FAQs

A lot of questions about the TruckShade have been coming to us via email. Here are the answers to most of the questions we’ve received so far.

How does the TruckShade mount to my truck? Do I have to drill any holes or bolt anything together?

As long as the stake pockets in the bed rail are free to use the TruckShade can be easily mounted – no drilling, or any kind of truck modifications are necessary.  But this means you can't have a ladder rack, tubular bed rails, a camper shell, camper or a tonneau or anything else covering the stake pockets.

To mount the TruckShade you simply insert the stanchions into the forward and aft stake pockets of your truck bed, insert the fore and aft poles into the canopy, and then with the canopy attached, insert the poles into the stanchions, hook the forward and aft tie down cords to the chassis of your truck, insert the two diagonal poles and then adjust the cord lengths as necessary. That's it!

How much shade does it provide?

The length of the TruckShade is different for different trucks.   The longest is 93” and the shortest is 64”.  All of the TruckShades are 60” wide. So, it’s about 5’ X 7 1/2’ for the longbed units and about 5' X 6' for the standard bed units.  This gives approximately 40 square feet for a longbed and 30 square feet for the standard bed trucks.  When you combine that with the side of your truck you end up getting about 80 or 60 square feet of shade depending on the position of the sun.  It’s always best to position your truck so you get the longest shadows off the side of your truck that you’re going to mount the TruckShade to.

I live in Colorado outside of Denver.  Our local track Watkins gets VERY windy from time to time. How does your product hold up in the wind and are there replacement parts readily available if a pole or something brakes.

With the new stronger mount poles (all new orders have them) the TruckShade can handle winds up somewhere between 25 and 35 mph depending on the direction of the wind.  If the winds get much stronger than that you'd better take it down and pack it away, otherwise you could break one or both of the mount poles.  The TruckShade is no different than any other "soft" shelter in this respect.

Replacement poles are available.  See our "Online Orders" page.

I own a Ford E350 Van, any thoughts or ideas for a vanshade?  I to spend time at the local So. Cal tracks and at off-road events, a Van shade would be real nice. I have to agree that my 12x12 EZ up provides great shade, but it's a pain in the rear to deal with.

For now we're concentrating on pickup trucks and fulfilling all of the requests for the many different truck configurations out there.  We will have a TruckShade for vans, hopefully, before next summer.  It's taking a bit of time to get the design correct and find people who can produce the mounting brackets economically so we can keep the cost of the TruckShade low.

I've had to a few rides cut short when rain showers moved through the area and got us and our equipment all wet.  Is the TruckShade waterproof? 

The TruckShade is made from a waterproof nylon material and can provide excellent protection from the rain.  Severe winds associated with some thunderstorms could be a problem, and you should take the TruckShade down if the winds get real strong.