OMG you did not just say that. That is the Dakota equivalent of suggesting that I trade in my Challenger in for a minivan.... Grrr.

 

lol, was just trying to think of the right tool for carrying those expensive computers that could also haul tall items... but if you have kids, you might wanna think about that minivan

 

Having had many different vehicles in 50 yrs. of driving, I have concluded a truck and a car meet all my needs. A car for no or limited stuff hauling. A truck 4 more stuff hauling of any size. An extended cab truck meets all my needs in the truck arena with a decent size bed. A 4 door truck gives a lot of inside stuff hauling capability but limited bed capability. A standard cab gives limited inside carrying capability, but a lot of bed hauling capability. For me the extended cab meets all requirements. Easier/quicker to cool & heat than a 4 door truck and a van. Full size extended cab truck good until you don't need the capacity. Medium size truck best of both worlds. Small truck limited capability for the investment. Dakota, extended cab, 4.7 V8, gives me all the capability I need, including towing capacity. Many people ask me about my 2010 because of the body style and limited number of these on the road. I keep it clean in/out, waxed/buffed, spray-in bed liner, bed cover. Going 2 add backup camera for trailer operations and a cab high bed cover, now that I have a 5000 lb. rated trailer, 8x12. Going to investigate the superchips to adjust the 35 mph down shifting and 1st gear lag. On my F-150 supercrew the progran allows me to select 2 options other than factory and return to factory. Hope to get the same with a new programmer/tuner. Even have gotten compliments on the B F Goodrich original tires from males and females. Never got that B 4 on any vehicle. Love the tires around town and on trips. Travel between houses in Virginia and Mississippi with and without the trailer, 1000 miles one way. 2 day trip each way.

 

When I bought my previous Ram, an '01, it had an Access roll up cover installed on it. Still had the original receipt for when it was installed in the glove box. I got the truck in early 2010 and the cover had already been on it since '03, I drove it over 5 years until 2015 when I got my '03 Ram.

So that cover had been on that '01 Ram for around 12 years and the only thing wrong was the velcro on the rails wasn't holding very tight anymore, otherwise the cover itself was still in good shape. That's 12 years of Iowa winters and summers.

Needless to say 2 weeks after buying my '03 Ram it had an Access cover installed on it (easy to do myself). A year later and it is still perfect.

 

That sounds like a lot of stops for gas with our little tanks.


Hows the weather protection on that? Any water getting in the bed?

 

Not a bit of water gets in. I got the cover that comes with the accessories, an LED light for in the bed, a long reach pole for pulling or pushing things in or out of the bed, etc and what they call "trail seal" which is basically rubber weather seals that seal off the tail gate to the bed.

 

My soft cover had plastic hinges to fold in 3 steps. They broke. Installed solid braces in place of hinges. Won't fold but doesn't sag in rain now. Doesn't leak, light to remove. Going to replace front clamps with struts like a fiberglass top, easy to open and pop off when needed. Aluminum frame to bolt to. Not secure but works.

 

No leaks.