Wheeling with a truck cap?

[84 400]

I know Larry ran a cap for a while and some others have aswell. I just picked up a cap for my 77 stepside. It is fiberglass and I am thinking the twisting of the bed is gonna destroy it. Can thos with experance coment on how the caps held up. Would leaving the mounting hardware loose help?

Thanks for the suggestions / input

[modernbeat]

I wheeled with a fiberglass cap on my 2003 longbed 3/4 ton. Although it would twist a very small amount, the only real misalignment I noticed was in the hatch while twisted up. I would keep the hardware tight or the cap can walk on the bed and eventually contact the cab.

[dieseldawg142]

x2 on the hardware, keep it tight. i have a canopy for my k30 crew & a hammerhead on my k1500 stepper,the only thing i've had 4byin is like modernbeat says, hatch out of whack. i also put a 6" piece of 1/2" oak under the clamps to help hold & on my hammerhead the rails are fiberglass, without it the clamps will chew up the fiberglass

[84 400]

My cap is bolted to the bed rail using fender washers to help spread the load. But being a wood floor stepside it sure does twist a good bit. I have a run on saturday and I think I will give it a shot with the cap on.

[dieseldawg142]

if your canopy is bolted on, not clamps, dont see why you could'nt leave the hardware a little loose. maybe put 2 or 3 layers of sticky foam canopy tape under your rails to absorb some movement. my hammerhead is 100% fiberglass, except for the windows, over 20 yrs old, goes off-road all the time, gets a little flexed, no cracks or stress marks anywhere. 2 screw caps have popped off the rear hatch from flexing though

[Zoomad75]

Having spent many a mile off road choking on Larry's dust I can say his cap stayed put. If you use the clamps to connect the cap to the bed the cap will ride right along. Every truck differs a little, but where most of the flex is in the frames on these trucks. With the cap secure it didn't move. I have seen up to 4 inches of mis-alignment from the bed to the cab and the cap was fine on Larry's. I think a good quality, heavy fiberglass cap will help stabilize the box more than anything.

Larry would probably answer in a couple of days. It's going to take that long for him to float back down to earth from getting his beast shot for a magazine spread by Rick Pewe himself today.