How concerned should I be with not having a tonneau cover?

Hey all! New TW guy here and I'm getting set up to start working on my first build. I have one question that is incredibly important to all of my buying decisions, and that is...

Do I NEED a tonneau cover?

I intend on getting bed racks and loading on a few things that I'll be strapping to the outside, like recovery boards, a pressurized portable shower, possibly a shower tent. An RTT on top. And then all the rest of my gear in the bed of the truck.

I'm curious. With thousands of overlanders using seemingly "exposed" builds, are there not many concerns of gear theft when, say, running into the closest Walmart or grocery store before heading out into the wilderness? Say you're doing a cross country expedition and decide to spend one night in a hotel/motel in the middle of Nebraska? Should I be unloading my entire bed of my truck into the hotel if I do so?

I've thought about grabbing a tonneau cover + bed rack combo, but can't seem to find any reliable brands that seem trustworthy. And is that a bit extra?

Anyways, thanks everyone for your advice. Again, this question has been bugging me and I'm overall curious what the general consensus is. Thank you!

 

You should know if you need a tonneau cover. I wouldn't recommend putting much weight on one if you do.

 

I never felt the need for a tonneau cover. My wife has a Corolla so I take that if I need to lock stuff in a trunk. With my open bed, I leave my bed cleats and cubby doors in my garage unless needed to avoid theft.

 

It's going to depend on your needs, but I have a hard cover toneau and a rack that goes over for exactly the needs you are describing. One point of recommendation, if you do go that route, it is beneficial to have a rigid tonneau that can accommodate items on top. I can throw bags on top of the tonneau and tie them to the rack, which is handy.

 

Seems like topper is want you might want to look at. Can lock plenty inside and still ad stuff on the outside

 

I always ran a hard tri-fold tonneau on all my trucks over the past 13 years, for theft deterrence and keeping dirt and mud off my gear off-road.

 

You should know what you need/don't need by how you use your truck. If you don't know yet, then you don't need it yet.

That said, as far as theft goes, the less crap you have in your truck, the less crap can be ripped from your truck. I run a softopper to keep my stuff dry. On the very few road trips where I will actually leave crap unattended for an hour or so, I run a bike cable around my cooler and luggage, and then zip up the top so it isnt visible. 90% of the time however, my crap stays at the campsite. No one has messed with it yet. But come Monday morning, my truck bed sits empty; the crap stays home.

 

Yes! This would be more than ideal. Would you be so kind to drop a link or name as to what you're currently using for your setup? I'm definitely more inclined to the idea of a hard tonneau with the rack. And just curious, and excuse my ignorance here, but can any tonneau be used with any bed rack? Or do they have to be some form of combo that's manufactured together?

 

They don’t have to be manufactured by the same company, they just need to be compatible.

I have a Voodoo Taco Max rack with tonneau brackets:
https://www.max-modular.com/toyota-tacoma-years-2005-to-present

And I have a Rugged Liner E Series tonneau:
https://ruggedliner.com/e-series-hard-folding/2018/toyota/tacoma

 

Not having a cover makes me stay awake at night, it's terrifying.

 

I just did a road trip with a cover, went on a few dusty red dirt roads and the bed kind of sucked it all inside, which was crap.

 

Had a tonneau, went back to a shell. You get all the benefits of a rack and can lock your gear up better.

 

I'm running decked drawers for the gear and leitner gear pods for overlanding stuff, and a leitner rack for the RTT. I would not feel comfortable parking for any length of time in a large metropolitan area or the city with overlanding gear exposed.

 

I've had a pickup in the driveway since 1986 and have never had a tonneau. I've either had truck tool boxes or a shell and for what you describe a shell would fit your needs best.

Ornamental bed racks with everything hanging off are an invitation to theft. Keep everything inside, dry and out of sight.

 

Keeping things out of sight is about all you can do if you're worried about theft, people can get into anything in a matter of seconds if they want to badly enough.

 

I wonder - by not allowing wind resistance inside the bed and against the tailgate - does that add to better gas mileage ?

 

I didn’t with mine. Myth Busters did a segment on tailgate down or up and no difference in gas mileage I believe.

 

I’d take a sturdy, lockable tonneau cover over the bed rack; but I find the bed racks to be mostly useless “look at me, I do things sometimes” equipment.

 

@Friend of Crows

LOLOLOL

I felt like that before I got my Talon CAT skid. (It was very worrisome)

Then since I bought the bed mat, I'm always making sure it's there every time I approach my truck.

I guess I'm not as worried since catalytic converters are bloody expensive!

EDIT: If/when the time comes, I want a DiamondBack Tonneau cover; the least expensive one.

 

I would say that you probably shouldn't run around with thousands of dollars worth of gear when you're not actively using that gear. But I've never had all my shit stolen from the back of my truck in a parking lot in Nebraska. I don't think that's a real worry.

But if you're that worried about it, I think a cap is a better way to go. Tonneau is too limiting for me.