The longer I’m on the road the more stuff I seem to collect (mostly tools it seems!) and storage space was starting to get scarce. The bed of my truck was especially a pain point because it was completely full and closed off with a tonneau cover that leaked terribly. Trying to get anything out always involved unloading half the bed, and then I’d discover my stuff was always soaking wet whenever it rained.
When I was in the Lake Powell area in Arizona I met someone that had an ARE TW truck cap and had built wooden storage shelves inside it. This basically doubled their storage capacity and it was all nicely organized. This was when I really started looking more closely at caps and considering the idea. I also had the thought that if I bought a cap and built some storage, I could do it in a way that I could actually sleep on top of it and use it for car camping as well.
Once I got back to Macomb I started doing more research and finally ended up building and ordering one. I got the ARE MX because it is raised about 5 inches above the cab. This would give me more head space which would be nice when trying to maneuver inside, especially if I’m camping in it. I chose this over the TW (which is taller but wedge-shaped) because the roof was still flat and allowed me to add a Yakima roof rack which I could use to carry kayaks, bikes, etc. I then made the side windows “windoors” so that they would open up and give me access to the truck bed from the sides. I also chose the folding option on the window up by the cab so that I could fold it in and clean it. Finally, I chose the carpeted interior and added two LED stip lights that are on a prop switch so that they come on automatically when you open the door to the cap.
I actually ordered the cap back in January but the factory was so backed up that it took over three months for them to build and ship it. Brown’s Truck Accessories in Forsyth, IL did an awesome job taking my order, giving me some really good pricing, and handling the install. Now I just need to build the storage shelves in the back, so I will follow up with another post going over that process whenever I get it done.