I just put my order in today for a Leer 180, same cap I had on my green 2010 F250 minus the gun box. I am excited! I've been needing one for a while. This time around I'm going to build a platform that spans the whole width of the bed with a removable panel in the center = pull the panel out and I can use it like a camper laying sleeping bags/pads on the platforms. Put the panel back in = conceals everything underneath and gives a nice work bench on top.

 

Look forward to the pics. I really didn't look too close to your other one. Should of.

 

The cap came in late last week and is scheduled to be installed on Tuesday. I picked up the wood to make my shelves/platforms in the bed. My old one from my last truck is sitting in the garage so I pulled some measurements off of it to use. I will end up re-building it using the deck pieces in the new one, my truck is a long bed and the old one was a short bed.

The shelves are 30" wide. The last one I made rested up on top of the bed rail. I don't recall how far over it went though. If I measure from the insides of the bed rails that will give me 6" between the shelves - not much. Going about 2/3 the way across the bed rails I get closer to 10" - better, but still tight leg room.

 

If you get the optional headliner, be sure that you check to see if rain can contact it at the corner of the tailgate. Just trim it so that water will not wick inside.

 

Leer makes a real nice cap, or topper as they say down here. I have had my Leer 100XL for 2 years and can find no fault with it. Good luck with yours.

 

This will be my third Leer. I had a 700 series tonneu on my silverado, and I had that for 6 years or so. Then I got a 180 for my F250. Now I am putting the same cap on my F350. I am excited!

Its possible I could be out camping in the appalachians next weekend. Either eastern PA in the Alleghenies (Cherry Springs) or in WV in the Monongahela National Forest. My buddy has a pop-up camper we're going to take - a couple people in the camper and a couple people in the truck, we'll be set.

I will get pictures when the cap goes on.

 

Now for the shelves.

I am going to throw the one in from my last truck and see how that works, just the short bed style. We've got some nasty storms headed this way though so I won't have much time to work on it tonight. If it is going to get real bad I'll drive down the road to the river and sit under the bridge (plenty of "head room" and parking well above the water line). I'd rather avoid hail damage.

 

does the deflector keep the bugs off the windshield? we've got a bangup year for bugs..

Sam

 

It does not keep them off the windshield, it might help a bit.. but it keeps road crap from hitting the hood.

Here is the old shelf in place. I have to adjust it a bit but it will give you and idea what I am after.

I think that length will work out just fine. Its hard to believe that is the difference between a short bed and long bed, it doesn't look all that much - less than 2'.

 

I have a cap question. Is it possible to haul a motorcycle in your bed even with that cap on? I know it depends on the MC height. I think tall caps are available. I was just wondering if there are any easy riders out there who also use caps.

Thanks,
Chris

 

You can transport anything that will fit inside.

Check out the Leer 122 and Convoy models. They have more door height clearance.

Just a side note - after the storms went through I went out and checked out the bed - no leaks.

 

Just be careful of the 122 models. I have had 2 of them and on both the sides at the back spread out and the locking handles don't work properly. I had to add an extra external clamp to the back to make the doors fit correctly and they're still not that great. If I didn't have to fit all the kid's band equipment in the cap I would have gone for the 180.

 

The camper, of sorts, is taking shape:



There is a 10" gap at the rear and 13" at the front. I guess there is a bit of a taper to the cap.

I also put those cross bars in there to hold everything in place until I can get a better solution worked up. I had the one on the left flip over when I was on the road today. It hit one of the screens and tore a hole in it unfortunately, but luckily it didn't break the window...

The platforms are 30" wide and 78" long. This works out perfect. There is still about 18" or so between the end of the platforms and the tailgate so you can move around in there.

I still haven't wired up the lights inside. I had the dealer leave the lights unhooked because the way they wire them up goes to switched power = unless you have the key in the accessory position the lights don't run. I suppose that is a safety thing so you don't run the batteries down if you leave them on, but I can't stand that. There is a switch on the dash right now that I had wired up to the lights under my tonneu cover so I will hook up to that circuit for the time being.

