It’s just confined, sheltered storage again at that point.
A tonneau cover still lets you load a pallet of something or a scoop of something in the back.
I realize OP probably doesn’t care, but I find the differences interesting. Not too long ago, I just happened to park my truck (with grandpa cap) right next to the identical SUV. From the outside, the two looked like twins - same paint color even. And yet, when you peer through the back window, it’s immediately obvious how much less cargo space the SUV has. Even if you took the back seats out, there’s all this plastic trim that devours what should be cargo space. You’d never fit a sheet of plywood back there. And I don’t see why. Airbags & cupholders I guess?
I haven’t been able to even look at new vehicle prices in a while, but back when I bought the truck, it was literally half the price of the SUV. That’s an awful lot to pay for 2 rear seats and less cargo space. And yet, SUVs are everywhere here in America. Go fig.
I guess what I’m saying is that if you want more cargo space for less money - yes, the extra step of buying a tonneau cover or camper shell is totally worth it. Or was, anyway.
I know that you know, but there seems to be some confusion in this post so I just want to point out that a T-cover and a camper/canopy shell are two very different things.
A T-cover is just a flat piece of something that sits on top of the bed without adding any extra height, while a camper or canopy shell is typically as tall as the roof of the truck.
I can fit 4x8 sheets in my suv pretty easy. More often though, I have more than 5 passengers. I also have a tow hitch and a U-Haul trailer is like $20 for the day to carry stuff that won’t fit in the back or is too nasty.
I will die on the hill of 3/4 ton SUVs, so I agree. I can fit full sheets when needed, drop off 6 kids every weekday, comfortably tow a 10k camper, and keep my dogs in a conditioned space when towing. Another weird benefit is 12ft skinny things fit inside the vehicle. Needed a ladder rack on my old 8’ bed pickup for that.
Except you know… That it’s not. A truck bed cover is on the exterior of the truck and can be often times folded over or removed entirely to expose the truck bed. The truck bed doesn’t extend to the interior of the car and is exclusively utility. Tonneau covers help with gas milage and theft prevention, they help things from blowing out of the truck bed. They have a ton of use.
By your logic anything can be anything with extra steps.
Your livingroom is a garage with extra steps.
A cardio-vascilar surgen is a butcher with extra steps.
Heroin is just like marijuana with extra steps.
Ext.
I feel like there’s some confusion about what a T-cover is. I think some people are thinking it’s the same thing as a camper/canopy shell.
Either way, you can put passengers in the back of an SUV, but not in the bed of a truck (without breaking laws or being totally unsafe).
A tonneau cover just straight across the sides of the truck bed. A canopy (I’ve also seen “cap”) would be more like an SUV.
They call them Toppers where I’m from.
In most cases, yes. But it is better for carrying dirty stuff, and the canopy can be taken off of you need to carry something huge.
Still worse for most uses, plus utes and SUVs are way too big to be practical most of the time.
Midsize pickup is no bigger than a standard size van. Often even smaller.