I have a complicated relationship with truck caps. On one hand, I love the opportunity to add more weatherproof storage to my truck. On the other, I hate losing bed space. As someone who frequently finds myself hauling home cords of wood, or taking loads of yard and house waste to the dump, I put a premium on bed space.
After the better part of this year with a SmartCap EVO Sport, though, I don’t think I’ll go without one of these on at least one of my pickups for the foreseeable future. The benefits far outweigh what I lose in functional bed space.
Construction
Automotive-grade stainless steel
Weight Rating
770lbs when parked
Windows
Double-bonded glass gullwings
Pros
- Weather and dust proof
- Extremely durable
- As functional as advertised
- Compatible with tons of accessories
Cons
- Weatherstripping issues
- Expensive
SmartCap designs and manufactures state-of-the-art truck caps that are leaps and bounds above what my buddies and I had on our first trucks. Instead of a fiberglass shell and plastic windows, SmartCap builds their truck toppers out of automotive-grade stainless steel and real glass. And if that sounds like overkill, that’s what I thought, too. But the build quality and durability of the stainless steel is immediately apparent once the SmartCap is on your truck.
For starters, you have a positive pressure air vent on the top of the cap, which is key to keeping dust out of the bed. This vent filters fresh air into the truck bed faster than the enclosed bed can suck it in.
Next off, you’ll get massive bonded-glass gullwing doors on either side that create huge openings, meaning you can access your gear without digging through everything from one opening at the tailgate. The EVO Sport is also the only cap with three-position vented windows built into the bonded glass.
Each cap is also designed in-house to fit your truck bed exactly. These aren’t cookie-cutter caps where one model is used to fit a variety of trucks and beds. Plus, the EVO Sport is capable of supporting 330 pounds on its roof in transit, and up to 770 pounds when parked. SmartCap also builds its caps to be compatible with other rooftop racks and accessories, so your favorite rooftop rod holder will fit on the SmartCap without a problem.
Rounding out the most notable features is a front slider window that lines up with the rear sliding window in my truck, so I can stick fully strung-up fly rods through and keep them ready to fish at a moment’s notice.
The EVO Sport comes with a $4,595 price tag, a fair bit more than comparable truck caps made from fiberglass. For that extra cash, the SmartCap better deliver on its promise, and then some.
What I Liked
Functionality
The goal of putting a truck cap on your bed is simple—you get more weatherproof storage and free up space in your cab. If you’re anything like me, the back seat of your truck always looks like a messy fly shop. Moving that mess somewhere else makes you feel productive and less of a slob, even if that’s not quite true.
Simply put, the SmartCap EVO Sport delivers on this front in spades. I’ve even gone so far as to organize my gear into various bins and place them in the bed, instead of tossing it all in a heap.
Before I got my current truck—a 2026 Tacoma—I had a 2017 F-150 with the Decked Drawer system in the bed. Those drawers were incredibly handy, but they ate up a ton of bed space, and I lost some hauling capacity. While the SmartCap means I can’t stick a particularly tall item in my Tacoma’s bed now, I feel like I have more usable space in the Tacoma than I ever did in the F150. If you use your truck to haul appliances, trash, or firewood, the SmartCap will cut down on your available space a bit, but not in a way that makes hauling common items impossible. In fact, I had to take a load of furniture and tools across two states recently, and it was nice to have the SmartCap in place for that. I didn’t have to strap the load down, worry about a tarp, or the items getting wet during rainstorms.
So if you’re a bit on the fence about adding a cap to your truck because you worry it’ll reduce your truck’s functionality, I wouldn’t let that be the deciding factor. Unless you’re consistently sticking tall, oddly-shaped items in your truck bed, you’ll be just fine.
Windows and Gullwing Doors
The gullwing doors might be my favorite feature on the SmartCap. Instead of accessing your truck bed through sliding windows, you get a fully opening door that gives you access to almost half the bed (or, if you’re not as short as I am, half the bed). These doors lock, and the locks are kept dust-free via attached rubber caps.
It’s hard to overstate just how functional these gullwing doors are. This might seem like a small thing to get excited about, but when you can access your bed easily from all three sides, and have plenty of room to reach in and rearrange or grab gear without needing to go through the tailgate every time, you’ll understand why it’s such a great feature.
I picked the EVO Sport model because I wanted glass windows on the side doors of the cap. I love being able to see what gear is on which side of the bed. Plus, I love the ability to crack the windows for some extra airflow when sleeping in the bed.
