How hard to install / uninstall bed cap?

[adawalli]

Never had a truck before and won't want a cap most of the time. But for trips...would be so handy. Anyone here lift their cap to roof of garage and then drop down to install when needed? How hard these typically to install?

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[WhoAmI2021]

Caps are pretty simple to install. You generally need at least 2 people and they are held down with C-clamps. I've had caps on 2 of my last trucks and generally kept them on unless I needed the vertical height to carry something or was getting stone or mulch.

Hanging in a garage is a nice idea of you have the vertical space.

 

[PapaNer]

Buddy has one of those hard tri-fold covers. We literally popped it on and unfolded it in 2 minutes. Just lined it up where it had to go.

Looks like this would likely need to do the clamps, but even then it's just getting it lined up and clamped down.

 

[Jukebox Nero]

There may be a few difficulties with installing a cap/cover/topper on the Maverick. With that curved rear pillar and unibody construction, there is no clear break at the cab/bed. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I worry about water making it into the bed at the cab.

 

[Camodude]

I had a 2001 F150 with an 6.5 foot bed and an aluminum topper/bed cap. I could remove this by myself and suspend it from the garage ceiling. An aluminum topper for the Maverick's 4.5 bed would be extremely light and would be a cinch to add/remove. Aluminum toppers are not very elegant looking, but they sure are functional!

 

[medgar]

If the look doesnt bother you take a look at a soft top. They are extremely easy to remove. I had one on a truck a couple of years ago and ended up not removing it since it would fold flat if i needed payload height. Less money and less weight

 

[Hack]

There may be a few difficulties with installing a cap/cover/topper on the Maverick. With that curved rear pillar and unibody construction, there is no clear break at the cab/bed. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I worry about water making it into the bed at the cab.

Somewhere in this forum someone mentioned this. An aftermarket vendor told him that they had had problems with tonneaus leaking at the cab on unibody vehicles.

 

[notfast]

I worry about water making it into the bed at the cab.

That is a concern of mine as well, but I'd be okay as long as it's more like a leak and not a flood. The ARE DCU on my Frontier leaks a tiny bit during heavy rain, but nothing I carry back there is fragile enough to get damaged by a little water.

A bigger concern of mine is dust. Putting a cap or a tonneau cover generally results in the bed being a low-pressure area, so dust gets sucked in through the gaps around the tailgate and any other crevices. It's not much of an issue if you stick to the slab, but after five miles of red dirt road, everything in the bed will have a nice layer on it.

 

[MtnLuv]

Years ago I had a Ford with a topper which I would take off often. (I too hung it from garage ceiling)
On my next truck we went without one. Then in 2011 we got a new F150 and this time I put on a quad folding (tri-fold on maverick) hard tonneau. I’ve never taken It off and have never needed to. I haul stuff all the time. From camping equipment, to lawnmowers, snowblowers, trees, etc. I’ve used it to move many times and never did the cover get in the way. In fact when folded up, it protects the back window from stuff in the bed.

A bonus… I found that it was also waterproof underneath (up until about a year ago), now it drips from one corner and also along the top by the tailgate. I take the truck through automatic car washes and have never had any issues until recently. But for 10 years it’s been amazing.

For me, it’s a must have on my new Maverick. Lock The tailgate and you’ve got a 4.5’ secure storage area. Plus if you do remove it, it’s much easier to store than a topper.

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