Question for Leer 180 Owners

Is the extra height in the 180 enough to forgo windoors? My main qualm with caps is that getting stuff from the back of the bed can be a pain, so I was planning in getting windoors, but I'd love to not spend the extra $400. Thanks!

 

It would have been $500 (both sides) for me here in Northern CO. In looking at my usage / behavior, I could not justify it. The height certainly helps (obviously), but nobody can answer that but you...

 

Had a 180 for about three years; went away from that because I got tired of putting bulky stuff on top of the roof racks while standing on the tailgate and fighting with the wind on that. Kind of miss it, but also not.

A standard canopy gives me (at 6'1", long torso, short legs) enough space to sit upright inside the shell. Meaning if you need to get stuff from the front of the bed, you're basically getting in, scooting forward on your butt (or on hands/knees), then pulling it back. I did that on a truck I had in the early 90s with a standard shell. The extra few inches on the 180 make that process a little more dignified - but it's still the same thing, and it's still annoying, so if you anticipate having to do that sort of thing all the time, you'll do things to make it easier. Like putting down a rubber bed mat - that makes it so much easier on your knees (and also keeps things from sliding forward quite as easily in the first place). Or you keep some sort of hook on a stick (hockey stick, broom, one of those boating hooks people use for docking) in the bed to use to pull stuff back.

Windows are great - but you still need to open those, then reach in - so you still have a reach issue.

To me, the point of getting a 180 instead of a standard shell is to have a bit more space for bulky/tall stuff, and for more room if you do ever sleep in there. If I did another shell, I'm thinking I'd go standard height.