Leer Cap

[Dave Scharff]

I need some advice...I've been thinking about buying a cap for the back of my ST for some time now. I was on vacation last week, and decided to stop in at a Leer dealer to check on the styles and pricing. The sales guy tells me that Leer only makes 1 cap that will fit the ST(100XQ), and they happen to have one in the back if I would like to see it. I take a walk and the guy tells me that they ordered it for a local dealer who had a pending sale on a ST and the buyer wanted a cap. Unfortunately the deal feel through, and now they have this cap. Well let me tell you that they have been sitting on this cap for at least a year if not longer!! It was very dirty, the headliner had (small) old bee's nests in a few spots, and there were a few bolts under the glass door that were rusted out(could easily be replaced). But over all it was in good shape, and the door functioned well. They are willing to sell it to me for $650 installed (which they claim is their cost for the cap). This guy said that they would normally sell it for close to $1200 installed. The last catch is that it is a black top, and I have a silver ST. We set it on my truck to see how it would look, and I think that it looked pretty good.



I was thinking about calling them and offering to split their cost on the cap...$325.



All you guys with caps on your ST's....What are your thoughts on Leer Caps? Do you think that it would be worth the $650?



Anything that I should be concerned with?



Thanks.

SKI

 

[Todd Z]

Dave,

I believe that is a good price for the cap..... As far as the color match, the black does look ok on the silver, and you could always have it painted down the road....



If they have been sitting on it for a while and can't move it.. Feel free to chew them down..use the color and slight damage as a negotiating point...



Good luck

Todd Z

 

[Nelson Atwell]

I would ask them for a warranty too. There could be some hidden damages.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

>> I wouldn't put any cap on my truck, I mean, it defeats the purpose of having an open bed! I wonder why you didn't just buy an Explorer.



Some police on certain parkways will give a truck/van owner a ticket (usually as part of some other violation), if they drive their truck on said parkway and the cargo area is not enclosed with a cover that includes permanent rear and side windows.



The Taconic State Parkway in NY was this way, and I bought a cap for my '89 GMC S-15 (with extended cab) just so I could run that parkway hassle-free. And, I didn't buy a blazer or a Jimmy then because...you guessed it...they were MUCH MORE expensive.



Others like caps because:



- Often they haul taller stuff, or lots of stuff, and LEAVE it in the vehicle; common for a carpenter or other tradesman, and need to lock and store the stuff.



- You can still take the cap totally off if needed (hard to remove the roof of an Explorer)



TJR

 

[Gerald Pierce]

>> Uh huh. And just as hard removing a topper all by yourself, especially when it weighs at least 200LBS.



I take mine off all the time by myself... takes about five minutes. I had an old twin bed frame to sit it on so I could wheel it around the garage, but I got rid of that now as it just took up space. I would guess my topper weighs between 100-150. There is not much more fiberglass than in a lid.



It's one of those things-- topper or lid. Only the owner can decide, there are valid reasons for both.

 

[Wes Davis]

I would go for the cap but like others have suggested start the negotiating price way lower. They can only say no and you could still end up with a better deal than their first offer.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

When I said:

Some police on certain parkways will give a truck/van owner a ticket (usually as part of some other violation), if they drive their truck on said parkway and the cargo area is not enclosed with a cover that includes permanent rear and side windows.

Q replied:

Bogus: Not illegal to be w/o a topper. Totally absurd.

So, Q, it may be bogus, but please don't try to claim that you know the law for every road in every state in the country.



I also said:

You can still take the cap totally off if needed (hard to remove the roof of an Explorer).

To which Q replied:

Uh huh. And just as hard removing a topper all by yourself, especially when it weighs at least 200LBS.

C'mon...it's JUST AS HARD to remove a small cap from a ST as it is to remove the roof of an Explorer? REALLY!



And you claimed my comments were bogus and totaly absurd!



Q also said:

That's fine, if you have a utility truck with utility options, we're talking about non-commercial use. You can lock a tonneau cover just as easy. ANd be much more versitile"...

How do you know we are talking about NON-COMMERCIAL use...where did Ski say that? Are you assuming things?



As for versatility, what if I have a free-standing table saw? That will lock up nicely under my T-cover....not (too tall)! So, that is one example where it is not MUCH MORE versatile, right?



I'm just playing with you, but seriously, let me know how you take the roof of an Explorer as easily as you take a cap off an ST; and you let me know once you have checked into the cargo vehicle regulations on every road in the US and you have seen no such laws that restricts vehicles with cargo areas such that they require windows in said cargo areas. Once you have done that, we can talk!...again, just playing with you.



