Prefer rail system or a bed cover?

LOL. Obviously not a tradesman.

 

The couple hundred folks living in 'tent city' I hauled bread to in advance of Hermine appreciated the fact that it arrived dry.

 

Personally.....both. Replace the OEM rails with L-track, install L-track on the floor of the bed, and install a Softtopper. I'm half way there with a Softtopper installed. Now to get on to installing track.

One way or another having tie down points is important to me to keep shit from flying around in the bed. If installing a cover/tonneau removes tie down options it's a nonstarter for me.

 

For the Tacoma - I've had the Toyota Accessories 1pc fiberglass topper, and my present Extang Trifecta tri-fold. Both were bought used.

The fiberglass topper was an absolute truck-limiting pain in the arse. The replacement tri-fold, for my purposes, absolutely perfect in conjunction with a bed divider. I keep my spare in the bed. Partially open, perfect for a small load. Totally open, and off, ready for an ATV .. time interval between one and the other - 15 minutes of time to take off and store the cover in the garage. I have stuff to hide from prying eyes, or keep from kiting away at highway speeds. It certainly serves good purpose for that. I can still use the rail system under the bed cover, if so desired. Anything like a gas can cage that can be fixed in place with a little bit of bracket wizardry. As long as it conforms to the height and length space/clearance constraints with the cover, you should be good with a tri-fold or similar - really comes down to your individualized use and aesthetics of the truck.