The white top will help, but to get the full effect you really need it all to be white. The doors being dark will heat up and transfer the heat inside same as the roof because as the top heats, the majority of the heat rises away only the convection heat from the roof affects the cabin. The doors will radiate laterally and upwards into the cabin.
Next the hood and fenders heating up tranfer the heat into the cabin. The more metal in the sun, the hotter the cab will get. A two door will get hot quicker because less air space for you to feel, but the over all temperature of a four door truck will get hotter.
Using sound proofing material in the roof and doors that is also rated thermally helps way more than the color. Basically think if you have a house with 4” insulation pained white, or 12” insulation painted black.
On the hide dirt- Most fleets go white for the two reasons of better mpg because cooler rig means less a/c and therefore less fuel burned, and as the rig gets slightly dirty, the appearance goes from bright white to off white. Darker colors show the dirt more UNLESS the color of the vehicle matches the dirt color in your area. Go to an outside car show car show and notice the gloss black shows the dust easier than red, and the white ones barely show any dust. Normally dirt is tan, so yes that color scheme hides the dirt, even from splashed puddles well. That gold color matches dirt very well in his area- notice the splash on the lower stripe and the hood, but not the mid section- yup cleaner look when it can’t be washed all the time, provided you don’t have the dark stripe right where the tires kick everything up on it.
Personally I am sick of that color because I see so much of it- used to love it - especially on these trucks. But That is the only color we get in the desert! Ever notice car commercials show rainy, forested areas in my part of the country and folks in predominantly wooded areas see commercials in the desert- the idea is change from what you have promoting the new car idea.
Back to the heat problem- i see tinted window- the type of tint is far more important than how dark. Take a halogen work light and set it outside the window turned on a while. Feel for heat coming through. If you can feel that heat- getting the tint redone will make a bigger difference than paint color. High quality tint can stop 95% of heat from coming in. Many vehicles here get the almost perfectly clear tint and it stops 50%.
If you ever seen the difference, find an expensive- not lowest price- tint shop and usually they can demo it in their showroom. Many times in life you get what you pay for- tint is one of them.
Remember when plastic bed liners were all the rage? Black plastic... yeah. my 99 3500 srw came with one. I had it a month, the Saturday night i took it out, Sunday was cooler by a couple degrees in the truck - i had my a/c drained for repairs that week. i just didn't like everything sliding around. My wife and friend were with me both days getting in the truck at the same time each day- they commented same time before me so wasn’t just my thought. that was before tinting windows however.
The cracked windows with the solar powered fan really works btw.
Hope this helps.
Or
Remote start with a/c left on- yeah...
Remind me why i am thermally coating the a/c condenser core along with radiator? Oh yeah both coils being done should cool any rig 25% faster.
