Five years ago when “Wicked” Wade Becher and his father started Wicked Wraps in Everett, Wash., they bought their first printer, and printed and installed wraps out of the senior Becher’s garage.  -Read more-

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See “Suspension Update,” where Tony Curless talks about changes in offroad equipment.

People are more willing to spend on bed protection systems now, even if not at the level of a few years ago. Photo of Line-A-Bed SR from STK LLC.

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Bedliners can be sprayed on, rolled on or dropped in, all for a custom fit, all to protect a truck bed and, oftentimes, to better protect and help stabilize items placed on the bed.

Spray-type systems can offer such versatility (depending on the type) as custom colors or applying the compound to other vehicles or even vehicle areas, or to other surfaces such as trailers, marine craft, boat ramps, swimming pool walkways, even animal enclosures or shed roofs.

Puget Sound Energy (PSE) and the City of Bellevue, Wash., hosted the debut of the 2010 Nissan LEAF, an all-electric family-sized hatchback, on Dec. 10. The LEAF is expected to be on sale in five U.S. markets by December 2010, including the Puget Sound area.

The LEAF, which features advanced battery technologies and other innovations, is expected to have a 100-mile range between charges.

How many services are you currently providing your customers? If there’s room for another one, have you considered wheel restoration?

Wheel repair is a service that requires a little more substantial investment in equipment and training than some of the simpler reconditioning services, but it can provide some worthwhile profit potential. It’s not a widely known or offered service, manufacturers say.

Generally, soft tonneau sellers note that even though sales overall were lower in 2008 than 2007, they decrease hasn’t been as dramatic as one might think, and in some cases soft tonneau sales were up. And while crew cab installs were big in 2007, a shift to standard full-size and extended-cab pickups carried through in 2008.

Read on as restylers share how the covers are selling, who’s buying and why, and what products are working for which clients.

Got you covered. And got you covered well.

Tonneaus, truck caps and their attendant accessories turn an open bed into a closed compartment for a storage area that’s protected form the weather and the prying eyes of thieves. Some retract, some fold, some roll; and some offer lighting, remote open. And there are such accessories as racks design specifically to work with tonneaus to give overhead storage.

We’ve got a bevy of bed covers on display throughout the next several pages. Yep. We’ve got you covered.