Tonneau + Ladder Rack vs. Truck Cap

[GduB]

I think I’ve read just about every review out there for various tonneau and truck cap setups over the last several weeks. The general negative of all setups seems to be that nothing will ever be 100% waterproof, which isn’t a huge issue for me since my bed is currently open with just a toolbox bolted in for storage and a side rail mounted rack. Otherwise the versatility of removing the setup might be the next biggest factor I’ve noted.

My main problem though is that when I build a tonneau with Tslot rails (retractable or hard roll up) with a compatible ladder rack, the cost seems to spiral very quickly to a similar cost of some truck caps that already have ladder racks, or require a lower added cost for the crossbars since the mounting rails are virtually universal compared to Tslot rails on a tonneau.

At this point I’m sort of looking for any insight from people that maybe have had experience with both types of setups. I know a lot of it comes down to personal preferences and what the truck is used for. So for some background, I do occasionally use my truck for window cleaning and lighting installations and would like to have some sort of organized, lockable storage for my tool boxes and equipment when not in use. That way I can leave them in the truck instead of constantly loading/unloading to prevent theft or damage.

Truck cap seems beneficial as a more permanent solution, while tonneau and ladder rack seems to be a more versatile, less permanent solution. While both setups are typically ranging anywhere from $2k-$4k depending on brand choices, I can’t figure out if a tonneau setup that’s almost the cost of a cap is the wisest investment when the cap seems to be the most secure option.

If you’ve bothered to read this far, please share your thoughts and experiences! I’m really just looking for some pro/con dialogue at this point to help narrow down which setup is most worthy of its enormous price tag.

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[Itsdavebr0]

While I don’t have first hand experience with a truck cap on my Maverick, I did have one on my Ram and chose to go with a tonneau this time.

I found out quickly how annoying it is to have a truck cap when you want to move larger items. (Like a bed frame or dresser) I had to borrow a trailer to move something that would have easily fit in the bed of the truck if not for the cap.

tonneau is way lighter and easier to remove, and I can roll it up when I want to keep it in place.

 

[Maverick77]

I am sort of in the same boat as you. I was spoiled by my Gator tri-fold cover on my F-150 that I had for six years. I had to add weather stripping on the front and the side rails on the truck bed, but the cover sat on top of the bed rails and it did not leak.

I purchased a MX4 low profile tri-fold cover for the Maverick but there was an issue where the back of my bed is wider than the front. It leaked. Replaced with an Extang ALX solid fold that rest on the top and it leaks at several locations, even though I added weatherstripping on top of the rails. What I do not like is how water will sit on top of the truck frame behind the rear window for a long time after a heavy rain. My understanding about truck caps is they have a gap behind the third brake light that will allow rain, pine needles, etc. to fall with no place to go between the rear truck cab and the bed cap. I sent an inquiry to Leer yesterday but have not heard back from them yet.
Right now I am leaning towards controlled drainage at the front corners into the bed. I am keeping my tools, ratchet straps, etc. in a Rubbermaid Cargo Box to keep items dry. The tonneau cover keeps it secure.

 

[Realtruck]

Personally speaking, a tonneau cover and rack setup just gives you greater versatility, regardless of use case. You can easily remove a rack from a T-slot tonneau cover if you need to load taller things in the bed, and even the tonneau cover if you really need to make room. And should you ever need to make room in the bed with the rack installed, there's a number of attachments you can add to create space, a lot of times without drilling into anything.

I feel there are a lot of similar pros to having a cap as there are to having a tonneau cover and rack- like keeping cargo out of the elements and security from theft- but having the ability to just remove it and reinstall it isn't something you can do with a cap. At least not very easily. But if you plan to keep the truck for a long, and know that you're never going to need the truck bed for tall loads, a permanent solution like a cap is a logical choice.

I have the Retrax EZ-OFF FRC-4000 on my truck (not a Maverick, sorry!) and I'm loving it. I've been mapping out the rest of the truck bed and narrowing down the rack options, as well. Happy to help if you need it. DM me any time!

