Featured here: the UWS UWS EC10473 69-inch Heavy-Wall Aluminum Crossover.
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This is the first decision that constrains everything else in a truck bed, and most people make it by accident — they buy whichever one they thought of first, then discover the other has become expensive or impossible.
A cover if the bed carries varied cargo that needs keeping dry and out of sight. A box if specific tools need locking up. If you genuinely need both, a slimline box plus a tri-fold cover is the combination that works.
Why they fight
Both want the bed rails behind the cab. A standard crossover box is 14 inches or more tall and sits exactly where a cover's front rail and seal go, and the box lid opens upward into the space the closed cover occupies.
There is no clever workaround for a standard box under an ordinary cover. The combinations that work require one side or the other to change: a slimline box, or a cover specifically notched for a tool box. Clearances and combinations.
What each one actually solves
Tool box
Tonneau cover
Keeps things dry
What is inside the box
The whole bed
Keeps things hidden
What is inside the box
The whole bed
Locks
Yes — properly, with a good latch
No — it latches, which is different
Bed floor
Loses 18-21 in of length
Keeps all of it
Tall cargo
Fine behind the box
Must come off, or go below the cover line
Price
Comparable to a soft cover
Soft covers are cheaper, hard ones are not
The key asymmetry: a box locks and a cover does not. If the question is “will my tools still be there in the morning”, the cover is not the answer and no amount of liking the look changes that.
Buy the cover if
The bed carries varied cargo. Material, bags, boxes, tools, a dog crate. A cover protects all of it; a box protects only what fits inside.
Weather is the main problem. Rain in an open bed ruins more than theft does on most trucks.
You want the whole bed floor. No format gives you more usable bed than an empty covered one.
The truck is also a family vehicle. A covered bed looks finished; a crossover box looks like a work truck.
Buy the box if
Specific tools have to be locked up. This is the only thing a box does that nothing else here does.
The truck parks on the street or on site overnight. A latch and a lock are different things.
You need to find things without unrolling or unfolding anything. On a work day, opening a lid beats opening a cover.
You carry tall cargo regularly. A box leaves the rest of the bed open to any height.
Heavy-wall aluminum, a foam-filled RigidCore lid that does not flex when you sit on it, and a low profile that still clears most rear glass. This is the crossover to buy if you intend to keep the truck.
Who should skip it. Skip it on a 5'5" short bed. At 69 inches it will sit on the rails, but you lose a disproportionate share of a short bed and the money is better spent on a side-mount pair.
Build
9.4
Weather seal
8.8
Security
8.6
Bed usability
8.0
Value
7.4
What works
+Foam-filled lid does not oil-can under body weight
+Low profile clears rear glass on most full-size crew cabs
+Heavy-wall extrusion survives being used as a step
+Gas struts are serviceable rather than sealed units
What does not
−Among the most expensive aluminum crossovers on the shelf
−69 in is a full-size length — not a mid-size answer
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Aluminum panels, a matte finish that does not chalk, and it folds flat against the bulkhead so you can still carry tall cargo. For a truck that needs security most days and open-bed capacity some days, a hard tri-fold is the correct compromise and the MX4 is the one to buy.
Who should skip it. It is not a locking vault. The cover latches, but a determined thief gets through any folding panel cover. Valuable tools belong in a steel box under the cover, not loose beneath it.
Protection
9.2
Weather seal
8.8
Install
9.0
Durability
9.2
Value
7.4
What works
+Folds flat to the bulkhead — full bed height still available
+Aluminum panels shed snow load that a soft cover sags under
+Matte finish does not fade to gray the way gloss vinyl does
+Clamp-on install with no drilling
What does not
−Expensive relative to a soft tri-fold
−Latches deter, they do not secure
−Folded panels sit at the bulkhead and block the front third of the bed
A 70 in slimline cross-bed box with a low enough crown that a folding tonneau will usually close over it. If you want both a cover and a box and refuse to cut either, start here.
Who should skip it. Slim means slim. If a cover is not in the plan, you are paying for a constraint you do not have — buy a deeper box.
Build
7.8
Weather seal
7.6
Security
7.4
Bed usability
9.0
Value
8.4
What works
+Low crown clears most tri-fold and hard folding covers
+Full 70 in of box length across the rails
+Black finish matches factory bed rail caps
What does not
−Shallow interior — not for bulky cases
−Cover clearance still has to be verified against your specific cover
−The lid is unremarkable; it is a storage box, not a step
A low-profile soft roll-up that sits almost flush with the rails. Roll-ups beat folders on one axis that matters daily: you get the entire bed clear in about ten seconds without wrestling panels.
Who should skip it. Vinyl is vinyl. It will not take a snow load, it will not take weight, and in ten years it will look its age in a way an aluminum panel will not.
Protection
7.4
Weather seal
8.0
Install
9.4
Durability
7.8
Value
8.4
What works
+Whole bed clear in seconds — no panels to stow
+Low profile looks tidier than a folding cover
+Cheaper than any hard cover
+No drilling
What does not
−No snow or weight capacity
−Vinyl ages, especially in strong sun
−Rolled bundle sits at the bulkhead and reduces bed length when open
Other bed lengths and trucks — separate part numbers
Beds carrying a crossover tool box
The combination, for people who need both
A slimline or low-profile cross-bed box at the bulkhead, and a soft or hard tri-fold cover over it. The box has to be genuinely slim and the cover has to be checked against the box's height. It works, and it is the only arrangement that reliably does on a standard pickup.
Measure the box height above the rail line. That has to clear the underside of the closed cover.
Buy a cover notched for a tool box, or a box low enough not to need one. Those are the two routes.
Avoid retractable covers. The bulkhead canister takes the space the box wants.
Accept you cannot fold the cover fully forward. The folded stack will foul the box.
The third option nobody mentions
A chest box on the bed floor uses no rail space at all. That makes it fully compatible with any cover, any rack and any bed rack — it just costs you a rectangle of floor instead of the rails.
On a truck where you want a cover and lockable storage and will not compromise on either, that is the honest answer, and almost nobody suggests it.
Questions people actually ask
Should I get a tool box or a tonneau cover first?
Whichever solves your actual problem: a cover for weather and privacy across the whole bed, a box for locking specific tools up. They mostly exclude each other on a standard pickup, so decide deliberately rather than buying whichever you thought of first.
Can you have a tool box and a tonneau cover?
Yes, with a slimline or low-profile cross-bed box and a tri-fold cover, or with a cover specifically notched for a tool box. A standard 14 in crossover box and an ordinary cover do not coexist. Clearances.
Does a tonneau cover secure the bed?
No. Covers latch rather than lock, and anyone determined gets through a folding or rolling panel. If you have tools and a cover, the tools still belong in a locked box underneath it.
Which is cheaper, a tool box or a tonneau cover?
A soft tri-fold cover is usually cheaper than a decent crossover box; a hard folding cover is usually more expensive. Compare live prices rather than assumptions — the figures on the cards above update when you load the page.
Is there a way to have both without compromising?
A chest box on the bed floor uses no rail space at all, so it is fully compatible with any cover, rack or bed rack. It costs you a rectangle of floor instead of the rails. Almost nobody suggests this and it is often the right answer.
Last reviewed October 5, 2026. Think a figure here is wrong? Tell us at contact@toolboxandtruck.com and we will check it, fix it and date the correction — see our editorial policy.
