Selecting the Pickup Truck Cover Solution for Your Needs

There are many options available for covering and securing the contents of a truck bed. The ideal choice of cover is dependent on the primary type of cargo your truck carries regularly.

Cargo security is a crucial concern for many pickup truck drivers. Unless your truck deals with items that are heaped on, such as gravel, you might consider adding some sort of cover over your truck bed to ensure the integrity of the items you carry. Ropes are often insufficient to keep items tightly secured, and a cover can mean the difference between keeping cargo intact or seeing it fall out or become damaged, especially in treacherous mountain environs like those found in Utah.

Covering your truck bed with a cap protects your cargo not only from theft but also from the rigors of the environment and the terrain. Residents of large urban areas like Salt Lake City can acquire truck shells suppliers to provide them with a reasonable selection of truck shells and other protective accessories suited for their specific needs.

Size Matters

The type of cap you would need depends heavily on the cargo you typically handle on a regular basis. Some models increase the capacity of the truck while providing ample protection, while others are simple to install but don’t provide a lot of storage space.

Most truck caps are designed to fit a specific model of pickup and thus would fit snuggly in place regardless. Regardless of the type selected, you should select the truck caps that are compatible with your specific vehicle model and measured again to ensure that its dimensions are correct. A truck cap that fits snuggly into the vehicle does a better job of keeping otrt the elements.

Volume

Tonneau covers have the least amount of truck storage space and are often the easiest to install and remove. Essentially, it is just a flat board placed securely on top of the truck bed, which reduces the number of items to be stored to the approximate volume of the truck bed’s walls. This isn’t usually a problem if the things being hauled around are very small.

Similar covers, such as roll-up covers and canvas covers, have their own set of benefits, among them the ability to protect and store larger loads, but their applications and protective capabilities are limited, and they are often insufficient when carrying heavy loads on a regular basis.

Also known as camper shells, truck shells are useful for protecting the hauls of large objects. Although difficult to install, they can provide unparalleled protection for the contents of a truck bed and often have aesthetic flourishes that make them look better on the truck itself. This does put an upper limit to how big you can carry something. To fit items larger than the truck shell itself, you would need to remove the truck shell and store it somewhere safe until it can be placed back on.

Other Uses

parked pickup trucks

Tonneau-type covers have their upper limits in storage and don’t have much in the way of other uses. A sufficiently large truck shell, meanwhile, can be used not only for hauling cargo and equipment but also as additional seating areas, which make it ideal for trips that involve carrying large groups of people comfortably in a single vehicle. With the right accessories, the truck shell can also be used as a comfortable sleeping area for overnight hunting and camping trips. These are often optional features and usually make sense when a pickup truck is used for transporting people on a frequent-enough basis.

About the Author