Aluminum Cap for 2001 SLT extended cab ?????

[rootmanslim]

My truck has the HEAVY Leer cap which takes 3 men and a boy to remove. I even bought a special lift for it that is also a PIA.

When I lived back East we could buy Aluminum caps that 2 people could easily take on and off.

They don't seem to exist out West (WY).

ARE website says they make one but their build a cap program does not offer it. A call to the company said "we don't make it for your truck" and they seem to think every 8' bed is different. (my old one was a on Ford, Chevy and Dodge over the years)

Any suggestions most welcome ! Thanks.

 

[Timd32]

Can't help with the Aluminum topper, but this 3rd Gen set up was recently posted. I've tried to order some for my work trucks and they are really hard to nail down lead times and exact builds. I gave up trying to get it figured out locally.

Thought it was pretty cool how they set up the hoist to get it off.

Scroll down the pics a bit.
https://www.turbodieselregister.com/threads/3rd-gen-stuff-for-sale.271785/#post-2685331

 

[BigPapa]

Probably have to go with craiglist or FB Marketplace for a used one. I haven't seen any new ones in years.

I'm guessing you're talking about something like this.

 

[rootmanslim]

That is correct.

 

[BigPapa]

I stumbled across these fellows while looking for a window for my Leer. I’ve never dealt with them and have no affiliation with them, just saying.

http://unicovercaps.com/

 

[rootmanslim]

Yes, they want more for an aluminum cap than I paid for the fiberglass Leer cap I now have !

 

[Matt42]

We got super lucky three weeks after we bought our 1996. We stopped in at a retailer in metro Phoenix that had a secondhand aluminum Eagle brand cap sitting on sawhorses outside their shop. As I was looking at it with a tape measure, the shop's manager walked over and told me that it had been a trade-in and that it had come off of a 1994 Dodge long bed. I was sold at that point.

Eagle was, and may still be, a midwestern company that made caps out of welded and bolted square aluminum tubing and embossed aluminum sheeting. The cap we found was cab height, and both side windows hinged upward. My wife was skeptical, but I willingly paid the $350 price they asked for it. In the ensuing 26 years, I've been cross country with it three times and off road more times than I can remember. I've replaced one window pane from an exploding spare tire, reskinned it and repainted it with Eastwood's epoxy primer and DuPont 1994 Dodge Van gray. We are both in our late 60s and together we can remove the cap and set it onto sawhorses. (But we don't enjoy it like we used to.)

These are really hard to find. If you do find one, plan on some repairs. It'll be worth it.