Truck bed/Tonneau cover??

[mountainmole]

The time is drawing nigh. 2 more weeks to fulltimming. Everything's about done except removing 25 yrs of accumulated junk from the basement. Some of the tools & equipment will end up in the back of the truck and with that in mind am looking at a cover. Wow, the options are endless. Looking at a retractable alum. covered one by Truck Covers USA, spendy but looks very strong and secure. Thoughts, experiences, likes/dislikes -- all accepted with thanks.

[Illini Trekker]

I have the Access tonneau cover like and recommend it.

http://www.agricover.com/index.php/p...s/category/C9/

Retractable alum covers have a box that collects the cove and in my mine would enter fear with the precious cargo space you will have left in the bed.

Fold up covers may get in the way with vision when hooking up the trailer.

[bsmeaton]

Those aluminum retractable sure look nice to me, and will fit over my hitch.

Someday - like you say, a little pricey. Best thing is being able to lock the back of the truck with stuff under there when unhitched from the Monty and out sightseeing or even shopping. I hate putting all of our "can't live without souvenirs" in the back seat every time we get out to go somewhere.

[sailer]

I have a Roll-N-Lock vinyle cover aith alllumium that locks and is about water tite as can be but not perfect it lock in 5 dif possitions so i run with part of the back covered with the 4th wheel then i close it all the way ,, its was only 1000.00 and i guess its part of the whole deal ,, if that is too much then down grade to a unit you can afforade and enjoy life with less but no payments john

[judyuk]

We've been researching tonneau covers also this past week and will probably go with the Pace Edwards fullmetal Jackrabbit cover. http://www.pace-edwards.com/fullmetal_jr.asp
It can be locked in 12" increments when we're towing our 5th wheel. It's a pretty hefty price and we're getting bids right now, but think it will be worth it. The plan is to be able to utilize the bed without worrying about theft and weather problems.
Judy

[skypilot]

I have the 'Fold-A-Cover' on mine that got damaged in a windstorm. While looking at replacement I looked into the pace-edwards models and Roll-N-Lock. Something to watch out for on those is that they have a 'box' that takes up space in the front of the bed -- it is where the cover rolls into. Roll-N-Lock had the smallest box by the specs. If you are looking at getting an in-bed fuel tank at any time, nothing that goes into the bed will work -- hence I stayed with Fold-A-Cover. Now, all that said, I do have experience with the Pace-Edwards Jackrabbit. Good cover, never had any problem with in in over 4 years of KS weather, (Ice/snow/rain). It is not water proof but it also did not bow under the weight of ice and snow either. Washed it with the truck at the local 'you wash em yourself' car washes and never had any problem with the cover material. Just my .02.

[kerry]

I too have an Access tonneau cover. I've had one on the last three trucks I've owned, and haven't had any trouble with any of them. I also had a Transfer Flow low profile 50 gal. tank installed, and the roll top would not have allowed me to put the tank in. Check it out on line, it's a tpo quality product. Kerry

[judyuk]

quote:Originally posted by skypilot

I have the 'Fold-A-Cover' on mine that got damaged in a windstorm. While looking at replacement I looked into the pace-edwards models and Roll-N-Lock. Something to watch out for on those is that they have a 'box' that takes up space in the front of the bed -- it is where the cover rolls into. Roll-N-Lock had the smallest box by the specs. If you are looking at getting an in-bed fuel tank at any time, nothing that goes into the bed will work -- hence I stayed with Fold-A-Cover. Now, all that said, I do have experience with the Pace-Edwards Jackrabbit. Good cover, never had any problem with in in over 4 years of KS weather, (Ice/snow/rain). It is not water proof but it also did not bow under the weight of ice and snow either. Washed it with the truck at the local 'you wash em yourself' car washes and never had any problem with the cover material. Just my .02.