(if you haven't figured it out yet, a pet peeve of mine is people who deal in absolutes and make claims about absolutes...e.g. TOTALLY ABSURD...JUST AS HARD AS...THE ONLY WAY TO...THE BEST WAY TO...etc.).



Oh, and the whole TOPPER thing kills me too! It's a CAP.



TJR

 

[EddieS'04]

TJR..

Maybe I misunderstood or am missing something. Are you saying there are places were you can be ticketed for an open pick-up bed.

I have never heard of such. It dont make any sense then to buy or sell trucks int that state or city. I think there are more people that want there truck bed open than closed.

Not badgering you. It just sounds weird.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

There are states, like NY, that register pickup trucks as "commercial vehicles" by default. And, there are parkways in that state, like the Taconic Parkway, that have posted clearly at each entrance and on-ramp "Commercial Vehicles Prohibited".



The state troopers, IF THEY FEEL SO INCLINED, can and DO write up a violations if you run on the Taconic State Parkway with commercial plates. Often, they will let it slide if they happen to see a pickup truck running the road and that truck has a commercial plate. However, if you get stopped for speeding, or have an accident, a busted tail light or just about any other violation, and you have commercial plates, chances are VERY GOOD you will get an additional ticket for running the wrong class vehicle on the parkway.



The loophole is to register as a modified class. You do this by placing a cap on your truck and register it as a passenger vehicle; but to do that, you have to meet the following criteria (see Part 106.6(c)) in the link below for full details:





Pick-up Trucks (Part 106.6 (c)). You can register a pick-up truck in the passenger class if the pick-up truck complies with all of these requirements:



- The unladen weight of the pick-up truck is 5,500 lbs. or less.



- The pick-up truck is used for non-commercial purposes.



- The pick-up truck does not have any business advertisements.



- A permanent camper top completely encloses the truck bed, and which has one or more side windows.



- The pick-up truck has seats, seat fittings, or permanent camping equipment that are installed in the truck bed. "Camping equipment" indicates that you have a permanent bed, a permanent stove, or a permanent refrigerator in the vehicle. If this equipment is removed and you use the pick-up truck, you must register the pick-up truck as a commercial vehicle.







Now, by the letter of the law, you need that last bullet (camping equipment), but that is the easiest to fudge...throw a sleeping bag in the back and indicate you "NEVER TAKE IT OUT", and that covers it.



TJR

 

[Teddy GreeneII]

Q's back to shower us all with positive energy again.

 

[EddieS'04]

Thanks TJR.... now I get it. I was having one of those 55yr old, Brain cramps..:lol:

 

[Thomas Rogers]

No problem Fast Eddie...one guys "ABSURD" and "MAKES NO SENSE" is another guys "YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN MY SHOES" moments.



That's typically why I don't "pull the bozo switch" on people, and instead give them the benefit of the doubt, because, frankly, I don't know everything about everything. I know a lot about some things, and less about others, and none about most.



Later!



TJR

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Q said:

LOL! Don't get yer panties in a knot! No one will stop you for not having a cover on yer truck, period, which was what your original post alluded to. Absurdity at it's best. Digging up obscure commercial vehicle laws isn't going to help yer case.

But TJR actually said:

Some police on certain parkways will give a truck/van owner a ticket (usually as part of some other violation)...

So, Q, you can plainly see that I said "usually as part of some other violation", meaning, to those with reading comprehension, that they won't stop you for not having a cover on "yer" truck. I didn't "allude" as you say, it was quite clear.



And, the "obscure law" I dug up, wasn't obscure or a law at all. It was a provision for modifying one's vehicle class. You called me out to the carpet, YOU HAVE BEEN SCHOOLED, now go back to the porch and play with the pups, because you aren't ready to run with the big dogs yet.



TJR

 

[Richard Turnbull]

I have that exact cap on my ST. $650 is a great deal, I paid $1200 for mine but that was when the ST first came out. I had it on my 01 and now it is on my 04. If I have to haul something big I just take it off. Remove 4 bolts, unplug the brake light and 2 people can lift it off.



As for being illegal, what ever....it is totally legal.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Yoh, cop on my back...Please read my posts...I never said anything about a cap being legal or not legal.



I was talking about ONE way to change the vehicle class from COMMERCIAL to PASSENGER by adding a cap. This is the case in NY, and in NY, you can get a ticket for running a commercial vehicle on parkways that prohibit such.



