Because I plan to carry a generator and gasoline can, I plan to trade my van in for a pickup this fall. Since I want to secure things in the bed I will be installing a tri-fold cover. I know that the bed moves enough air that it's probably not a safety issue, but I would like to have some kind of ventilation through the bed while traveling down the road. Has anyone made a modification to accomplish this, especially something stealthy? No guesses please - just facts!

Not sure I understand your question... you want to be able to run a generator while driving down the road and are worried about enough ventilation?I'd be worried about the heat and its effect on the tonneau cover. Seems to me you would want a camper shell with windows. That will allow for a LOT of airflow (especially while moving) and a lot of space around the gennie for heat to dissipate.

Sorry I wasn't clear. I don't intend to run the generator while running down the road. I just want to keep any gasoline fumes from the vents diluted and maybe knock down the temperature a little. I see that the toy haulers usually have a vent system.

There's not much you can do other than perhaps use a bilge pump to evacuate the fumes every once in a while. Don't try to use a regular fan (boom).But frankly I don't think it's that big of deal. Just make sure the gas containers are tight and can't move around a lot and don't store plastic cans on a bed rug unless you have a metal pan between them. I'll bet you can hardly smell the gas at all when you open the cover.

Buy a canopy and open window. You will be further ahead than a bed cover.

I've had a few camper shells and don't want to go that route. Thus why I'm not looking for opinions. For the generator while camping, I want to open the cover and tailgate, and fire it up in the bed. A tri-fold cover is easy to remove if I need to haul brush, etc. I agree it's probably not that big of a deal.

Ventilating Covered Pickup Bed? | Good Sam Community

13 Replies

DougE
Explorer
Jul 19, 2014
Thanks guys, I really appreciate the input!
milo
Explorer II
Jul 18, 2014
Last summer we had 2 gens and 5 gallons of gas in the bed of our truck with a trifold cover over it. Lugged em around for 4500 miles with out an issue. All I did was put a 1/4 inch spacer between the cover & tailgate on each side. Very faint smell of fumes when I'd open it. Won't have to worry bout this year as we will be towing a 5er.
alexleblanc
Explorer
Jul 14, 2014
I've run trifolds on both my trucks and kept generators in there with fuel cans. There's a ton of airflow from the tailgate and drainage holes. I wouldn't give it a second though.
Community Alumni
Jul 14, 2014
All of my trucks have always come with several drainage holes in the bed. There's a few small permanent ones and a few larger ones that have removable plugs. The air flows from holes seems to be sufficient for an tanks I put back there even with the cover closed. Little gaps around the tailgate and cover will also flow air.
Dayle1
Explorer II
Jul 14, 2014
DougE wrote:
I've had a few camper shells and don't want to go that route. Thus why I'm not looking for opinions. For the generator while camping, I want to open the cover and tailgate, and fire it up in the bed. A tri-fold cover is easy to remove if I need to haul brush, etc. I agree it's probably not that big of a deal.

There are probably plenty of small vents that you could use. One that comes to mind is the round plastic ones used to vent RV battery boxes. Sure there are many more. Mount several thru the front wall of the truck bed, near the floor. Since the tailgate does not have any weather stripping, air will easily flow around the sides and bottom of the tailgate. The combo should provide adequate ventilation.
Dog_Folks
Explorer
Jul 14, 2014
DougE wrote:
Because I plan to carry a generator and gasoline can, I plan to trade my van in for a pickup this fall. Since I want to secure things in the bed I will be installing a tri-fold cover. I know that the bed moves enough air that it's probably not a safety issue, but I would like to have some kind of ventilation through the bed while traveling down the road. Has anyone made a modification to accomplish this, especially something stealthy? No guesses please - just facts!

You may want to install a passive ventilation system using marine type vents. You would just need to drill a few holes in the cover.

They are designed to ventilate gas fumes from the bilge areas of boats, and they do the job well.

Here is a link showing all styles, Vents

Hope this helps.
jus2shy
Explorer
Jul 14, 2014
Quick note, the newest gasoline containers are required by law to have a CARB approved head that doesn't allow any venting of gasoline vapors. If you have these newer containers, gasoline fumes shouldn't be an issue under a properly functioning gasoline container.

I also believe it's the same for all newly produced generators, I don't know how recent this law is.
1oldtruck
Explorer
Jul 14, 2014
I've carried gas cans in the bed of my truck under several different types of bed covers and never had an issue. I do avoid using has cans with the flexible hose. The caps on these cans tend to get knocked off easily. The self-venting cans have a cap that snaps into place and stays put.
DougE
Explorer
Jul 13, 2014
I've had a few camper shells and don't want to go that route. Thus why I'm not looking for opinions. For the generator while camping, I want to open the cover and tailgate, and fire it up in the bed. A tri-fold cover is easy to remove if I need to haul brush, etc. I agree it's probably not that big of a deal.
Fast0ne
Explorer
Jul 13, 2014
Buy a canopy and open window. You will be further ahead than a bed cover.