hey how much clearance under the cover do you have? any higher than the stock bedsides? i'm wondering because of doing shows in other towns in winter and i don't want a canopy. but i gotta haul my bass drum ya know. i need about 19 inches (about an inch above stock).

 

In the center of the bed I would say you easily have an extra inch of clearance. I have put many items under the cap that are higher than the box and closed it easily. Mainly I put my dogs’ cage under the cap fully assembled still. It fits in the middle of the bed and the dimensions are roughly: 24"L x 17"W x 20"H. If you want to put something right up against the tailgate that is over the bed height you will be out of luck. The lock and latch assembly is there and it will get in the way of locking and latching the unit.

Also I have seen people drive around with the cover resting on something but I have never done this since I figure it could crack or damage the cover.

The unit locks but could still easily be broken into by pulling down the tailgate and breaking the back portion of the cover. If you were looking to secure the unit better I would disable the tailgate handle or maybe someone makes a tailgate lock that could lock it as well. My truck has a mercury switch on the cover that sets off the alarm if it is lifted when the alarm is on.

If you really want I could probably take some pictures and measure the clearance for you. Overall I haven't seen a better cover than the ARE one. Personally I would like to have one that is flush with the top of the box but all of the units I have seen like that seem to sag slightly in the center.

 

yeah flush would be nice but that extra inch is what i need. and i would hate to put a canopy on this thing.. already hard enough to see as it is out the *** end of it.

 

I believe that I paid slightly under 1,100 for the entire setup. The wing was like a 200 or 300 dollar add on. This price includes paint and installation. It could be cheaper now days to get one or more expensive.

Overall I have been satisfied with the cover. After 2 years it has no cracks and the finish has remained nice. The color matches very well. My only complaint is the difficulty of keeping that large of a flat surface clean is tough. If you park your truck outside at night the cover will be dirty in the morning because the Fiber Glass seems to attract more dew than the hood or roof does. Then when this dew dries it attracts dust more easily.

It keeps the bed dry except if you power wash it at a quarter car wash you can blow some water through the seal between the box and the cap. It mounts to the truck like a regular soft cover with the easy clamp system, so it can be easily removed if you needed to. I have never done this but I would imagine you may need a few people to pick it up