This was the last bit of black accent trim I wanted to add to my truck. First was the hood protector, followed by the step bars. I love the look of black and red. I was also planning to get my truck bed sprayed with RED Line-X Xtra and I needed to coordinate these rail caps with that installation.
These rail caps are not just for looks. The protect the top edge of the bed. The only part of my truck that was scratched was the bed, so by doing this mod and the bed liner, my truck regained a new appearance.
Line-X charged $75 more to go "over the rail" with its spray on bed liner. Instead of going over the rail, I thought the look would be sharper to finish the bed rails with these black caps all the way around the bed. Using the rail caps instead of the Line-X added $58 to the total cost of the job.
I chose BAK Industries Procaps based on Internet searching and their advertising propaganda: "ProCaps are equipped with more 3M tape than any other cap on the market . . . no drilling . . . contoured original equipment fit . . . manufactured with state of the art thermoforming technology, and trimmed on computerized five-axis CNC routers for an unmatched consistency and accuracy . . . guaranteed the most accurate bedcap & tail gate cap on the market."
Procaps also made a hard-to-find universal bulkhead cap for the front of the bed, on the rail behind the rear window. Most of the competitors did not offer this piece as an option.
As usual, shop around. I paid $133 for all four pieces on Zmotive.com. I saw just the two side rail pieces listed as high as $180, without the tailgate piece or the bulkhead piece. Zmotive could've done better on the shipping cost since they charged separately for each box, even though the three boxes came taped together. But their total price was still the best, so I didn't complain.
Obligatory box shot ;c) One box for the bulkhead cap (PCBHP1), one for the tailgate (TGPTTAC), and one for the six- foot siderails (PCTTAC).
This bulkhead cap was listed as being "universal" and needed to be cut by this much in order to fit. I suggest a Dremel tool with a cutting wheel. The remaining three pieces fit like a glove.
Recall the advertising claim above about, "ProCaps are equipped with more 3M tape than any other cap on the market."
I was very pleased with the strength, finish, straightness, and fit of the bed rails. They were thicker and sturdier than I expected.
The Line-X dealer said he would install these rail caps for me after the Line-X was sprayed on during the same visit, at no extra charge. The installer called me on the day of the install and asked me if I "really" wanted the Procap piece over the bulkhead piece, behind the rear window. He told me that usually they spray the Line-X over the edge on the bulkhead and that the rail cap would not stick to the Line-X. I politely told him that I was committed to having the rail caps go all the way around the bed, and that he should cut an edge with the Line-X so that the rail cap could still be applied to the bare metal over the bulkhead. The installed said, "No problem" and I got the look I wanted, with the entire bed edge outlined in black.
Anyone could install these rail caps. The instructions said to pull off the long red tape protection strips as the piece was placed, and not all at once. About the only way you could mess this up was if the caps got stuck on in the wrong position. I have used 3M body tape before, very strong, consider it permanent. I would use an extra pair of hands when lining up the pieces to fit.
If nothing else, letting the Line-X folks install my ProCaps meant I did not have to deal with getting rid of the cardboard boxes, lolam.
Close-up pictures of the rail caps are on the Bed Liner page.
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