Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Leer Pickup truck bed cap and tonneau maker Leer of Elkhart, Ind., worked with several other aftermarket suppliers to make a real show piece of this 2005 Toyota Tacoma Xrunner.

Soup it up

Leer covers pickup beds with style

Cargo storage specialist enlists aftermarket suppliers to design a pickup with extra pizzazz.

By Larry Edsall / Special to The Detroit News

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Whether it's in the parking lot at the country club, at the bowling alley or on the auto show circuit, car enthusiasts, automakers and automotive suppliers want their vehicles to stand out in a crowd.

Elkhart, Ind.-based Leer has been making enclosures for the back of pickup trucks since the 1960s. Leer's products include truck caps and tonneaus, which cover the bed.

To showcase its newest line of 700 Series tonneau covers, Leer took a 2005 Toyota Tacoma Xrunner pickup and worked with several aftermarket suppliers to create a vehicle for show and go. This truck is on the road nearly every weekday as the Leer sales staff calls on auto parts stores.

Of course, the truck features Leer's latest tonneau cover, but what sets this vehicle apart are such things as its stunning paint job, its billet grille, its wheels and tires, its customized interior with heated and massaging seats, its roof-mounted surfboard and its bed-mounted audio and video system.

Enthusiasts can use such vehicles to get ideas for their own projects.

It may be as simple as adding a tonneau. Leer's 700 Series comes in sizes to fit a variety of vehicles and features a hard and locking cover with a four-bar hinge and Leer's "Super Lift System" to ease opening and closing.

Prices for the Leer 700 Series tonneau range from $850 to $1,200.

For more information, visit www.leer.com or call (800) 967-5337.

Larry Edsall is a Phoenix-based freelance writer. You can reach him at (602) 300-4518 or ledsall@cox.net.