Tonneau Covers

[jackellis]

Our "airport" car failed me earlier this week on the way to a business appointment. After 24 years of faithful and remarkably reliable service, I think it's time to put the ol' Subaru to rest.

I've found the Tacoma I want - '07, 11,000 miles, still under warranty, 4 cyl, 4wd, equipped with comforts but not fancy. Now I'm waiting on LOML to return from the backcountry so I can convince her this is the one.

There are some old threads on bed covers. LOML wants a shell, while I think a hard tonneau cover is more sensible, mostly because the shell will be a pain. Several Tacoma owners had goo things to say about Undercover and Access. Are these any good, or are their others I should look at? Security and durability are important. We're looking for a quality product, not necessarily a cheap product.

[LinuxRandal]

I shouldn't even be reading, let alone posting this time of night. 14 hour day, and another tomorrow..............


Both have one of the same issue. If you hall anything really tall, they get in the way.
The shell, can either have glass (less secure) or solid (less visibility). Whereas the tonneau tends to be a little more secure, but much lower.

Hard, rollup tonneau, (from two people I knew that had them and asked), can/do go off kilter and jamb.
Only you can decide.

Off to bed, up in 4 hours.

[sweensdv]

As LinuxRandal stated, forget about easily hauling anything tall with a hard tonneau. I have a TruXedo soft roll up on my truck that I really like. I can't remember exactly what it cost but I think it was somewhere around $400 installed.

[Tequila]

I just had to make the same decision a couple months ago. I talked with a bunch of truck owning friends, and the general concensus was that hard covers are a pain to use, and soft covers are too easy to cut open.

I opted for a folding cover, and I'm very happy with it so far. I especially like that it takes about 5 minutes to remove or replace it when I need to haul something big. Plus it folds up out of the way for when I'm moving plywood.

http://www.advancecover.com/

[jackellis]

How secure is the folding cover? I doubt I'll be leaving stuff in there but my wife will probably want to leave coolers full of drinks in it when she goes backpacking.

I've looked at the Undercover's web site http://www.undercoverinfo.com/faq.html and one thing I like about their product is that I can hang it on the garage wall when not in use. If it takes two people to put on and take off, that's not helpful.

Do the folding covers leak and if so, how much?

[dbhost]

Our "airport" car failed me earlier this week on the way to a business appointment. After 24 years of faithful and remarkably reliable service, I think it's time to put the ol' Subaru to rest.

I've found the Tacoma I want - '07, 11,000 miles, still under warranty, 4 cyl, 4wd, equipped with comforts but not fancy. Now I'm waiting on LOML to return from the backcountry so I can convince her this is the one.

There are some old threads on bed covers. LOML wants a shell, while I think a hard tonneau cover is more sensible, mostly because the shell will be a pain. Several Tacoma owners had goo things to say about Undercover and Access. Are these any good, or are their others I should look at? Security and durability are important. We're looking for a quality product, not necessarily a cheap product.

Hope you are getting a good deal on that Taco. It is amazing how poor gas mileage you can get with one of those 4cyl 4x4 Toyotas these days. I have a friend with a similar truck, and it gets just barely better highway mileage than my 5.4L F150 4x4. City is a different story entirely (My pickup drinks gas in city really badly).

A Toneau cover will be a good addition for securing items in the bed, and will help improve MPG, but severely limits the sorts of items you can haul, so if you are prone to carrying a washer, dryer, band saw, whatever, the toneau will have to come off...

[SwingKing]

There are some old threads on bed covers. LOML wants a shell, while I think a hard tonneau cover is more sensible, mostly because the shell will be a pain. Several Tacoma owners had goo things to say about Undercover and Access. Are these any good, or are their others I should look at? Security and durability are important. We're looking for a quality product, not necessarily a cheap product.

Just to provide a dissenting opinion, I've got a hard tonneau cover on my '06 Taco and I think it's great. I got the Pace Edwards "Full Metal Jackrabbit" because I felt the soft covers were too easy to get into and the Truck Covers "American Roll" was just too expensive. My only problem with the Jackrabbit is that the case is a bit deep, so my toolbox wouldn't fit under it.

I also think there's a little confusion here. There are two types of "hard" tonneau covers. One is the "trunk lid" style which I agree isn't very practical. The type I have is a metal roll-up tonneau, so it has the advantages of the soft covers and the security of the flip-up covers. They are more expensive, but I've been very happy with mine.

BTW, on the 4-cyl Taco's gas mileage, mine isn't too bad. I get ~20mpg in town but only 23-24 on the highway. The Prerunner especially has problems on the highway, due to the different gear ratio. Anything above 65-70 mph really starts to suck up the gas.

-- Ken

[jackellis]

It is amazing how poor gas mileage you can get with one of those 4cyl 4x4 Toyotas these days.

