Tonneau cover vs. Cap?

[jorl]

I have a GATOR they all leak-a one piece tonneau "might not" leak but then you have to deal with the tailgate sides-I am on my third iteration of weatherstripping

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[Maverick Grabber]

Well the tonneau cover cost me about a hundred bucks after using FordPass points. A cap is thousands of dollars.

These are not equivalent things.

Same here and it stays very dry even after going through a carwash with the side jets spraying, in hindsight I should have went with a trifold that comes all the way off for full bed access and cleaning

 

[Dudley]

I do believe I found the main culprit for a leak at the front is a pair of grooves on each side at front of bed: The on on the bed top moulding about 6 inches to the rear of the back glass, and the smaller one right below the glass where bed side and bed front meet. Filled mine with flexible silicone and it really helped. need to add a bit more, I think, to get it fully taken care of. For the one on the side about 6 inches back, I brought it out to where the level of the moulding changes so it looks smooth. Only had clear silicone so a put a bit of flat black paint with it to make it less noticeable.

 

[SleepySin]

Have you seen a Smartcap for the Mav yet? Last time I looked they didn’t have one for our application. I talked to their rep at Overland Expo last year and he could only say they will build one if the market allows, but that they didn’t have current plans.

They are the cat’s ass though.

I absolutely have! That’s the only cap out on the market that I’m interested in for its style and functionality. I’ve been in contact with the Smart Cap folks but they tell me they don’t have current active plans of bringing a Mav option to market (there just isn’t enough demand yet).

Also, as much as I would love one, their price point hurts at $4.1K for the base model.

 

[imboden013]

I do believe I found the main culprit for a leak at the front is a pair of grooves on each side at front of bed: The on on the bed top moulding about 6 inches to the rear of the back glass, and the smaller one right below the glass where bed side and bed front meet. Filled mine with flexible silicone and it really helped. need to add a bit more, I think, to get it fully taken care of. For the one on the side about 6 inches back, I brought it out to where the level of the moulding changes so it looks smooth. Only had clear silicone so a put a bit of flat black paint with it to make it less noticeable.

I have same grooves on both sides where front and sides come together. But I don’t have that big groove on side in the bed trim. My cover only leaks at the front.

 

[Dudley]

I have same grooves on both sides where front and sides come together. But I don’t have that big groove on side in the bed trim. My cover only leaks at the front.

The black plastic piece on the top of your bed side is one piece???

 

[imboden013]

The black plastic piece on the top of your bed side is one piece???

My mistake, It does have those grooves up close to the cab where trim on side of cab overlaps the bed trim. I’d just never paid any attention to them as my TipTop cover appears to leak along front of the bed. So I maybe mistaken on where it leaks. It’s raining now so when it stops I’ll crawl up in bed and look really close at all those areas.

 

[Decayed]

Tonneau all the way. I had a truck with a cap. It was big, heavy and difficult to remove so I never did. It severely limited the size of stuff you could put in the back and wasn't really waterproof enough to keep stuff inside dry. We have an old explorer with roughly the same amount of room and it's guaranteed to keep stuff inside dry.

A tonneau can be easily removed so you can put any size thing that fits in the bed. Just yesterday we moved a fairly large book case that would never have fit in the explorer or under the cap.

And just today we stacked the bed with as many bags of mulch as could fit. Stacking them under a cap would have been a complete pain in the butt and we couldn't have fit as many.

If you need space under cover, get a van.

 

[Jah.]

had capper on f150 that towed 5k lb travel trailer . great for extra storage and pets . no longer have big trailer and pets passed on due to old age . no pets now . current needs met with tonneau . tonneau is more useable for me . could not justify capper cost. Truck is easy to load/ unload with tonneau . all depends on personal needs . undercover armor tonneau .

II

 

[tom_tucker]

Tonneau all the way. I had a truck with a cap. It was big, heavy and difficult to remove so I never did. It severely limited the size of stuff you could put in the back and wasn't really waterproof enough to keep stuff inside dry. We have an old explorer with roughly the same amount of room and it's guaranteed to keep stuff inside dry.

A tonneau can be easily removed so you can put any size thing that fits in the bed. Just yesterday we moved a fairly large book case that would never have fit in the explorer or under the cap.

And just today we stacked the bed with as many bags of mulch as could fit. Stacking them under a cap would have been a complete pain in the butt and we couldn't have fit as many.

If you need space under cover, get a van.

Ah, the old "get a van" line instead of a cap. Had a van, got rid of it. I suppose you've never been hunting, fishing, camping, mountain biking, skiing or boating. In the Maverick, stinky, muddy shit and coolers go under the cap in the bed. Passengers go in the passenger area.