That's all...no outlaw stuff her. Never said running with our without a cap was illegal. But, running with a cap, AND reclassifying your vehicle, does give you some options for running on commercial vehicle prohibited parkways.



I am surprised other states don't have similar parkways. But, then again, as I think about it, there are SO MANY reasons I left NY and the downstate area, and that f'ing parkway was one of them!



Smile!



TJR

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Q said:

There is no law, anywhere in this country, that states an open-bed pickup is illegal.

Ah, the absolutes again! Read my comments Q. I completely clarified my statement to say that you are getting the ticket for running a commercial vehicle on a parkway that restricts commercial vehicles, and that one way to avoid such a ticket is to reclassify the class of your vehicle and to do that, you have to have a CAP with a window.



So, YES, you actually CAN get a ticket on a parkway that restricts commercial vehicles IF you run your pickup truck on that parkway and it doesn't have a cap...why, because if you remove the cap you change the class of the vehicle from passenger to commercial regardless what your tags say. That is the law in NY for parkways that restrict commercial vehicles, of which there are several in the downstate area.



That's the law. Just because you haven't heard of it, doesn't make it not so. I even quoted actual NY DMV website literate on reclassifying your vehicle. All you have to do is believe or not believe that there are parkways in NY that don't allow commercial vehicles, and any logical sane person would simply trust that there are.



However, since I haven't lived in NY and that area since 1998, I did some research (rather than just talk off the top of my head), and I found out that the regulations regarding the requirements for registering a light pickup truck as a passenger vehicle has changed, as of 2000 such that the cap is no longer required for trucks under 5000 pounds.



Read more at the link below...



So, until 2000, that was the way it was in NY. And it wouldn't surprise me if it's still that way in some states as I am not too arrogant to assume otherwise. So, yes, NY seems to no longer have the restriction that in order to register a light truck as a passenger vehicle you need a cap, but it did until very recently, and as I said, I can only assume some states still have that restriction.



TJR

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Also, read this thread, interesting that some claim to be gotten tickets for driving their Toyota PU on the parkways near NYC:

 

[Dave Scharff]

Alright kids...That's enough. I don't travel the Taconic Parkway in NY so nothing to worry about.



My reasons for considering a cap is that my wife and I just had our first child, and we are thinking that by having a cap we can double our covered cargo area (which we are finding could be very useful in the winter months!). The cap is also easily removable...As I mentioned in my original post we set it on my ST...we just didn't clamp it down. I use my ST often to haul stuff, and will use it with the cap off just as often as with it on. The only question that I really have is the ability to easily unhook the taillight on the cap...Cop on my back - I assume that it connects into one of the taillights, but how easy is it to get to?



Thanks to everyone's response...and TJR & Q, can't you guys just agree to disagree?



SKI

 

[Fred]

Ski,



My cap had a connector for the brake light. You can see it (white) on the left side. Made the wiring part of removal easy.



[Broken External Image]:

 

[Thomas Rogers]

There is nothing to disagree about, Ski, Q is saying "black is white", and I am saying, "no, black is black!". I don't know everything in the world, that's why I went back to check my sources and see that the laws in NY have changed, but they were as I said they were, and I can only assume still that way in some states...but I don't know for sure.



Your reasons for wanting the cap are more, secured storage, which is pretty much one of the reasons I quoted when defending WHY someone would want a cap on a SUT.



I guess I should have butted out, since I don't have a cap on the ST (but did on my 89 GMC S-15, and defended the reasoning for wanting one with my experience).



Sorry for chiming in. I didn't expect to be called a bullshit artist who was talking out of his ass by some sophmoric know-it-all that really doesn't know much at all, except how to pick fights.



Oh, and Q, my last word on this (YOU CAN HAVE THE LAST WORD), but I do ask you this question:



Ski stated he wanted a cap and had questions about one, to which you replied that you wouldn't put one on and that it would reduce usefulness. Yeah, so? Who was asking you about that? Can't you assume that others have different reasons than you and that what works for you may not work for others, and vice versa? I tried to give some examples of why a cap might be useful and a good idea, and they are all quite defendable, but rather than be enlightened and learn something, you just shot back a bunch of crap. So, my question: Why do you come here? Obviously it's not to learn something, nor to contribute anything positive. Seems to me you come here just try to pick fights and tell people how stupid and full of crap they are. If that is the case, and that's all you want to do, then I suggest you go elsewhere.



TJR