My truck is a long bed. If I were to have ordered a brand new truck back in 1997, this would have been the truck. So when I saw it for sale 1400 miles away in Spokane, I bought a plane ticket and drove it home.
Well, after looking online at the weather stripping of each body, it looks like the Knapheide is a bit better. The weatherstripping on the Reading looks to be glued to the door, so I'm not sure how long it would actually stay there.
The Reading also has spring shackle cut outs in the rear of the body. This means the rear bins will have blocked out areas, and the floor will not be flat across the entire bottom. My dad's original Classic has the same problem, and it looks like the new Classic II is in the same situation.
If you compare specs between the Knapheide
Ford or
GM page and the
Reading , you'll see the Knapheide has better utilization of body length. It appears there is less wasted body, and more useable door.
I'll try to find a couple distributors, besides the one in AZ, that carries both Knapheide and Reading and give them a call. It's tough to make a decision unless you can check each of them out. But I've had two trucks in the past with Knapheide bodies, and I've never been disappointed.
