Making bed water tight?

[Puckett]

If you have a good cap on your bed, is it possible to make the whole thing water tight? The small openings at the front of the bed would be easy to fill, but what about the tailgate? Anyone ever try this?

[Valkyrie]

trying to make a redneck swimming pool?
http://www.fox.com/kingofthehill/pics/images/popup/pic20.jpg

[Puckett]

trying to make a redneck swimming pool?


Haha! no, you just throw a big tarp in the bed and fill it up for that!

I am thinkin if I get a bed cap then I will probly be sleeping in it when I go wheelin. I don't want water from rain, or water from a water crossing to get all over my stuff in the back.

[ElBandito]

trying to make a redneck swimming pool?
http://www.fox.com/kingofthehill/pics/images/popup/pic20.jpg

i was thinking the same thing

[nees1212]

If you have a good cap on your bed, is it possible to make the whole thing water tight? The small openings at the front of the bed would be easy to fill, but what about the tailgate? Anyone ever try this?

Yep. There's weather stripping you can put around the tailgate to seal it. My cap leaks very, very little water from two small openings in the corner of the rear hatch that can easily be filled. I just haven't gotten around to doing it. Are you thinking of getting one now, or do you just have some crazy idea? :D

[Valkyrie]

most quality caps have enough rubber overhang on the back window so water isn't a big issue. On my jeep tailgate I used the 1/4" foam sticky weatherstripping up the edges to reduce rattling- as a side benefit it keeps water intrusion down.
Of course, there's always this:
http://www.4are.com/img/product/mx/pics/mx_toyota2.jpg

[Puckett]

Yep. There's weather stripping you can put around the tailgate to seal it. My cap leaks very, very little water from two small openings in the corner of the rear hatch that can easily be filled. I just haven't gotten around to doing it. Are you thinking of getting one now, or do you just have some crazy idea? :D

I can get a free aluminum cap which I'm going to either paint black or use black Durabak. I wanted to know if I went to the trouble of doing it that I would be able to keep the inside of the bed dry for sleeping. Otherwise I'll just keep my tool box and my tent!

[nees1212]

I can get a free aluminum cap which I'm going to either paint black or use black Durabak. I wanted to know if I went to the trouble of doing it that I would be able to keep the inside of the bed dry for sleeping. Otherwise I'll just keep my tool box and my tent!

I guess it really depends on the quality of the cap. You can put new weather stripping around the bottom of the cap where it meets the bed rail, and you can put it around the tailgate to seal it. The weather stripping around the back window can be replaced too, so unless the cap is damaged, you should be fine. My cap has definitely been my best purchase so far. When I get back from my vacation/honeymoon, I'm going to organize the bed by putting the bedliner back in, cutting a piece of plywood to fit in the bed and then coating it with an outdoor carpet or astroturf, and then getting some ammo boxes to set behind the wheel wells to store my straps and stuff in. Then in the summer, my buddy's uncle is going to paint it for me.

If you're getting a good deal for it, go for it. You can always resell it to someone.

[Bryanccfshr]

Haha! no, you just throw a big tarp in the bed and fill it up for that!

I am thinkin if I get a bed cap then I will probly be sleeping in it when I go wheelin. I don't want water from rain, or water from a water crossing to get all over my stuff in the back.
The toughest portion will be the tailgate area. Perhaps sown of that expandable door sealent willkeep dust and crap out ut watertight, I think not.

[Jamier2]

Otherwise I'll just keep my tool box and my tent!
If you decide to go with the cap, what will you do with the tool box? I've been thinking about getting one for my truck.

[Jamier2]

The toughest portion will be the tailgate area. Perhaps sown of that expandable door sealent willkeep dust and crap out ut watertight, I think not.
Only problem I see is that if you sealed the tailgate with something like that it would not open, and it would get old crawling over the tailgate to get inside. I have a cap for my truck that I don't use much, but it does seem to keep 99.9% of the water out.

