Canopy or Tonneau Cover?

I can do 4 bikes over the tailgate with my tall canopy, kind of hard but you get the hang of it. I would probably get a cover if I had to choose, easier to remove and whatnot. I take my canopy off for the summer, and have locking box in there for small stuff. With a tall canopy you can stuff a lot of junk in there without having to strap it and stuff, like dump runs, so in some ways you can really carry more with it on.

like a man

Nissans are awesome

Thanks guys. My thoughts were with the tonneau cover. Wife is still pushing for the canopy. Her thought is canopy + north shore rack. That might be a good setup.

One question about the NSR. Has anybody had or seen a NSR rack set up so you are still able to tow a trailer. NSR + ball combo? Sent an email to NSR but no word back yet.

One question about the NSR. Has anybody had or seen a NSR rack set up so you are still able to tow a trailer. NSR + ball combo? Sent an email to NSR but no word back yet.

Not seen it done but it would be easy to do with getting a hitch shop to fab a longer heavy wall 2"x2" tube. Likely wouldn't be able to have both bikes and a trailer on at the same time though. Would want to keep it a lighter trailer too, the amount of leverage on a long tow bar could be hard on the hitch mounted to the vehicle.

I had a 2"x2" tube fabricated to mount an older 2 bike Swagman on my Escape (Swagman no longer had the part available). Just did up a sketch of what I wanted and E[HTML_REMOVED]H hitch in Surrey made it up.

One question about the NSR. Has anybody had or seen a NSR rack set up so you are still able to tow a trailer. NSR + ball combo? Sent an email to NSR but no word back yet.

Put a 2" receiver on the trailer.

Go for a rollnlock or hard folding-style tonneau cover.

I've had a couple of canopies on my truck over the years but ultimately found them too annoying for hauling bikes and other stuff. Also, crawling up into the bed to get stuff from the front gets old. If I every got a canopy again it would be one of the "contractor style" ones with the opening side windows.

Soft tonneaus offer no security, might be suitable for keeping building materials dry but nothing else IMO.

1 piece hard tonneaus are the most secure but super limiting and just as much of a pain to remove and store as a canopy.

FYI if you don't have it already you need a locking tailgate handle if you're going to install either. Most canopies and hard tonneaus have a lip that extends over the top of the gate but a thief can force the gate past it, damaging everything and still gaining access to the truck bed.

^ Nissan Frontiers come with a locking tailgate.

I vote for a canopy with a raised roof. You can load 4 bikes into the box no problem and 6 if you load on the ground then lift the gate. For hauling all the kid stuff, you always have a dry bed and you can load that stroller in there without even folding it down. Hauling larger items and keeping them dry is a bonus - like TVs, fridges, etc.

Here's my Frontier with a raised roof canopy (mine is a long box):

I actually think a canopy and NSR rack would be pretty sweet, I like having a canopy on for mostly everything except when you gotta take multiple bikes in and out often (summer, shuttling) but NSR would make it kind of moot, unless you do shuttle days when you're taking 6 or 7 or 8 people up haha. Did a roadtrip last summer with 4 of us, all the stuff and bikes in the bed, lots of rain for the drive from whistler to kamloops, wrapping all our bags and whatnot in a tarp was a pia and having to either watch the truck or stuff everything inside when we stopped somewhere

i have a hard roll up tonneau on my tundra. I can sneak two bike under the cover with a bunch of other stuff and with the locking tailgate it feels pretty secure. nice to have everything out of sight. When my daughter was younger is was pretty easy to fill up the space with stroller , playpen, luggage etc and my wife was wanting a canopy but in a way it was nice to have a limit to what we could bring. I always thought a bikerack that sat on top of the bed that still allowed to the tonneau to roll up would be handy.

What about option 3: tool box for secure locking storage of a fair amount of crap, remainder of bed nekkkd and easy bike loading (assuming bed is long enough).

How 'bout a hard tonneau that you can put bikes on top of? I been thinking about something like that. I'm always putting the bikes in, then everything packed around them. Got to watch for damage to rotors and derailleurs, and holing or greasing the camping gear. Putting gear below and bikes on top seems good. I am opposed to tailgating bikes or putting them on a rack. I've ruined bikes both ways.

A locked tail gate would be inconvenient. I wish to lock up the thieves, not my lifestyle.

When I bought my truck it came with a canopy, and I thought I'd prefer the truck with nothing on the back so I was planning on taking it off and storing it somewhere. I ended up leaving it on and it was full of my camping and fishing gear all summer, including a foam mattress and sleeping bag. It was so easy to just pick up and go camping, and a nice dry place to sleep.

What about option 3: tool box for secure locking storage of a fair amount of crap, remainder of bed nekkkd and easy bike loading (assuming bed is long enough).

Doesn't keep things like a stroller out of the elements. We keep our stroller in the back of our crv full time, it's good to always have it available.

I'm a big fan of the trifold hard tonnaues fwiw. My dad has one on his tundra and I've found it versatile.

With regards to a full hard tonneau and a canopy the fact is they both take up real estate when not used, and you will have to also realize taking a canopy off is not always an easy task sans help. On the other hand I went through this step a couple years ago and ended up going with a tri fold tonneau (Bak Flip), best decision ever made for a couple of reasons. Very easy to take off if need if the full bed is needed and at about 60lbs it is a piece of cake to take off and as it is foldable the need for large spaces to store is nil compared to the other options. We also have two kids pre-teen and with this cover we knew if you tell them not to go on there that at some point they would and the cover is rated at 400lbs so no need to worry (lasted all of 3 days before they tested it). There are a couple of shops in the valley that offer great prices and also the ability to trade up should you go with a full tonneau and decide to go with a canopy.

You can add a NSR as long as you change the hitch receiver on the trailer to 2 inch receiver as mentioned above previously.