-Amber

 

[GduB]

While I don’t have first hand experience with a truck cap on my Maverick, I did have one on my Ram and chose to go with a tonneau this time.

I found out quickly how annoying it is to have a truck cap when you want to move larger items. (Like a bed frame or dresser) I had to borrow a trailer to move something that would have easily fit in the bed of the truck if not for the cap.

tonneau is way lighter and easier to remove, and I can roll it up when I want to keep it in place.

When I got the truck it came with a soft trifold tonneau. I loved it until a ratchet strap came loose while hauling my snowblower, braked too hard and the snowblower smushed the trifold. It not only ruined the tonneau but made me worry about the back window if I didn’t have the tonneau on at the time. Installed a backrack soon after which I’ve primarily built around since.

The backrack curbed me thinking about tonneau’s for awhile, so I installed a relatively large toolbox. It’s just becoming so cumbersome at this point, I’d love to get that bed space back. All of that led to me thinking a cap is the perfect solution until I researched too much about them lol.

I love the idea of a cap, but I think I’m leaning towards a tonneau that would allow the backrack to be mounted to its Tslot track along with a compatible ladder rack. And like you said, tonneau’s are way easier to remove when you want for bigger loads

 

[GduB]

I am sort of in the same boat as you. I was spoiled by my Gator tri-fold cover on my F-150 that I had for six years. I had to add weather stripping on the front and the side rails on the truck bed, but the cover sat on top of the bed rails and it did not leak.

I purchased a MX4 low profile tri-fold cover for the Maverick but there was an issue where the back of my bed is wider than the front. It leaked. Replaced with an Extang ALX solid fold that rest on the top and it leaks at several locations, even though I added weatherstripping on top of the rails. What I do not like is how water will sit on top of the truck frame behind the rear window for a long time after a heavy rain. My understanding about truck caps is they have a gap behind the third brake light that will allow rain, pine needles, etc. to fall with no place to go between the rear truck cab and the bed cap. I sent an inquiry to Leer yesterday but have not heard back from them yet.
Right now I am leaning towards controlled drainage at the front corners into the bed. I am keeping my tools, ratchet straps, etc. in a Rubbermaid Cargo Box to keep items dry. The tonneau cover keeps it secure.

If you remember, keep me updated on what you hear from Leer. They’ve been one of my considerations for a cap. Another company around me has a Maverick with a Leer cap and it looks pretty slick.
I’ve got some experience with waterproofing so I think I could find a way to make anything stop leaking if it started, but a tonneau sounds way easier to deal with! lol

 

[Timothyd]

I think I’ve read just about every review out there for various tonneau and truck cap setups over the last several weeks. The general negative of all setups seems to be that nothing will ever be 100% waterproof, which isn’t a huge issue for me since my bed is currently open with just a toolbox bolted in for storage and a side rail mounted rack. Otherwise the versatility of removing the setup might be the next biggest factor I’ve noted.

My main problem though is that when I build a tonneau with Tslot rails (retractable or hard roll up) with a compatible ladder rack, the cost seems to spiral very quickly to a similar cost of some truck caps that already have ladder racks, or require a lower added cost for the crossbars since the mounting rails are virtually universal compared to Tslot rails on a tonneau.

At this point I’m sort of looking for any insight from people that maybe have had experience with both types of setups. I know a lot of it comes down to personal preferences and what the truck is used for. So for some background, I do occasionally use my truck for window cleaning and lighting installations and would like to have some sort of organized, lockable storage for my tool boxes and equipment when not in use. That way I can leave them in the truck instead of constantly loading/unloading to prevent theft or damage.

Truck cap seems beneficial as a more permanent solution, while tonneau and ladder rack seems to be a more versatile, less permanent solution. While both setups are typically ranging anywhere from $2k-$4k depending on brand choices, I can’t figure out if a tonneau setup that’s almost the cost of a cap is the wisest investment when the cap seems to be the most secure option.