A front sliding window is an absolute must-have for me, as well. I like to open the window in my truck’s rear glass too, so I can stick strung-up fly rods through the bed and into the cab. I prefer hauling rods this way instead of in a rooftop rod rack because it’s less obvious that I have gear for stealing.
Each window locks securely in place from the inside of the cap, although I have had issues getting the front sliding window to stay closed after a day of fishing.
My fishing buddy also got a SmartCap around the same time as I did, and he opted for a model without windows on the gullwing doors. After seeing his SmartCap, I’m more and more positive that I made the right call.
Overall Quality
It’s also hard to overstate just how well-built the SmartCap is. This thing feels like it’ll take all sorts of abuse for as long as I have my Tacoma (and likely even longer). Everything from the hydraulic hinges to the rubber caps covering the locks feels solid. Nothing on this outfit feels cheap or like SmartCap took the easy route to putting it together. In a world where it feels like everyone tries to cut a corner, this is a welcome reprieve.
Dust and Waterproof
SmartCap makes sure to point out in their marketing that the EVO Sport is dust and waterproof. It’s not hard to see why it keeps out water—stainless steel is good at that—but the dustproof claim had me raising an eyebrow. Would that really be possible?
Well, after about a hundred miles on some of the dustiest dirt roads I know, I’ll vouch for it.
The EVO Sport’s doors and rear hatch all lock securely and overlap the frame, which would make it tough for dust to work its way into the bed. Still, that usually doesn’t stop dust. That’s where the cap’s positive pressure vent on the roof comes into play. The way this works is by filtering fresh air through a thick foam mesh into the bed at a rate that’s faster than the air can normally be sucked in. This balance of pulling in dust-free air keeps the bed surprisingly clean and spotless, even after hours on bad roads.
The only time I managed to get water in the EVO Sport was while washing my truck at a self-serve station. While spraying off the roof, I must have angled the hose into the air pressure vent, because there was a bit of water in the bed right underneath it. Other than that, it’s been watertight during plenty of rainstorms.
Accessories
SmartCap makes a ton of accessories you can choose from if you want to build out a rig and don’t have to worry about bed space. From their Kitchen Bin—which features a fold-out propane-powered stove—to bins built to fit right inside the gullwing doors, to built-in rod racks, you can put just about any kind of SmartCap together.
Since I put a premium on bed space, I didn’t opt for any accessories. I could probably fit a Kitchen Bin or something similar on one side, but I’d hate to lose the functionality of two gullwing doors. Plus, I like as much space as possible while sleeping in the bed, so I’m happy to stay accessory-free for the moment. But if you feel differently, you’ll probably find exactly what you need from SmartCap.
The EVO Sport also came ready for mounting rod racks on the roof, a rooftop tent, or any other roof-mounted accessories you might want.
What I Didn’t Like
Weatherstripping Failure
My buddy got a SmartCap at the same time as I did (his is the EVO Adventure), and we had them installed at different dealers. After the first few trips on rough roads, my buddy noticed the weatherstripping between the bottom of the cap and the sides of the truck bed was poking out. It quickly worked its way loose, hanging down like a giant rope on the side of his truck. He took it to a dealer, who reinstalled the cap, but the issue came back as soon as we arrived home from another trip on dirt roads.
My cap did the same thing after a few trips, lasting a bit longer than my friend’s. Neither of us has found a permanent solution, and we have taken to shoving the weatherstripping back in as best we can. I don’t know how much this weatherstripping impacts the dust-proof performance, but it’s certainly annoying.
Final Word
I’m nothing short of thrilled with my SmartCap, the weatherstripping issue aside. I’m a much bigger fan of it than I anticipated, and at this point in my time with it, most of the company’s marketing claims seem to be true. As someone who lives and fishes in Wyoming, I’m frequently driving long distances in inclement weather. Adding more waterproof storage to my truck has been a game-changer, and I’ve enjoyed sleeping in my truck bed again.
At $4,595, the EVO Sport isn’t cheap. But it’s not far off from the $3,500 that most brand-new fiberglass caps start at, either. For the extra cash, you get a much more durable and functional product. Plus, the dust-proof system from SmartCap is worth the extra cost, in my opinion. I can’t overstate how nice it is not to need to constantly sweep out my truck bed between trips.
If you’re in the market for a new truck cap, the SmartCap EVO Sport should absolutely be on your list.