Truck bed covers are one of the most popular products here at WSS Westminster Speed & Sound, and with good reason. Truck bed covers make your truck bed much more useful. Whether you need to keep the stuff in your bed secure, or want to protect it from the elements, bed covers are a great addition to a truck. Let’s explore the different types of covers and see what would be the best solution for you.
Bed covers come in two different designs known as hard or soft covers:
Soft Truck Bed Covers
Soft truck bed covers are often made of classy looking vinyl, and they have an aluminum frame that attaches to the vehicle. The vinyl then attaches to the frame. The single biggest advantage of this type of cover is the cost. Soft covers do a reasonable job of protecting your cargo from the elements, and they will keep it hidden as well. The biggest downside to a soft cover is the security aspect. Your cargo is being protected by a piece of vinyl, so it is easy for a thief to cut through it with just a razor blade. Soft covers come in three major styles, roll up, folding, and hinged.
Soft Truck Bed Covers: Roll Up Style
The most popular is the roll up style, and it works just like it sounds. You roll it up, starting at the tailgate and can secure it right at the cab when you need to access the whole bed.
Soft Truck Bed Covers: Folding Style
The folding covers use a frame that can be opened from either the cab side or the tailgate side of the bed.
Soft Truck Bed Covers: Hinged Style
The hinged covers lift up and down and pivot from the cab side.
The roll up and folding style of covers mimic the design of the hard covers but use a vinyl covering instead of a hard, protective shell. They are for someone that wants the design of a hard cover but needs to keep the price down, and security is not a big concern.
Hard Truck Bed Covers
Hard bed covers have overtaken soft covers in sales as they now come in a multitude of styles. Consumers are now buy lots and lots of trucks, and love the storage capability of a secure bed.
Hard Truck Bed Covers: The One Piece Cover
The first style of hard bed cover is the one piece. In the beginning, hard covers were a one piece fiberglass design. While they did a great job at protecting the contents from thieves and the weather, they were bulky and made access to the front of the bed difficult. If you wanted to use the whole bed, you needed a second person to help you remove the cover. Times have changed. Nowadays you can get these one piece covers in a composite material that only weighs sixty to eighty pounds. So if you need the ultimate in bed security and protection from the elements, this may be your best solution.
Hard Truck Bed Covers: The Roll Up Cover
The second style of hard cover is the roll up. These come in two designs:
- One design has the cover roll up on top of the bed similar to a soft cover. When it is rolled up, you have a 12-16” round cover behind your bed that may limit access slightly.
- The other design uses a canister that mounts right behind the cab and goes down into the bed 6-10”.
These covers are very easy to open and close and are very secure. They are the most expensive style of hard covers because of their complexity, but for some people, these are the only way to go. They are almost as good at weather protection and security as the one piece covers.
Hard Truck Bed Covers: The Folding Cover
The third style is the folding hard cover. These are the most popular style as the bed access is easy, with some of the covers hinging from both the cab side and the tailgate side. They do a great job from a security perspective and a good job at weather protection, but are not as weatherproof as the solid covers and the roll up covers. These covers are also designed to be easily removed and stored, or to fold up against the cab when you need to use the whole bed. If you have decided that you want a hard cover but need to be sensitive on pricing, these covers are also less expensive than the roll up style.
WSS Speed & Sound Is Your Truck Bed Cover Expert
As you can see, there are many different styles of truck bed covers available, and dozens of brands inside of those styles. WSS Westminster Speed & Sound has several of these covers on display so you can see them in action. We have also spent loads of time choosing the particular brands we offer. We have chosen these brands based on their quality and value to you. We invite you to stop by our store with your truck and get to know us. We will help you choose the best cover for your unique needs. And of course we offer installation of our bed covers, just like everything else we sell for your truck. Feel free to contact us here as well for more information.