Caps ( aka Toppers ) are Freaking INSANE !

[Dirtman]

The cap for my 2009 was only $9.99 brand new at Lowes. The color doesn't match, it doesn't lock, and it doesn't have any windows but I'm not super worried about it...

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

I paid 60 for my A.R.E. was 3k new. Theyre out there. Junkyards have them.

 

[sheep herder]

The cap for my 2009 was only $9.99 brand new at Lowes. The color doesn't match, it doesn't lock, and it doesn't have any windows but I'm not super worried about it...

View attachment 47370

If you had gone to Harbor Freight, you could have got one for 1/2 the price.

 

[JohnnyO]

Used if you can find one. Sport Trac caps are scarce as hen's teeth but someone had a Ranch cap for sale in our FB group after he traded in his Trac. I wasn't really looking for one but the color matched and it was a day's drive round-trip. $200. I only put it on in the winter and use the vinyl tonneau the rest of the year.

 

[19Walt93]

I bought a flare side Ranger new in 04 because I was going to put a cap on it and wanted to see behind the truck in my mirrors not the side of the cap. It was an ARE fiberglass cap and cost $1100 in 2004. My 2011 Ranger also got a cap, this time a Leer and it was $1400. Fiberglass caps look better and make less wind noise but aluminum caps are a lot lighter if you want to take them off. My 93 project Ranger came with a hard tonneau that I haven't put back on because it's a nuisance if I want to carry anything tall.

 

[don4331]

Back to the OP comment: The 168% inflation is the average, not the specific amount for every single item*:

So, if a PC has went from $1,400 in '82 to $250 in '20, and topper has went from $400 to $1,700 for a fiberglass topper and gov't calculates people buy them in same percentages, the average may still be 168%.

And if you are trying to buy something new for either a. a truck that went off the market 10 years ago or b. one that just rejoined the market last year you will pay a premium. And that ignores market trends where in '82, if you wanted to keep your groceries out of the rain, you needed a topper, while in '20, you put them in the back seat of your crewcab - so, people simply don't need a topper.

 

[racsan]

I remember back in the 80’s thinking why were crew cabs limited to a 1-ton chassis? and usually a dually at that. Now they are everywhere and you dont see much in the way of a regular cab truck.

 

[JohnnyO]

I remember back in the 80’s thinking why were crew cabs limited to a 1-ton chassis? and usually a dually at that. Now they are everywhere and you dont see much in the way of a regular cab truck.

I think that's because most people use them for their only vehicle.
Time was when Ford made a big deal of the 10,000 lb towing capacity of an F-350 with a 460. These days an F-150 with a turbocharged V6 will do that.

 

[sgtsandman]

Depending on the truck, there is quite a bit of space behind the seat of a regular cab truck. With Rangers, they leave a bit to be desired. You’ll be surprised what you can jam back there but groceries isn’t want one of them. That’s where the Super Cab comes in.

 

[wildbill23c]

So, if I had the $$$ could I go to a place that sells camper shells and have one built for my 87 Ranger Long Bed? Or do those places only deal with brand new trucks?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

So, if I had the $$$ could I go to a place that sells camper shells and have one built for my 87 Ranger Long Bed? Or do those places only deal with brand new trucks?

I bet the molds to make a fiberglass topper for a longbed died years ago. Aluminum could probably still be made.

 

[Snoranger]

So, if I had the $$$ could I go to a place that sells camper shells and have one built for my 87 Ranger Long Bed? Or do those places only deal with brand new trucks?

Yes you can... but you’ll need a few more $$$$$.

 

[wildbill23c]

Yes you can... but you’ll need a few more $$$$$.

Haha, can I use your $$$ signs LOL.

I bet the molds to make a fiberglass topper for a longbed died years ago. Aluminum could probably still be made.

I sent a quote request to Total Truck in Caldwell, Idaho just for the heck of it on a new Leer High back camper shell, just to see what kind of astronomical price they'd ask for one. Heck I'd love a used one but doesn't seem like that's ever going to happen. Found a 7' shell on a Jeep Comanche but not sure if the bed dimensions would be the same, or if I could broaden my search capacity for other brand trucks with 7 foot beds that use the same shell? Problem is I think I'd want the Comanche that the guy has the shell on LOL....

 

[JohnnyO]

Depending on the truck, there is quite a bit of space behind the seat of a regular cab truck. With Rangers, they leave a bit to be desired. You’ll be surprised what you can jam back there but groceries isn’t want one of them. That’s where the Super Cab comes in.

That's why my first two Rangers were Supercabs. I was a single dad and it was my only vehicle. I needed 4wd to get back and forth to Upstate NY to pick up and drop off my kids. When my kids got too big to fit in the back of a Supercab I started getting Sport Tracs.

 

[racsan]

I loved my supercabs, never thought Id have a reg cab. I just made my daughter “deal with it” when she got older. when she got her own car she was never in the ranger anymore. Wasnt easy finding a car seat small enough to mount sideways when she was really little but found a used one and never once worried about it. Both my s/c’s were the ones before the “extra door” option existed. I always thought that would be a good idea but when they did come out - wow, it was like a $2,000 option. My next ranger will most likely be a supercab.