Why don't they make a camper shell/ cap for my truck?
Consumers today demand style, function, fuel economy, etc., from their trucks. They also demand the same from their camper shell/ truck top. To achieve this, manufacturers have committed to building caps using fiberglass. Today's trucks no longer have flat bed rails and a rectangular bed, they have curved rails and tapered rails. Fiberglass is the best material to achieve the look and fit consumers demand.
Here are several factors manufacturers take into account:
Manufacturers must first make an educated guess and forecast how many trucks will be sold for a given model.
From those forecasted numbers they must then figure out how many consumers will buy a cap for their truck.
Those numbers are then used to forecast their cap market share.
That percentage is then divided by the number of unique models they plan on offering.
Fiberglass caps are made from fiberglass molds, each model and truck fit must be hand-shaped (requiring many man-hours by artisans to create) or CAD molded (designed and shaped by very expensive machinery). These molds, regardless of how the "plug" is created, are costly.
Due to the shape of some caps, two or three piece molds must be used in order to remove the shell from it's mold.
These fiberglass shells must be fitted with windows and doors. Since consumers demand a good looking product for their money, cap manufacturers must "tool" a new door and side windows for every vehicle and cap model. Tooling and shaping glass and aluminum is also costly. Only the brake light and door lock are shared by the Chevy Avalanche and the Chevy Silverado tops.
Special hardware must be used to mount or seal a cap to the truck.
Older, out of production vehicles, usually don't purchase a cap, therefore the cap model will not be in high demand.
All these factors must be taken into account when a cap manufacturer decides to build a cap for a vehicle. Low volume vehicles therefore, have very few choices.