If you’ve bothered to read this far, please share your thoughts and experiences! I’m really just looking for some pro/con dialogue at this point to help narrow down which setup is most worthy of its enormous price tag.

Put your ladder rack so it's hitch mounted:

 

[GduB]

Personally speaking, a tonneau cover and rack setup just gives you greater versatility, regardless of use case. You can easily remove a rack from a T-slot tonneau cover if you need to load taller things in the bed, and even the tonneau cover if you really need to make room. And should you ever need to make room in the bed with the rack installed, there's a number of attachments you can add to create space, a lot of times without drilling into anything.

I feel there are a lot of similar pros to having a cap as there are to having a tonneau cover and rack- like keeping cargo out of the elements and security from theft- but having the ability to just remove it and reinstall it isn't something you can do with a cap. At least not very easily. But if you plan to keep the truck for a long, and know that you're never going to need the truck bed for tall loads, a permanent solution like a cap is a logical choice.

I have the Retrax EZ-OFF FRC-4000 on my truck (not a Maverick, sorry!) and I'm loving it. I've been mapping out the rest of the truck bed and narrowing down the rack options, as well. Happy to help if you need it. DM me any time!

-Amber

I appreciate all the info Amber, I am starting to lean towards a new tonneau setup I think. I mentioned in another comment I’ve been trying to find the right setup so I can maintain having a backrack installed to protect the rear window.

I’ve actually been researching a lot of what’s on realtruck, just a matter of narrowing down what tonneau will accept brackets for a backrack close to the cab as well as a new compatible ladder rack. Or even just brackets to convert my existing ladder rack to a Tslot mount. I’ll definitely DM you soon for some more insight if you think you could help me put together that setup. I would definitely appreciate it!

 

[GduB]

Put your ladder rack so it's hitch mounted:

I’ve considered doing a setup like that. The problem I had is with my particular ladders. I primarily use stack ladders or a little giant for window cleaning and lighting, which are relatively short (but too big to fit in the bed lol). The hitch mount gave too much distance for me to mount all my stack pieces to the rack, plus not having the tailgate functional while it’s installed cut that option for me.
I appreciate your insight though, looks like you’ve made some good use of the hitch mount!

 

[notfast]

I've had both, for several years, across various trucks. After I got my first truck topper (a used ARE DCU), I'm never going back to a tonneau cover, but it really depends on how often you need to carry something that is larger than the enclosed space of the truck bed and topper.

That is one reason why I went with the ARE DCU. Unlike a molded fiberglass topper that follows the roof and the body lines, the ARE DCU is basically a rounded box that sticks slightly higher than the cab roof, slightly wider than the cab corners, and a perfectly vertical rear door. Doesn't sound like much, but what it gives you is almost 100% usable space inside, unlike a fiberglass topper that has a curved honeycomb ceiling and a slanted rear door.

In other words, with an ARE DCU if something can fit on the floor, it can almost fit on the ceiling. What I've found is that very few items can't be reoriented in some direction to fit with the longest dimension hanging out the bed. It may require two trips or towing the rest on a U-haul utility trailer, but for me, those situations are so few and far between that the benefits of having a topper outweigh the occasional inconvenience.

What was really inconvenient for me with the tonneau cover was not being able to carry something taller than the bed walls without having it exposed to the elements and hurricane-force winds. I mostly carry stuff packed in InstaCrates. I can carry literally three times the amount of InstaCrates with a topper than with a tonneau. You'd think it'd be double, but the ARE DCU ceiling height allows me to triple-stack them, whereas with a tonneau I can only have one layer.

As for the roof rack, at least for me, the built-in DCU roof rack sucks because it's not detachable and makes the vehicle harder to wash. My current ARE DCU has roof rack rails and Thule crossbars and it is much better for the occasional roof item, and I can just detach and stow the crossbars when they're not being used.

