Anyone leave their bed open year round?

Does anyone here in the PNW leave their bed open year round and not use a tonneau cover / canopy / shell / anything that covers the bed of the truck?

A few questions for you:

• How does your bed hold up through winter / spring with all the snow / rain here in the PNW?
• Do you ever struggle with space? I assume yes, especially if you have kids.
• Why did you decide to leave your bed open all year?
• If you do leave your bed open, what are alternatives to carrying everything in the back passenger seats? Secured boxes in the bed?

I'm a very new taco owner (1st post actually!) and am not sure if I like the look of a tonneau cover (don't want a canopy or shell) and wondering if I could survive winter / spring without it.

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld
The bed is plastic so the rain won't hurt it any.

I usually take my canopy off every now and then just because the truck looks so much better without it on but I usually only last a couple weeks without it. It's so convenient to be able to keep everything dry and secure without sacrificing can space.

You could get a bed mounted behind the cab toolbox if you want to keep smaller stuff dry. I'm a carpenter by trade so having the canopy is kind of a must for me and my tools.

 

Thanks! This totally makes sense given your profession and use case. I do still have my Thule Cargo box that's from my SUV that I could put on top of the tacoma...

 

That's always a option. Say goodbye to our already pretty bad fuel mileage though. I think a secure bed cover is the best of both worlds

 

It'll be fine. However, if you live in a part of the state that gets a lot of snow it'll be a bit of a bitch shoveling it out. Especially that wet heavy stuff or if you let it settle for a long time. Then again if you park in a heated garage it shouldn't be too bad.

Oh and welcome to TW!

 

I have a cab height bed rack I leave on year round with a RTT. Blocks most snow. Rain doesn't hurt anything.

 

I haven't put a cover on any of the three pickup trucks I've driven through multiple CO winters, Taco included.

Never had anything that needed to live in the bed that was susceptible to weather. I kept camp gear and tools/recovery in a waterproof Husky box locked to anchors.

As mentioned, a waterproof box for stuff that lived in the truck for the stuff that belonged in the bed full-time. Although, aside from the tent/sleeping bag in there, there's virtually nothing I've ever put in a truck bed that could be damaged by rain/snow.

Pickup trucks have been around for far longer than Tonneau covers or toppers have.

 

I just wanted to quote this to be an annoying pedant:




Oh and welcome to TW, OP. This guy is right, I used a contico weatherproof box to haul my stuff in the wet before I finally got my topper. The bonus is that I still have them, they work wonders for garage storage when not in the truck.

 

Do you have any pics?

 

Awesome, thanks for your insight. Appreciate it! LOL @ at the last bullet point response!

 

hahahh! thanks, will look into a weatherproof box!

 

The covered wagon got me lmaoo

 

lmaooooo

 

His rack is different but is probably similar height. I take my tent off after each use and leave my bed open unless I’m taking my dog somewhere, in which case I throw my soft top canopy on there. Takes all of 5 mins by myself to put it on and clamp it down. I don’t leave it on all the time because I often carry tall or bulky items that wouldn’t fit under the canopy canopy pic for reference. Found this one for sale on here local for diiiiiirt cheap. Not perfect condition but it keeps the water out

 

I just put a tonneau back on after running without one since mid-last winter. Up till then I'd had one since right after I bought my truck, but I started running a bed rack/rtt and even though the rack I have is compatible with most tonneau covers, it wasn't compatible with the one I had. Honestly, didn't miss it as much as I thought I would although I did miss it enough to replace it.

Firstly, on the water(being a very relevant topic in our neck of the woods) no tonneau is 100% water tight. Even if only a little water sneaks inside in only really bad conditions, I'm just not willing to risk a piece of gear that'd be ruined by getting wet(electronics etc) or a piece of gear that'd ruin a trip if it got wet(clothes, sleeping gear etc) to our temperamental weather so all that stuff goes in tubs regardless of the weather and if I have a tonneau on. I camp 50+ nights a year, and most weekends need to pack my truck(which is not garaged) Thursday night and get home too late to unpack Sunday night so if I leave an opening for stuff to get wet, stuff will get wet sooner or later. I have a big Plano trunk with a gasket for stuff that really needs to stay dry, but I just keep most of my tools/camp/off-road gear in ActionPackers and I've never had anything get wet, even after sitting in an open bed in constant rain for several days. I've had some camp chairs and stuff like that get pretty soaked tonneauless so it's nicer to have than not have in the wet, but not really the wet-weather necessity you'd imagine.

For me the big advantage really comes down to theft deterrence, mainly in the winter when I'm transporting skis all the time. I can pack my summer camping/trail gear in such a way that it's impossible to actually remove any of my expensive gear if I lock the tailgate, there's not enough space between the top of the bed and the tent/rack to get an actionpacker or my cooler out, honestly digging through the action packers is even a pain. Unfortunately, skis are very possible to remove no matter how I pack it. Never had any stolen last winter, but I end up stopping in downtown Portland after trips a lot(also often crash with friends in Seattle, so either I have to carry my skis into their apartment or leave them street parked in Seattle overnight) so it's only a matter of time. I mean I'm well aware that all you need to get into my softshell tonneau is a pocketknife, but if someone wants in badly enough to cut my softshell they could find a way into a ski rack, camper top or even an SUV. Thieves aren't as dumb as people think, most of the time they won't risk making a move unless they can see something worth taking so just having a way to keep stuff out of sight is a great way to keep it from growing legs.

Honestly, the other thing I really prefer about a tonneau is being able to just toss loose stuff back there and not need to worry about it blowing away or tie it down. Sounds like a small thing, and it is, but it's a definite quality of life improvement, especially if you're driving more than one or two other people on a trip. I actually even lost a sleeping bag over the summer, had a full car on the way to a music festival(camping) with a bunch of friends(not big campers for the most part). One girl had to dig into the bed for something during a mid-stop on the way anddd just put her(loose, not rolled or stuffed or even in a bag) sleeping bag on top of everything else instead of weighted down under bag where I'd originally packed it(I normally notice stuff like that but, I was already back in the car and can't see the bed super well in the mirror because of my tent). Lo and behold it had disappeared by the time we arrived. It's easy to say you just need to pack it properly, but netting or tarping stuff's a pain in the ass and it makes everyone's life easier if you can just let people rummage around on a road trip without needing to personally repack everything just right every time you need to stop(because someone *will* want to grab something every time you stop).

 

I live in one of the rainiest places on earth an always leave my bed open. The only thing is if you have a bed mat you will get some moss growing under it so just clean that off every once in awhile.

 

Awesome, thank you for your extensive insight. We live similar lifestyles and your point when chucking stuff in the back and not having to tie anything down is swaying me the other way now. I just prefer the look without a tonneau cover.

 

I have never had my bed covered. For me I tend to haul around dirt bikes and some random large items so covering it never made sense. My back seat did however became my storage for all of my tools before I got behind the cab toolbox. Now that i have I toolbox I have regained full use of my backseat while having dry tools in the bed. During the winter my bed usually fills up with snow but it also adds some extra weight along with my sand bags. However now I have undercover parking so it shouldn't be as bad.

 

rain water and snow is what trucks haul the most of unless you're a Californian, they just haul sunshine.

 

Sometimes when I start to drive a feral chicken jumps out of my truck bed. Makes for an interesting morning