When I am done with the wiring for the lighting it will be set up like the light switches in a hall way or basement steps - either light switch at one end or the other will turn the lights on a and off. I will have the switch on the dash and a switch inside the cap, and either one will turn the lights on and off.

The lights I had hooked up under the tonneu cover are probably going to be re-used here. I am pretty sure from my other 180 cap that the LED lights they put in these aren't too bright. If thats the case I will find a place up top to hang the lights. If the stock lights are OK I'll put the others under the platforms.

 

Digging up an old thread here... I see the original pictures disappeared.

In any event, the platform idea is an older idea I've had/used with a couple trucks now. The hassle of getting the platforms in/out and the room they take up is why I didn't use them all that much - really the only time I used them was when I was on an annual cross-country trip. However, that gets back to the room they take up - I ended up loading more stuff in the truck (and on top) that prevented any other use so the platforms just took up space.

One of the other aspects of the hassle with the platforms was to get around the room both took up I would put only one in. I didn't have a good way to "lock" it in to place so I used a board screwed in to it that spanned the width of the bed to press against the opposite side bed rail. Though that "worked" to keep it in place going down the road, it had to be unscrewed and removed to use the platform as a bed.

A couple weeks ago I was out somewhere for 5 days and camped in the back seat each night. That worked, and I've done that numerous times over the years, but it certainly isn't overly comfortable. So when I was going through my gear and reorganizing for another trip of sorts I thought I would look at the old platform again.

One idea I have had for a long time is a way to lock the platform to the bed rail without the cross bar idea. My first thought was to use one of those metal plumbing hanger straps that has a bazillion holes in it - attach one end to the center cap rail bolt and the other end to somewhere on the underside of the platform. I don't have any of that material around, but I do have various sheet metal.

What I came up with was a 1/8" thick strip of aluminum plate about 5" long and 1-3/8" wide. I put a hole in it for the cap rail bolt and 2 holes in it for wood screws. I had to add a chunk of 2x4 to screw the metal plate to - I had to get the same plane of the wood frame out on the edge of the platform that is what rests on top of the rail.

To install I removed the cap rail bolt, put the plate on, then tightened the cap rail bolt. I angled the plate so 2 axis of movement would be restricted - the platform being pulled forwards (preventing rearward movement) and the platform being pulled sideways to the drivers side. If I put the plate on straight out then there is a chance the platform's mass when accelerating hard could shift it backwards. With the angled plate if it moves backwards the plate will pull it harder to the side. We'll see how that works.

The leg is a bit "weak". That is the original one and the screw holes don't hold very well. What I should do is reinforce it so stuff shifting around in the bed doesn't knock it loose. I suppose I could run a couple screws in from the top. Those and the 2 on the sides would probably hold it pretty good.

 

More work today. I was taking advantage of the nice weather to work on organizing and had a piece of plywood out that gave me an idea - smaller shelf/table. The smaller piece of plywood turned out to be too small I felt so I dug around for a bigger piece.

I like the way it turned out from the perspective of having a "table" in there. However, what I don't like is the same as the 2nd bed rail shelf I described earlier - it restricts stuff going in and out too much.

I was going to do the same metal strap trick on this, but decided against it for the above reason - too much restriction of the space trying to move stuff around. So I am going to leave the pieces for this "loose" - the plywood board and the leg. The leg screws on with 2 wood screws so it is pretty easy to set up.

I have 2 sets of holes in the plywood for the leg to attach either at the corner (as pictured) or in the middle. The thought here is if I have the front of the bed stacked up with stuff I can have the table back a bit and still have OK support. The front support for it is the bed rail - the fiberglass cap is carpeted with a bit of an overhang/rail on all sides but where the back window is so the top lays nice on it and butted in to the corner it is full support of the board on 2 sides. The 1 leg makes it real solid in that configuration.

With the table back off the front rail it is only supported across the whole back (left side bed rail) and the 1 leg. That is not near as solid, but works as an option.

We'll see how it works next time I'm out.