Steel Side Rail Caps: Are They Necessary?

I have been looking for a way to secure the gear in my truck bed and carry a rooftop tent for some time now. At first, I was leaning toward a camper shell but now I think I will go with KBVoodoo's Hi Rise Crossbars and a retractable tonneau cover, kind of like unBloodrave's setup here but with cross bars instead of a full blown bed rack. Are metal side bed rail caps like these necessary to protect the bed rail? With two attachment points each for the crossbars and only the thin, plastic, OEM bed rail caps to spread out the load, I am mostly concerned with any paint rub or deformation of the bed rail that would result from carrying a RTT while off-roading. What has been your experience with a similar setup? Are metal side rail caps needed in your opinion? I searched the forums and did find a couple of people complaining similar issues, but that's about it. Just want to find out if its really a problem before I start throwing money at a solution. Thanks in advance.

Crossbars:


Reinforced side bed rail caps:

 

i would not worry. i have a fiberglass cap, and prinsu rack on my stock plastic bed rails for a year now and have no issues with rubbing the paint or anything of the sorts

 

A little off topic but with regards to the kb voodoo, do u know if they also fit gen3, or a good source to find oem / similar bed cap. Switching mine from the oem styles cut for the trifold cover to the solid without cut outs. I have a bed bar/basket to be installed for my spare tire

 

Best to email KB about it. If I remember correctly, they made 2nd gen and 3rd gen specific ones but discontinued the 3rd gen ones. Not sure what the difference was.

 

@Twizted

Holy balls thread revival, disregard tag but... Left it for giggles.

 

I’m bringing it back again. These are something I’d like to look at. As I need to replace mine. I cut mine up to install factory bed cover. Now, I’m changing it up. And my hacked up bed caps look like crap.

 

I've put 3/16" X 3" X 1" steel angle right on top of the oem bed rails. Helps with heavy stuff falling over in the bed and banging against the sides.