Truck beds, toppers, and dust

I’m just wondering what everyone has experienced concerning the best way to reduce dust intrusion into pickup beds on dusty roads. One trip in a buddies chevy with soft cover there was dust covering everything after driving gravel all day. He swore in his old avalanche with hard cover he never had any dust get in the bed. I asked a good mechanic and he said most likely the dust comes through in the back corners of the bed. He also told me there’s a kind of weather seal I can get that helps with the tailgate area. In my case I have a factory spray on bed liner with a truxedo soft cover.

Lots of ways for dust to enter, Avalanche’s beds are well sealed. Pickups are made so the water can drain out from the factory. Rear seal kits help, need to seal the front of the box also, some have vents on sides also.

Just when I think mine is sealed I drive gravel roads for a day and find out its not at all. The tailgate is difficult to get sealed even with purpose built products.

I run a truck with a fiberglass topper. I add an aftermarket “tailgate seal” to close the gap around the tailgate. I also have a sliding window in the front of the topper. With the window in the open or semi open position I get LESS dust than with it closed. I realize this won’t apply to those running a box high cap.

My last truck purchase has been terrible as far as letting in dust. It has a bigger gap than any of my previous trucks. I am waiting for warm weather to apply the tailgate seal on this truck and hope it reduces the dust intrusion.

Somethings in life you just shouldn’t fight, and learn how to adapt. I’ve learned to love dust. Try one of these

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Get one of the flap seals for the bottom of the tailgate, it should really help a lot.

Randy Wieland wrote:

Try one of these

Can’t afford one of those.

Chevy also has a lot of cutouts underneath the box rail to reduce weight. You can buy a kit to plug those holes or just use foam rubber. Any pickup box that is closed tight, a relative term, is a dust magnate. Use the tail gate seal as well you cannot completely reduce dust but you can reduce it.
wmd

This is the main reason I drive an SUV. I HATE having my gear covered in grit and frozen solid in the winter.

My dad has tried to reduce dust getting into his truck topper for decades. Best he can do is to somewhat reduce it.

Grouse

404 ERROR wrote:

Get one of the flap seals for the bottom of the tailgate, it should really help a lot.

Like this? https://www.amazon.com/BLOCK-Tailgate-Cover-4-25-width/dp/B00BPE4AP6

foam weather strip trial gate

If you don’t want your stuff dusty either get one of these SUV’s or pack in totes.

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TheFamousGrouse wrote:

This is the main reason I drive an SUV. I HATE having my gear covered in grit and frozen solid in the winter.

My dad has tried to reduce dust getting into his truck topper for decades. Best he can do is to somewhat reduce it.

Grouse

I agree. And security. Hauling dead animals and/or garbage most weekends pushed me back to a pickup.

I’m able to keep mine mostly dust free by installing a foam rubber sealing kit for the tailgate, top inside edge of box in ALL of the little openings, front box corners, and a bed rug under a fiberglass topper. This was tested while pheasant hunting in SD the last few years. Not sure I could be any happier with the end results.

I put in the foam kit around the tailgate that Access sells. Not only was it insufficient, it made closing the tailgate a pain. Especially during hunting when you want to be quiet and have to slam them tailgate to get it to stay closed.

As mentioned above, you have to find all the holes and plug them. It’s a lot like keeping the mice out of the hunting shack.

I used black duct tape to cover all the vent holes in my GM with a fiberglass cover along both sides and anywhere else and it made a huge difference. I haven’t done the tailgate yet but will find something for that this year.

We are probably going back to an SUV from a Chevy pickup for this reason(among a few others). God does it get dusty in there and it seems impossible to stop it. Not to mention being able to keep the dog cool/warm in inclement conditions. Always been Chevy/Toyota guy, but considering an expedition with the 3.5 eco boost. Sounds like a pretty nice rig.