Truck Bed Covers – Save Gas And Transform Your Truck
Truck bed covers are attachments to a pickup trucks bed that protect against weather and provide security from theft. This allows you to store items in the bed away from the weather, from damage, and from the prying eyes of thieves. Unlike truck attachments like camper shells, bed covers do not provide additional vertical cargo space. Bed covers are best when you desire your truck to maintain a low profile or when you wish for your truck to have an easy on, easy off cover for its beds.
1. Save Gas!
As air flows over the front end of your vehicle, it careens into the hollow bowl of your bed and produces opposite force to your truck. This could easily eat several miles from your gas mileage every time you use your truck. These types of covers also provide extra gas mileage by reducing air drag that is exacerbated by the truck bed – an aerodynamic nightmare. You could even save about 10% on your gas with a good truck cover!
2. About Bed Covers
- Strong, rigid canopy covers
- Protect your transport items
- Some are detachable
- Easy to install
- Do not restrict the use of your tailgate
3. History Of Truck Covers
Truck covers are also known as truck bed covers. They have evolved from a number of versions that have been designed for a different uses. Because of this, no one person can claim to have invented the truck cover. Soft covers gained became popular on major speedways. Sport truck racers used soft truck covers to improve aerodynamics and reduce drag. Hard top truck covers rose in prominence as an alternative to camper shells. These highly-customized truck bed lids evolved to suit the various needs of truck drivers.
4. Truck Cover Storage Basics
When you need to transport items ranging from groceries, to heavy furniture, the truck cover does the trick. The cover shields your items from view, from the weather and from damage. Even simple covers can sufficiently protect your stuff. In some instances, truck covers employ strategically-placed weather seals that channel the moisture away from the covers. With such equipment, truck owners have a greater peace of mind when transporting items sensitive to such. With most models, installation requires no drilling into the truck bed.
Black is the standard color offered by most manufacturers, but many do offer a variety of other colors. When purchasing a truck bed cover, you need to decide between a hard cover (solid fiberglass) and a soft cover (vinyl). The differences between the two are highlighted below:
5. Hard Covers
Firmly attached, they do not blow off even at highway speeds. They are available with hinge systems to allow an easier lifting of cover to put or get cargo. It also is secure and lockable. These hard covers weigh about 100 lbs. Hard covers are also more expensive than vinyl covers. They are more durable and are also weatherproof.
6. Soft Covers
These, on the other hand, are easy to remove and install. They often just snap on to the truck rails and are ready to go. Although they may not be as tough as hard covers, they are still strong enough to provide protection for 1 to 2 people. If you are hauling large cargo, these covers come off easily to accommodate the extra space.
Most people who buy pickup trucks are interested in the ability to haul cargo easily. Many are farmers, construction workers, movers, or otherwise. But how many times have you been speeding down the highway or interstate only to come up on a pickup truck and realize that the driver has not properly secured the cargo he or she is carrying? Unsecured cargo has been the cause of many fatality and non-fatality accidents, and these accidents were completely preventable.
What is the best way to secure cargo in the bed of a pickup? Here are some tips.
Use a cargo net. For only $60, Isuzu sells a Bed Web Net made of a tough elastic material and designed to stretch. The mount hardware is included and installation is easy. The net keeps cargo from flying out or sliding out of the back even during hard stops or fast turns.
Buy a bed extender. Designed for the Isuzu i-370, the Bed Extender, made of steel, retails for well under $300 and gives pickup owners additional truck bed length. This particular bed extender has the ability to swing in to provide a contained cargo area as well.
Bed Covers work well too. Many pickup models also can be accessorized with bed covers that not only keep cargo inside, but help to hide it and prevent theft as well.
Cargo Sports Bags are another option. These are often used in SUVs as well and do an excellent job of keeping smaller items from rolling around or flying out of pickup truck cargo beds.
Use a safety flag or light. Laws differ by state, but many require a red cargo flag or safety light be used when transporting cargo that extends beyond the cargo bed of a pickup. For example, in the state of California, when the load on any vehicle extends at least four feet from the rear of the pickup’s body, the driver must use a fluorescent orange flag, or solid red flag at least twelve inches by twelve inches at the extreme end of the load. In addition, if the vehicle is operating after dusk, there must also be two lighted red lights at the end of the load visible at minimum of 500 feet to the side and the rear of the vehicle for safety.
It’s also important to keep in mind that using these precautions, as well as others will protect the cargo itself. When hauling cargo, it’s important to drive more cautiously than normal and make slow, steady turns. The added weight of your load can make turning more difficult and brakes may not respond as quickly or efficiently as when driving without cargo.
Every pickup truck has cargo weight guidelines. It’s extremely important to obey these guidelines. While it might not be simple to actually weigh the load you plan to haul, it is better to err on the side of caution if estimating. Hauling additional weight beyond the manufacturer’s guideline can significantly increase your chance of an accident or damage to your vehicle. There is also a chance you could be ticketed by law enforcement for hauling a load heavier than your pickup is designed to carry.
According to the Ohio Department of Safety, there are more than 200 deaths each year in the U.S. associated with riding in the cargo area of pickup trucks. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that pickup truck occupants are three times more likely to be involved in rollover crashes than in other types of vehicles. The largest number of vehicle fatalities and injuries are caused by rollover crashes.
Are pickups simply not as safe as cars and SUVs? It turns out that the fatality rates have little to do with a pickup’s design. They have more to do with the use of safety belts. While safety belt laws have consistently become more stringent in all 50 states over the past ten years, according to the NCSA, only 69% of occupants in pickups were wearing safety belts by June 2003, compared to 81% of passenger car occupants and 83% of SUV and van occupants. The Ohio Department of Public Safety reports that your chance of surviving a crash in a motor vehicle is 25 times higher if seatbelts are used.
Theories abound about the reason pickup truck occupants are less likely to practice seatbelt use, thus increasing their own risk. For many who are using their pickup trucks for work (hauling and farming), the drivers tend to drive short distances and get in and out of the vehicle often. Throughout the course of the day, putting the seatbelt on and taking it off could be considered cumbersome. Another theory is that some families, particularly living in rural areas, use their older model pickups as the vehicle used for family outings. Because many of these pickups do not have adequate room for all the passengers inside the cab, some of the passengers travel in the cargo area. While this is illegal in many states and restricted to speed conditions and age of the passengers in other states, it still happens.
Fortunately, newer model pickup trucks have been designed with passenger safety and convenience in mind. For example, the popular Isuzu i-290 offers a 3-passenger 60/40 split-bench front seat with integrated outboard head restraints and the Isuzu i-370 Crew Cab offers rear 3-point seatbelts and 3-point middle seatbelt for passenger protection.
Other safety features include daytime running lights and dual stage airbags.
Although finding a truck that “lasts” means it’s a quality vehicle, the problem with driving older model cars is not with their performance. Safety guidelines, for the most part, have evolved more rapidly in the past ten years than in decades previous.
Consumers and the government are holding pickup manufacturers to higher safety regulations in response to the vast number of preventable fatalities. A pickup manufactured prior to 1990 will be short many of these new safety features and simply cannot protect the safety of its occupants as well as newer pickup trucks do.
If you’re driving an older model pickup truck, you are urged to consider after-market upgrades to make your vehicle more safe for passengers, or to consider purchasing or leasing a newer model pickup.