Here's another member with a "standard height" ARE DCU:
https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/a-r-e-dcu-cap.13239/#post-343499

 

[GduB]

I've had both, for several years, across various trucks. After I got my first truck topper (a used ARE DCU), I'm never going back to a tonneau cover, but it really depends on how often you need to carry something that is larger than the enclosed space of the truck bed and topper.

That is one reason why I went with the ARE DCU. Unlike a molded fiberglass topper that follows the roof and the body lines, the ARE DCU is basically a rounded box that sticks slightly higher than the cab roof, slightly wider than the cab corners, and a perfectly vertical rear door. Doesn't sound like much, but what it gives you is almost 100% usable space inside, unlike a fiberglass topper that has a curved honeycomb ceiling and a slanted rear door.

In other words, with an ARE DCU if something can fit on the floor, it can almost fit on the ceiling. What I've found is that very few items can't be reoriented in some direction to fit with the longest dimension hanging out the bed. It may require two trips or towing the rest on a U-haul utility trailer, but for me, those situations are so few and far between that the benefits of having a topper outweigh the occasional inconvenience.

What was really inconvenient for me with the tonneau cover was not being able to carry something taller than the bed walls without having it exposed to the elements and hurricane-force winds. I mostly carry stuff packed in InstaCrates. I can carry literally three times the amount of InstaCrates with a topper than with a tonneau. You'd think it'd be double, but the ARE DCU ceiling height allows me to triple-stack them, whereas with a tonneau I can only have one layer.

As for the roof rack, at least for me, the built-in DCU roof rack sucks because it's not detachable and makes the vehicle harder to wash. My current ARE DCU has roof rack rails and Thule crossbars and it is much better for the occasional roof item, and I can just detach and stow the crossbars when they're not being used.

Here's another member with a "standard height" ARE DCU:
https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/a-r-e-dcu-cap.13239/#post-343499

You’ve definitely made a very compelling argument for me as I was starting to lean towards a tonneau setup mainly because of the versatility and ease of installing/removing when needed. I’m kind of in the same boat where over the cab height is rarely needed, but a cap gives more protected height when necessary for my needs. Aside from moving furniture, the biggest things I transport is usually a snowblower occasionally or a pressure washer/mower, which that DCU cap looks more than capable of fitting.

Part of me has wanted to try and avoid the full blown commercial look of that cap, since I don’t use my truck for work full time but that cap looks way more useful than the other ones. It’s hard to weigh my preferences with realistic needs vs. the occasional need. Someone else also made the point anything too big for the cap could be taken care of with a trailer, which honestly has also been an option for me.

 

[Hot Runr Guy]

I hate to suggest this, but have you looked at the Alibaba version?

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Best-Truck-Bed-Topper-4X4-Steel_1601405677831.html

Someone on here has it, and seemed fairly positive about it.

HRG

 

[Realtruck]

I hate to suggest this, but have you looked at the Alibaba version?

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Best-Truck-Bed-Topper-4X4-Steel_1601405677831.html

Someone on here has it, and seemed fairly positive about it.

HRG

 

[GduB]

I hate to suggest this, but have you looked at the Alibaba version?

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Best-Truck-Bed-Topper-4X4-Steel_1601405677831.html

Someone on here has it, and seemed fairly positive about it.

HRG

Yeah I’ve looked at it a few times, the price is very appealing but that’s what I worry about the most. I’ve read some horrible reviews about those caps, not sure if it’s mainly attributed to how far it has to travel so it gets a little beat up, or if it really is just bad quality control. I’m super skeptical of anything coming from Alibaba and I don’t think that cap would last the life of the truck.

I’ve seen videos of the walls warping just from tightening down the hardware so I’m sure it’s the thinnest possible material they could’ve used. Doesn’t give me much confidence if used for work.

 

[GduB]

Recently just saw this “bed raiser” from a social media ad, not sure how I feel about it for the listed price but thought it was an interesting option.

https://www.truckify.com/shop/m20320-maxify-truck-bed-raiser-kit-2022-ford-maverick-4893?tags=3

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