You could always park with the tailgate downhill if you're camping in it, that would keep you dry. :)

[not2XS]

Rain will generally not get around the tailgate. Even if it is pointing into extreme wind it will probably only wet a couple of small patches. Caps themselves tend to be slightly leaky, around windows and whatnot, but are still OK for sleeping in. Condensation from sleeping in one that is too well sealed would probably be more of a problem. Some dust entry seems also somewhat inevitable.

Trying to seal the tailgate against water crossings is probably futile. That would be really deep water too, the bottom of the bed is really quite high up if you look. Any of those weatherstrips will probably not stand up against immersion.

[Puckett]

If you decide to go with the cap, what will you do with the tool box? I've been thinking about getting one for my truck.

I'll be sellin the tool box! I will know in the next few days what I'm gonna do.

I'll have to find a way to get my tire up on the cap rather than how it is mounted now. I might head down to Corbin KY as soon as Friday to pick up the cap.

[Jamier2]

I'll be sellin the tool box!
You have mail.

[jjrambo]

I'll be sellin the tool box! I will know in the next few days what I'm gonna do.

I'll have to find a way to get my tire up on the cap rather than how it is mounted now. I might head down to Corbin KY as soon as Friday to pick up the cap.It's really simple, I believe that summit has the stuff you need. You can buy the seals that you can stick on to the side of the bed and when you close the tailgate it will seal and be water tight. The likely hood of anymore than a couple drops getting in is slim to none. the holes as you said plug easily. I did this on my fathers truck and it held water very for like 2 weeks. I did it as a joke and then we found it worked great to get traction in some lose sand.

[ecar95]

If you have a good cap on your bed, is it possible to make the whole thing water tight? The small openings at the front of the bed would be easy to fill, but what about the tailgate? Anyone ever try this?

I have had a cap on my 95 taco since new and never have been able to make it completely water tight but have gotten to the point where only a little bit of water gets in. I haven't done anything extra to seal the tailgate and it doesn't seem to leak into the box through there.

[4xClover]

If you have a good cap on your bed, is it possible to make the whole thing water tight? The small openings at the front of the bed would be easy to fill, but what about the tailgate? Anyone ever try this?

Check out www.bajataco.com - Chris has a nice writeup on the changes he made to his bed/tailgate to make it as water tight as possible.

[twblanset]

I sealed the back of mine so tightly that condensation became a big problem. I used to sleep in it a lot and just my breath would create a lot of moisture. I used standard, hardware store weather stripping to seal the tailgate. I siliconed the holes at the front of the bed. I used felt stripping up the sides of the tailgate and around the door of the capper. And finally I filled the openings up under the tops of the gunnels, that lead into the fender wells, with expanding foam.

It got wet in there and it took three days to dry out. Kinda regret going to all that trouble.

Todd Blanset
Vacaville, CA
'99 Xtra cab, 3.4L

[tacopia]

I've got a good quality cap on my truck and I sleep in the back all time. I've made it through nasty storms without getting a drop on me. You shouldnt need to seal it up everywhere.

[Puckett]

I sealed the back of mine so tightly that condensation became a big problem. I used to sleep in it a lot and just my breath would create a lot of moisture. I used standard, hardware store weather stripping to seal the tailgate. I siliconed the holes at the front of the bed. I used felt stripping up the sides of the tailgate and around the door of the capper. And finally I filled the openings up under the tops of the gunnels, that lead into the fender wells, with expanding foam.

It got wet in there and it took three days to dry out. Kinda regret going to all that trouble.

Todd Blanset
Vacaville, CA
'99 Xtra cab, 3.4L

Well that is really good to know! Looks I wont go through that much trouble to seal it up now.

[Uneasy Rider]

I have a Leer brand cap on my truck, a quality cap. While driving in rain, I had a little water getting in around the front corners. I bought a roll of small round closed cell foam for RV's, and I put it under the corners of the cap, now I never get a leak.