Some folks talk about their "daily driver". This vehicle is mostly going to be a daily sitter because I avoid driving in favor of flying whenever I have to go very far, so I think we'll be better off with a smaller engine than a bigger one. My wife is small with short legs and I'm concerned enough about whether she can drive the Tacoma, let alone something bigger.

As for getting a deal, the vehicle I have my eye on at the moment is a year old with 11k miles for $20k. Has everything we need including 4WD, a few things I'd rather not have, like power windows and door locks, and some wear and tear in the cabin I hope I can get the dealer to fix.

Decisions, decisions.

[Tequila]

How secure is the folding cover? I doubt I'll be leaving stuff in there but my wife will probably want to leave coolers full of drinks in it when she goes backpacking.

Secure enough to keep honest people honest. You could break into it with a crowbar and some effort, but you could do that with a car trunk too. The model I got has three latch points on each side, plus the spot where the hinge is mounted. It seems like it will at least require some time and determination to break in.

Do the folding covers leak and if so, how much?

As far as leaking, all of them claim to be water-resistant but not waterproof. Mine has a couple of levels of gasketing, and it seems to be doing a decent job of preventing water from getting in - I've left things in the bed during heavy rainstorms and they hadn't gotten wet.

[ironhat]

Check the tailgate of the truck in question. Some come with a locking tailgate and others do not. It can be installed by the garage but I'll bet that the cost would be prohibative. I don't know if the cover lock negates the necessity of a tailgate lock or not but I thought I'd throw that out there for consideration.

[dbhost]

Some folks talk about their "daily driver". This vehicle is mostly going to be a daily sitter because I avoid driving in favor of flying whenever I have to go very far, so I think we'll be better off with a smaller engine than a bigger one. My wife is small with short legs and I'm concerned enough about whether she can drive the Tacoma, let alone something bigger.

As for getting a deal, the vehicle I have my eye on at the moment is a year old with 11k miles for $20k. Has everything we need including 4WD, a few things I'd rather not have, like power windows and door locks, and some wear and tear in the cabin I hope I can get the dealer to fix.

Decisions, decisions.

Please don't misunderstand my comment RE: the MPG of the current Tacoma. I have friends with the trucks, and they are okay MPG wise, but nothing like the 89 SR5 4cyl 5 speed 4x4 I had way back when... That thing got better mileage on the highway than a current Ranger 4cyl 2wd. (I was getting 28MPG with BFG 31x10.50/15 All Terrains).

I know about having a short wife. Nerf / step bars are your best friend in the world. My lovely bride is only 5' tall, and she has no trouble getting into the F150 4x4 as it sits (2.5" lift, 33x12.50/17 ATs). At least no problem since I installed the nerfs... There is no way she would have been able to get into the truck without them...

[justaguy]

I have a Retrax brand hard/roll-up cover and think it's great. It's almost two years old and still looks and operates perfectly.

The Retrax is not cheap but for me it's worth every penny. The company has top notch customer service.

PS additional info

The roll-up portion is made of lexan and is very sturdy and the cover includes a clock. As long as the truck has a talgate lock the bed will be very secure.

As far as leaking..after a heavy thunderstorm there might be 1/2 a cup of water in my bed. If it bothered me I could take some clear RTV to the front corners at the cab and probably get it completely sealed.

[rcp612]

As LinuxRandal stated, forget about easily hauling anything tall with a hard tonneau. I have a TruXedo soft roll up on my truck that I really like. I can't remember exactly what it cost but I think it was somewhere around $400 installed.

Another vote for the TruXedo. $405.00 1 1/2 years ago. It's easy to use, waterproof, semi-lockable if your tailgate has a lock like my Colorado does, and very easily rolled up out of the way.

[knotley]

Check the tailgate of the truck in question. Some come with a locking tailgate and others do not. It can be installed by the garage but I'll bet that the cost would be prohibative. I don't know if the cover lock negates the necessity of a tailgate lock or not but I thought I'd throw that out there for consideration.

Also check the tailgate for the TSB fix. has it been done or not? The tailgate on 05-late 07 had a tendency to bend in the middle.

[maxparot]

I have a Snugtop hard cover on my 2001 Tacoma The disadvantage of the Snugtop is that you have to drill and bolt the mounts and ball for the lifts. But when it comes to removing the top for hauling big items it it done it less than a minute. The ARE version has a frame that clamps onto the truck and releases with 4 hex screws it will take a few more minutes to remove and weighs more than the Snugtop. The bad thing about a 1 piece hard cover is you can't remove it and take it along with you.
The problem that is reported with folding hard covers is the hinge seals drying out. Due to the heat here in Arizona that happens in just a couple of years. The sun out here eats soft covers so a 1 piece hard cover is the only way to go.