A truck bed cover is considered a truck essential by most pickup truck owners. It serves function and style to help you take care of your truck, specifically your truck bed. You can use it to protect your truck bed and cargo from theft and weather conditions. Still, regardless of the specific purpose, you need to choose the right truck bed cover.
In this article, we’ll list down all the types of truck bed covers available on the market. We’ll also discuss some important tips on how to choose the best one for your needs. This way, it’d be easier for you to find and buy the right cover for your truck..
6 Types of Truck Bed Covers
Although each has different levels of popularity among truck owners, there’s a total of six types of covers you can find in the market:
1. Retractable Covers
Retractable truck bed covers offer full coverage of the truck bed. They’re known for their sleek looks at works similar to a garage door or a window shutter-like cover. It’s easy to open and close since most of them automatically operate with a hit of a button.
The cover rolls up into itself and you can expose as much or as little of the truck bed as you want or need. They were originally made of soft fabric but are now made with hard composite materials. This makes a retractable cover’s slats more durable.
Additionally, with its locking mechanism, you can ensure that your trunk is secured and safe from rain, debris, thieves, etc.
Why Choose Retractable Covers: If you want a cover that you can open and close on demand using a remote, this is the best option for you. Aside from this technology, it can improve the overall appearance of your truck with its sleek and cool look.
2. Roll Up Covers
This is a popular type of cover that comes in either soft or hard subtypes. Roll up covers roll up to give truck owners access to the truck bed and their cargo. They’re mostly made of soft materials and can be rolled up to any point to expose as much or as little of the bed as you need.
Here’s how the two categories differ:
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Soft Roll Up Covers: They’re usually made with a fabric made from vinyl or polyester. They’re made to mount the side rails of the truck and usually have no fixed mechanism to lock it in place. Still, they’re enough to protect your truck from the elements.
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Hard Roll Up Covers: They’re made with a semi-hard shell of either hard plastic or aluminum that you can roll up and back for a complete seal and protection against the elements. They offer more security and protection from theft and weather than soft covers.
Why Choose Roll Up Covers: If you carry tall or awkwardly-shaped cargo most of the time, this type of cover is easy to roll up and tie down. Moreover, the materials used are typically tear-resistant and can support some light load on top. You can even get ones with trigger latches.
3. One-Piece/Solid Covers
These covers are a single piece of truck bed cover and have a tilt up operation for access to the truck bed. They’re referred to by many other names such as hinged covers, single-piece covers, tilt-up covers, and solid-piece covers.
This type of cover is made of one single piece of cover that looks and functions like a lid. It’s also considered the most heavy-duty type of cover due to its construction. Most one-piece covers are made of hard, durable materials, like fiberglass. This makes them resistant to serious weather conditions and theft.
Why Choose One-Piece/Solid Covers: If you want a cover that you can paint to match with your truck’s color, this is the best choice. Aside from its durability, this type of cover also has built-in locks for an extra measure of security for your truck bed and cargo.
4. Folding Covers
These folding covers are mostly made of three panels that you can fold back toward the cab. Like roll up covers, you can also get these covers in two options: soft or hard. This type is extremely popular since they’re not as pricey as retractable and one-piece covers and offer great security.
Here’s how soft and hard folding covers differ:
- Soft Folding Covers: They’re known for their versatility and are commonly made from vinyl. They’re easy to install and fold back without hassle. However, it’s less popular than hard folding ones.
- Hard Folding Covers: These are extremely popular and have a good strap and buckle system for protection against weather conditions, especially rain. They also have a more reliable locking system and can support some load on top of them.
Why Choose Folding Covers: These covers come in different styles so you have a lot of options to choose from. Moreover, if you’re looking for a budget-friendly yet durable truck bed cover, this is a great choice. It’s also easy to use, especially if you need full access to your truck bed.
5. Snap-On Covers
These are some of the earliest types of covers and are now considered as an entry-level style for truck bed covers. Snap-on covers are composed of aluminum frames attached to your truck bed rails and a vinyl cover you attach to that frame with metal snaps.
Typically, it’s a soft kind of truck bed cover and isn’t really a favorite of most truck owners. Despite that, these are pretty good entry-level covers since they’re the most lightweight and can usually be ordered in custom sizes.
Why Choose Snap-On Covers: They’re easy to install and use, making them an ideal choice for truck owners who don’t have any experience with truck bed covers. Also, these are the least expensive types of covers on the market.
6. Expandable Covers
This is the newest type of cover on the market and is only licensed to be made by the company Sawtooth. These covers can cover large and tall cargo, like kayaks. You can simply stretch the cover over your things to protect them from the elements.
Additionally, it’s easy to install and offers the most flexibility when it comes to covering up various sizes of cargo on the truck.
Why Choose Expandable Covers: If you usually carry large and tall items on your truck, this can be a good option. It’s sturdy and durable enough to be able to stretch without compromising the security of your truck bed and cargo.
Conclusion
Truck bed covers are designed to protect not only your truck bed but your cargo as well from elements and theft. Depending on your needs, there are six types of truck bed covers you can choose from: retractable, roll up, one-piece, folding, snap-on, and expandable covers. Each of these offers quality features so make sure to choose based on your needs!
If you want to look at product options, you can check out our truck bed cover collection. We offer all types of covers from high-quality brands to meet your truck needs!