go in the bed. The cap came in use but caused visibility issues.

I had an extang RT on my 04 Dakota, this is a roll-top soft cover. Convenient install and removal, but it's still a soft cover with no locking mechanism, and I really ended up not liking the velcro seal. Right now I have an Extang Tuff tonno, a conventional soft cover like a snap-on but with a j-hook 'peel-off' seal instead. It does the job and was cheap. Didn't have a ton of cash to blow and with the size of the cab on the crewmax, I can make do without a lockable hard cover for now. But in the future if I upgrade it will be to something along these lines, as it seems the best compromise for me.

G3 Supra Folding Tonneau by Advance Cover

See less See more

bvoelker

· #20 · May 5, 2010

I agree soft is the way to go unless you need a hard topper or have lots of cash to blow. I have the truxedo deuce and love it. I had the truxedo low pro on my previouse 03 tundra and like this a bit better.

1 - 20 of 20 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.