Good point. My husband is also concerned about that so we may take a second look at the Fold-A-Cover. We're having a sliding Reese's hitch installed and are wondering how wide each panel would be for an 8' Dodge Dually bed....I'm assuming there's four panels so about 2' per panel? Also, Can you close the cover over the 5th wheel when you're not towing? Do you have to fold two panels back when towing? Sorry for all the questions, but since you've been there, done that, thought I could get your input. Thanks,
Judy

[ejc1214]

I got a Fold-A-Cover on mine and one thing that you should know is that the track will take about 1" of clearance off the rv and bed rails as it mounts on top of the bed rails. So, if you have 7-8 inches not a problem but if your clearance is about 6" think about a different type of cover. I love mine by the way.

[judyuk]

quote:Originally posted by ejc1214

I got a Fold-A-Cover on mine and one thing that you should know is that the track will take about 1" of clearance off the rv and bed rails as it mounts on top of the bed rails. So, if you have 7-8 inches not a problem but if your clearance is about 6" think about a different type of cover. I love mine by the way.

Thanks. We're having the hitch installed this weekend. Once that's in, we'll know whether this cover will work or not. Did you install the cover yourself?

[skypilot]

Judy: If you have the 8ft bed, why the slider?

All of the fold-a-covers are 4 partitions. I have the Reese 18K signature and it is rather tall - the handle is actually above my bed rails when it is level so I have to angle it down on the handle side to close the cover. The upward pressure from the handle is what we think caused my problem before -- had a cross wind pick the cover up and damaged it and the truck bed (had a thunderstorm microburst hit us). In any case, Fold-A-Cover now has a 2nd generation cover out that actually has a locking mechanism for the middle two partitions to help hold the cover down in high wind conditions. Works like a charm. (long answer to the question of can we cover the hitch installed).

The fold-a-cover can only be used folded up to the front (rear 3 panels lie flat on top of the front panel with short cords snapped to hold them together); or fully closed.

Another thing I really like about the Fold-A-Cover is that I can open both the back and front over (folding them over the center 2 pieces) and then run my two little Honda EU2000 generators in the bed of my truck. Lets air flow from rear to front for cooling / exhaust and works really well. Helps muffle what little sound the hondas make even more and allows me to simply unhook the cord from the trailer, throw it in the truck bed and then latch the fold-a-cover and away we go to the football games or whatever we do. (Also provides a 'rain cover' for the generators on those bad weather days).

The only distractor I have found is that if I have something Long and Tall, There is no way to completely get the cover out of the way unless you remove it -- it is easy to do but not convenient if you are at the store and need to take something home then. A roll-up fabric cover (i.e. not one that rolls into a canister such as the jackrabbit or Rolling-n-lock ) are the only ones that I've seen that are still made that can be rolled out of the way. (There used to be one other folding cover on the market that folded up into the front of the bed (covering some of the back window of the truck) -- I don't see it out on Google anymore.

So, once again, long winded but hope this helps some. Do ask about that 'sliding' hitch though - with a full length bed you shouldn't need one unless there is something unique about your situation.

[richfaa]

I have the fold-a-cover and I will only relate what I don't like about it. When folded up in the towing mode I can not see over it to observe the hitching process.I suppose I could if my neck was about 2 feet long. The next time I will get just the average vinyl roll up cover to protect the hitch when not in use. Let me add to that..Just found out that my Fold a Cover front panel (At the cab) would not lock down..Took it to the shop where we purchased it and it is completely out of wack..The entire cover has shifted and is missing shims and screws.Our guess, Mine and the shop, is that the wind turblance when towing has put undue pressure on the cover.We have perhaps 18K towing miles on the cover..My take is these covers look good and may be ok for weekend and vacation camping...but... in the long term do not hack it....In my experience only..

[skypilot]

Rich: I think Fold-A-Cover had / has a problem with their latching mechanism on the original model (plastic catches that go under the bedrails to latch); the new model used latches like the door latches, positive closing; much more secure and sturdy according the the Dodge dealer who installed mine. I agree though -- I also can not see my hitch -- I end up almost standing up (I brace myself up) to see out the back which hooking up.

