Hard looks cooler, seems more convenient to open/close.. costs a lot more.
Soft costs less, maybe more of hassle to open/close.
Given that I don't care about theft resistance or waterproofness, are there any other tradeoffs?
I don't have a pick-up (never have, except for a company loner), but a friend of mine has an older F-150 with a soft cover with numerous snaps holding in place. He made a tool to help him stretch the cover to snap it. He had a hard cover that lifted, but took it off and went with the soft when he had a part-time job moving furniture. Last time I talked to him, he said he wished he hadn't sold the hard cover, that he'd rather have it back on the truck. No particular reason that he gave, just that he liked the hard cover better.
And it wasn't for cosmetic reasons; both covers are the same color as his truck.
Per (PeteCresswell):
I may have thought of one more: headache protection.
Seems like, in a crash, the hard top would form a barrier that would absorb at least some of the energy of the stuff flying through the rear window at the back of the driver's neck.
"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
I have a Lund Tri-fold cover on my 2000 F250. I went with the foldable soft cover because I always end up buying something at Lowe's or Home Depot that needs to be hauled and a rigid cover is a lot harder to remove and carry with you if the object purchased is taller than 18". My Trifold can be removed in about 30 seconds and carried in the bed right aloong with whatever I bought.
Per (PeteCresswell):
For the benefit of anybody else going here, I took a third path: heavy-duty plastic bins from Home Depot.
Four of the fit quite nicely in the bed with plenty room to slide a bicycle or two in as well.
I use one for clothing and other stuff that needs to stay clean/dry, and the others for various categories of stuff.
No problems so far with lids blowing off.
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