I also suppose you've never been in a roll-over accident with all your SUV/Minivan stuff flying around inside with you in the passenger area. In the Maverick, sharp and solid objects go in the bed, under the cap. Passengers ride safely in the passenger area.

I'll also wager to say my Maverick cap has at least 2x the cargo space as any mid-size SUV, easily. 3x a compact SUV. If I have to rent a trailer ($50/day) twice a year to haul something that's easily done. P.S.- My cap leaked water for about a month before I fixed it for good. All myths Busted!

 

[Decayed]

Ah, the old "get a van" line instead of a cap. Had a van, got rid of it. I suppose you've never been hunting, fishing, camping, mountain biking, skiing or boating. In the Maverick, stinky, muddy shit and coolers go under the cap in the bed. Passengers go in the passenger area.

I also suppose you've never been in a roll-over accident with all your SUV/Minivan stuff flying around inside with you in the passenger area. In the Maverick, sharp and solid objects go in the bed, under the cap. Passengers ride safely in the passenger area.

I'll also wager to say my Maverick cap has at least 2x the cargo space as any mid-size SUV, easily. 3x a compact SUV. If I have to rent a trailer ($50/day) twice a year to haul something that's easily done. P.S.- My cap leaked water for about a month before I fixed it for good. All myths Busted!

Not saying there isn't a specific use case for a cap, just that it doesn't give you anywhere near the flexibility of a tonneau.

Seems like about 80% of the cases you cite could be handled adequately under a tonneau unless for some specific reason you needed that extra 15 or so inches of vertical space.

Like I said, I had a cap on my old truck and am very glad not to have to deal with it. Was it useful? Sure! I even slept under it a few times, but I didn't need the space often enough to make it worthwhile.

The tonneau takes me about a minute to completely remove or replace. Best of both worlds for me.

 

[Maverickman74]

Tonneau all the way. I had a truck with a cap. It was big, heavy and difficult to remove so I never did. It severely limited the size of stuff you could put in the back and wasn't really waterproof enough to keep stuff inside dry. We have an old explorer with roughly the same amount of room and it's guaranteed to keep stuff inside dry.

A tonneau can be easily removed so you can put any size thing that fits in the bed. Just yesterday we moved a fairly large book case that would never have fit in the explorer or under the cap.

And just today we stacked the bed with as many bags of mulch as could fit. Stacking them under a cap would have been a complete pain in the butt and we couldn't have fit as many.

If you need space under cover, get a van.

As soon as Ford builds a Transit Connect sized van with the Maverick Tremor drivetrain.

 

[GreenLady]

Anyone have any thoughts?

I think it depends on how you want to use your truck. When I first got my 02 F250 with an 8’ bed I wanted to haul all my expensive offshore fishing equpiment safe and locked so I bought a fiberglass cap which worked great.

Years later I started hauling construction stuff for remodeling. Then the cap wasn’t so great because it limited the height of what I could carry, even when it was open. It was not really removable.

My 22 Maverick came with Ford’s soft trifold which works well for hauling stuff but it does leak and buffets in the wind. It also has pull down latches on each side which I find difficult to pull, especially when I have the bed packed full

After asking and getting opinions from MTC members (check other threads) I‘m planning to order the Lomax hard trifold for my 23 that was just delivered or the roll up but it will depend on the weight of it and the type of latch. I’m in the process of building and moving so I still need to haul commodes, washer, dryer, etc so cargo room, height and accessibility are important.

Good luck figuring what will work best for you.

 

[Poultrygeist]

When my Maverick hybrid arrives this month I'll purchase a low profile soft roll up cover. I'm not a fan of covers that ride high above the bed as they lack the sleek appearance of the low profile units. So far I've narrowed my choices to the Gator SRX, Tonnopro lo roll and the Access Tonnosport. The Gator SRX extends 3/4 inches above the bed while the Access is the lowest of all extending a mere 1/2 inch above the bed. So far I can't find out how high the Tonnopro lo roll is. If anyone knows please let me know. These low profile units differ as the rails are installed inside the bed whereas others sit atop the bed.

The lowest profile covers are the more expensive hard folding type which are heavy and don't allow full access to the bed. The bed cap units don't make sense as they turn the Maverick into an SUV. My wife had a cap on her Dakota and it stayed on as it was a PITA to remove and store. It detrimentally affected that truck's MPGs.

 

[billbillw]

FordPass points are irrelevant. I used mine on other stuff. $2500 for a high end tonneau + elevated rack system vs. $3000-$3500 for the cap with rack. Getting close to equivalent in both function and price.

I think the "high end tonneau" + elevate rack comes in a fair bit lower than $2500. My Sentry CT+ elevate+TS rails was under $1800 with RealTruck forum discounts. I would consider the Sentry CT a high end cover. Maybe not the most expensive, but it is comparable with the BAK X4S in quality.

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