[judyuk]

Sky-pilot,
When we made the deal on the Big Sky, we weren't sure if we'd be getting a short bed or long bed so had them include the sliding hitch just to cover ourselves.....Since then, we bought the long bed. The price on the package was really good, so we figured we'd stay with the sliding hitch. Does it make a difference even though we won't need it? As you can tell, this is our first time dealing with all this.
If you were going to buy another tonneau cover would you still buy fold a cover over the others?

ON edit; We just talked to the salesman and will be getting the Reese hitch without the slider....so the sliding question is moot.
Thanks,
Judy

[richfaa]

Skypilot.. Thanks for the heads up on the improved latches for the Fold-A-Cover. We have a appointment next week to have it repaired and I will ask for the new latches..

[ejc1214]

Judy,
I did not install the cover myself. I let the shop that sold it to me install it for a total cost or $725.00. You could probably install yourself but I only have so much time in a day and decided I could use my time in my business instead of on the install. I am getting a new truck tomorrow, a 2007 D/A classic 4x4 CC SB and on it I will get a vinyl tri-fold cover like the one I had before. It completely folds back without a frame on the bed rails. If you don't need "security" that could be an option for you and give you an extra inch of clearance between bed rail and 5th. Lund makes one for about $350.00. Hope that helps you.

[judyuk]

quote:Originally posted by ejc1214

Judy,
I did not install the cover myself. I let the shop that sold it to me install it for a total cost or $725.00. You could probably install yourself but I only have so much time in a day and decided I could use my time in my business instead of on the install. I am getting a new truck tomorrow, a 2007 D/A classic 4x4 CC SB and on it I will get a vinyl tri-fold cover like the one I had before. It completely folds back without a frame on the bed rails. If you don't need "security" that could be an option for you and give you an extra inch of clearance between bed rail and 5th. Lund makes one for about $350.00. Hope that helps you.

Thanks for the info. I think we're looking at a cover that's "secure" as we'll be fulltiming and need the extra storage.
Judy

[MAMalody]

I have the Truxcedo bed cover and it works great. When it is rolled up it does not limit my vision of the hitch. When rolled out it covers the hitch and protects it from the weather. All I have had to do in the 4 years I have had it is to replace the velcro side striping.

[skypilot]

Rich: I don't know if the new latches are available as a retrofit or not -- Give Brian Steffens at Fold-A-Cover a call at 616-656-6886 x 233 or email him at BSteffens@steffensent.com . He was super when working with me and my local Dodge dealer (unfortunately Dodge hasn't blessed the new upgraded edition so I only have the Fold-A-Cover warranty now vs. the Dodge 3/36 but oh well, it works better ). If you call and he is not there, hit whatever number it is to get to the other gentleman that works there -- also super -- I just don't have an email handy with his name or number.

Judy: I looked at various covers -- never really considered a 'fabric cover' because I'm basically lazy at my ole age and I didn't want to deal with rolling the thing up; as mentioned I looked at several of the rolling type covers. However, I have this dream of buying an auxiliary in-bed fueld tank (TransferFlow or some like brand), and since since the rolling covers all rolled into a canister at the front of truck bed (sitting down into the bed somewhat) I discounted them. That left Fold-A-Cover as the only one left that I could find.

I've had Fold-A-Cover covers on 3 different vehicles makes /sizes (Ford F150, Ford F250 and then my F350, and now my Dodges) and have had no problems until this wind-storm incident. You do need to ensure that the front latches hold -- if air gets under the top, it will lift the thing; Had that happen several times with the older type (like what Rich is having problems right now with); since I've gotten the new model, absolutely no problems and I've been in some winds since then.

[simonsrf]

Judy,

We have the Access cover and we have a full-sized toolbox. I cannot see the hitch when backing into it but that is the fault of the toolbox not the tonneau cover. To solve the problem, we use a hitch memory bubble, and I put a spot on the rear window that lines up with the trailer level on the hitch...sorry, not very good at explaining, but you know how to get in touch.