jonathon
Active member
I’m looking for some ideas on what others have done for the bed of their trucks. I have a Ram 2500 with an 8’ bed and currently a soft tri-fold cover. We tent camp when in really rough country and have an Escape trailer on order for everything else.
The soft cover works pretty good. It keeps stuff mostly dry and from blowing out of the truck. It’s also easy to remove for hauling and it works well folded up with the dog. The downside is access to the front of the bed is terrible without unloading the truck. It’s also not secure, both from thieves and from keeping stuff from shifting around going down the road. We also want to start taking a canoe and that’s not easy with what we have now.
I’ve been pondering two ideas. The first is a Diamondback cover. The Diamondback solves the front access issue and the security issue. Would still need to devise something to keep the contents from rolling around too much. The downside seems to be it’s not easy to completely remove, though removing the back half or folding it forward and strapping it down would work most of the time.
The other idea I’ve thought about is a toolbox and racks, likely from ProTech as they are local. The toolbox would secure most of the stuff thieves would want like tools and the chain saw. The racks would easily take care of the canoe. There would be 6’ of open bed available as well. I don’t mind using water proof totes but how do you tie them down to keep them from shifting?
The only thing I know I don’t want is the Decked system. It looks awesome but I need the full depth of the bed.
If money was unlimited I’d probably look at the Highway Products pickup pack. Everything is a compromise....
The soft cover works pretty good. It keeps stuff mostly dry and from blowing out of the truck. It’s also easy to remove for hauling and it works well folded up with the dog. The downside is access to the front of the bed is terrible without unloading the truck. It’s also not secure, both from thieves and from keeping stuff from shifting around going down the road. We also want to start taking a canoe and that’s not easy with what we have now.
I’ve been pondering two ideas. The first is a Diamondback cover. The Diamondback solves the front access issue and the security issue. Would still need to devise something to keep the contents from rolling around too much. The downside seems to be it’s not easy to completely remove, though removing the back half or folding it forward and strapping it down would work most of the time.
The other idea I’ve thought about is a toolbox and racks, likely from ProTech as they are local. The toolbox would secure most of the stuff thieves would want like tools and the chain saw. The racks would easily take care of the canoe. There would be 6’ of open bed available as well. I don’t mind using water proof totes but how do you tie them down to keep them from shifting?
The only thing I know I don’t want is the Decked system. It looks awesome but I need the full depth of the bed.
If money was unlimited I’d probably look at the Highway Products pickup pack. Everything is a compromise....
