2005 V8's - stock 5.3L or 'chipped' 4.8L?

jwstewar · May 4, 2005

Re: 2005 V8\'s - stock 5.3L or \'chipped\' 4.8L?

My tonneau cover is soft/hard roll-up made by PaceEdwards. Has worked pretty well up until recently. The vinyl has come unglued from the aluminum. I've bought a can of 3Ms Super77 to try to reglue, but the weather won't cooperate. With the lock on the cover & the power tailgate lock I installed (also from PaceEdwards) it keeps the stuff in the bed that I put in the bed. Only thing I don't like since I have a short bed (6.5' - well I guess w/ some of today's trucks that could be considered a long bed. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif) there is an 8" box sitting at the front of the bed. I can still put stuff under it though.

Note to CoveredBridge: I'm getting the 19+ and yes I have the rear locker. At least I have 3 tires pulling.

Egon · May 5, 2005

Re: 2005 V8\'s - stock 5.3L or \'chipped\' 4.8L?

I do have a cap for my truck. It's usefull in certain situations when hauling small light stuff to keep the rain out. One can also sleep in it quite comfortably.

If the truck is used as a work horse for hauling heavy loads like gravel etc. Just the plain old box is my prefence.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

fishman · May 5, 2005

Re: 2005 V8\'s - stock 5.3L or \'chipped\' 4.8L?

I had a soft tonneau for less than a year and absolutely hated it. It was a snapless design Extang, so it wasn't cheap. In warm weather, the cover was a little loose for my taste and during cold weather you couldn't open it, because it was too tight to re-install. I was really limited in what I could put in it, particularly height-wise. Finally one day I couldn't get it all the way re-installed and drove about 20 miles with the corner of it flapping. That corner tore apart. I'll give Extang credit, they took it back with a small restocking fee. I then bought a nice fiberglass camper shell and haven't looked back.

IMHO, tonneau covers are a PITA /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

dholly · May 5, 2005

Re: 2005 V8\'s - stock 5.3L or \'chipped\' 4.8L?

I always figured soft tonneaus were a PITA, and a screaming invitation to some jacka** with a pocketknife. Fiberglass caps sure are nice, but I want quick access to the bed for my FEL so I've been looking at the rollups, etc. With all the snow and ice up here in winter, I'm a bit skeptical of those canister type rollup covers. Seems like they could get frozen or jammed up with ice in the winter. So far, I am kind of leaning towards something like a hard aluminum accordian-fold cover. Anybody familiar with this Peragon Bed Cover? I like the idea of being able to remove the top quickly if you need that extra 10" normally taken up by the cover or canister in 'open' position. Plus, it's compatible with a ladder rack which is also desireable to me. Thoughts?

Bird · May 5, 2005

Re: 2005 V8\'s - stock 5.3L or \'chipped\' 4.8L?

When I first retired, and we started living full time in a fifth-wheel travel trailer, I had a vinyl cover made for my truck. It had a couple of "ribs" from side to side, under the cover, to keep it from sagging under the weight of water when it rained. It had a velcro attachable center cover to use when the trailer was not hooked up, etc. Seemed like a great idea at the time. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif But it didn't take long to find out it was one of my worst ideas. So then, I got a fiberglass cover with 3 sections and a "boot" to go around the trailer pin box when the trailer was hooked up. That worked very well.

Moon · May 5, 2005

Re: 2005 V8\'s - stock 5.3L or \'chipped\' 4.8L?

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Tonneau covers

Them's are like making the truck usless for hauling but may look good in the parking lot. )</font>

Right on Egon! I think you said it best.

I like my truck bed open. I get more use out of it that way and don't have to mess with some silly cover. The down side is you can't hide your golf clubs or work tools in the bed ...but I can deal with that.

Moon of Ohio

dholly · May 5, 2005

Re: 2005 V8\'s - stock 5.3L or \'chipped\' 4.8L?

A bed cover might not seem like a big deal if you have an extended cab, but if you have a regular cab with little inside storage, it takes on a whole different slant. Ain't no room to store stuff in the cab! I do need the 'always open' work functionality, but having bed storage with the quick and easy security and weather protection of a hard cover would be REAL convenient some times. I also checked those fiberglass cap hoists to remove and store your cap but looks like too much of a hassle.