Thoughts On Tonneau/Bed Covers?

[Gary Lewis]

You may be right. But the beauty of this approach is that if overlanding never happens, and there is a good chance it won't, then I don't need to buy the rack, the RTT, nor the storage system.

Having said that, my son loves the idea of a pull-out storage system, so maybe I can entice him to go with me if we add one of those to the truck. It'll have to be fairly low 'cause right now the large spare tire would ride on top of it. But, if I ever get the bumper/tire storage thing built it would go back there.

Anyway, I like the idea that I can buy something now to which I can add on to later.

I spent a long time on the phone this morning. Turns out that Retrax doesn't make bed covers to fit our trucks.

But Pace Edwards does have bed covers to fit our trucks, some of which have tracks for racks, and here are some of my notes:

• The Full Metal Jackrabbit With Explorer Rails is a great one, but if used offroad the twisting of the bed can cause it to unlock and roll open. If that is a concern go with the Bed Locker With Explorer Rails, which is the same aluminum material but is electrically deployed and can't come open.

• But all of their covers clamp to the inside edge of the bed's top, which means you either have to remove the drop-in bed liner or cut the liner such that you can get to the inside edge. I asked if it would be better to bolt it in and he said no. That their clamps are very solid and will not come off.

• I can modify either unit to fit the bed behind the toolbox, but the Bed Locker will be a little easier. On it just remove the end caps, cut the track to length, and reinstall the caps. On the FMJ you have to remove the stop strip that goes in the track, trim the front of the stop strip and the back of the track, and reinstall the stop strip.

• They sell a rack made for them by Thule - model # TH1069. It's new model, which has a higher rating than the old model, but their documentation doesn't list the new rating. The old one was 160 pounds. (He said that is probably the "offroad" rating but didn't know for sure.) But Thule has others that fit, as do Yakima and RhinoRack.

So I called Yakima and talked to James. He thinks I want their Tonneau Cover SkyLine Rack Kit, Full-size. It has a 220 lb rating, which is their "dynamic" rating, but for offroad you should take 1/3 off, so that would give it a rating of 147 lbs. That works nicely with their SkyRise HD Medium tent which weighs 115 lbs as it gives some room for sheets, pillows, blankets, etc. And it has a static rating of 500 pounds.

The bottom line of this is that I've found that at least one bed cover that works with the racks from several vendors. So I am comfortable buying a Pace Edwards cover because later I can go with a rack and roof top tent that will fit the tracks.

[Rembrant]

Gary,

I'm not much help on this topic, but figured I'd throw a couple other brands at you in case they haven't come up in your searches. I have a Tuxedo on my Tacoma...just one of the roll-up ones (not locking, obviously) and I quite like the thing. It is the first tonneau cover I have ever had in30+ years and probably a dozen trucks or more. It sure is nice for keeping my bed dry in the winter...seems I haul around a lot of old Ford truck parts...lol.

https://truxedo.com/truxport/2015/toyota/tacoma

For the old Flaresides however...I'd really like to have one of the Craftec Covers...they really look great to me. The downside, is that I don't want to drill any holes in the bed...certainly not on my 1984, but maybe I will consider it on the 1980 since it is not as nice.

https://www.crafteccovers.com/1980-87-Ford-Flareside_p_125.html?fbclid=IwAR3j9ZIYJ8qTN_muxHb6IyLUmPqT_23CTDT2LLw1dBXbq9-O1TEORqUyTv4

[Gary Lewis]

Gary,

I'm not much help on this topic, but figured I'd throw a couple other brands at you in case they haven't come up in your searches. I have a Tuxedo on my Tacoma...just one of the roll-up ones (not locking, obviously) and I quite like the thing. It is the first tonneau cover I have ever had in30+ years and probably a dozen trucks or more. It sure is nice for keeping my bed dry in the winter...seems I haul around a lot of old Ford truck parts...lol.

https://truxedo.com/truxport/2015/toyota/tacoma

For the old Flaresides however...I'd really like to have one of the Craftec Covers...they really look great to me. The downside, is that I don't want to drill any holes in the bed...certainly not on my 1984, but maybe I will consider it on the 1980 since it is not as nice.

https://www.crafteccovers.com/1980-87-Ford-Flareside_p_125.html?fbclid=IwAR3j9ZIYJ8qTN_muxHb6IyLUmPqT_23CTDT2LLw1dBXbq9-O1TEORqUyTv4

Thanks, Cory. I'll check them out. I'm not hung up on Pace Edwards, but some quick Googling had said that two companies have the tracks for the racks - Retrax and Pace Edwards. Maybe there are others?

[Gary Lewis]

Gary,

I'm not much help on this topic, but figured I'd throw a couple other brands at you in case they haven't come up in your searches. I have a Tuxedo on my Tacoma...just one of the roll-up ones (not locking, obviously) and I quite like the thing. It is the first tonneau cover I have ever had in30+ years and probably a dozen trucks or more. It sure is nice for keeping my bed dry in the winter...seems I haul around a lot of old Ford truck parts...lol.

https://truxedo.com/truxport/2015/toyota/tacoma

For the old Flaresides however...I'd really like to have one of the Craftec Covers...they really look great to me. The downside, is that I don't want to drill any holes in the bed...certainly not on my 1984, but maybe I will consider it on the 1980 since it is not as nice.

https://www.crafteccovers.com/1980-87-Ford-Flareside_p_125.html?fbclid=IwAR3j9ZIYJ8qTN_muxHb6IyLUmPqT_23CTDT2LLw1dBXbq9-O1TEORqUyTv4

Cory - I just checked and neither of those make covers with tracks. Melissa at Truxedo said they used to make them, but don't any more.

Just chatted with RHR Swag, who said that the Pace Edwards Jackrabbit is the only cover with tracks that will fit my truck. That there is no other brand nor any other Pace Edwards cover that will fit. Strange since Tony @ Pace Edwards told me yesterday that they have several models to fit my truck, including the Jackrabbit and the Bed Locker.

And I just called Thule. Turns out that some of the info Tony @ Pace Edwards gave me yesterday may be out of date as he said Thule makes the TH1069 rack for them. But Thule said they've discontinued that and now I want Kit 3101 plus the Rapid Podium Footpack 460R and their ProBar. That combo fits the Pace Edwards and is rated at 165 lbs dynamic, but they don't rate on or offroad. It is worst case. Their tents weigh ~130 lbs and the racks weigh 10 lbs, so you have ~25 lbs to play with for your bedding, etc.

This combo is rated at 600 lbs of static weight, meaning when the vehicle is standing still, so you have plenty of capacity for people.

[Gary Lewis]

Cory - I just checked and neither of those make covers with tracks. Melissa at Truxedo said they used to make them, but don't any more.

Just chatted with RHR Swag, who said that the Pace Edwards Jackrabbit is the only cover with tracks that will fit my truck. That there is no other brand nor any other Pace Edwards cover that will fit. Strange since Tony @ Pace Edwards told me yesterday that they have several models to fit my truck, including the Jackrabbit and the Bed Locker.

And I just called Thule. Turns out that some of the info Tony @ Pace Edwards gave me yesterday may be out of date as he said Thule makes the TH1069 rack for them. But Thule said they've discontinued that and now I want Kit 3101 plus the Rapid Podium Footpack 460R and their ProBar. That combo fits the Pace Edwards and is rated at 165 lbs dynamic, but they don't rate on or offroad. It is worst case. Their tents weigh ~130 lbs and the racks weigh 10 lbs, so you have ~25 lbs to play with for your bedding, etc.

This combo is rated at 600 lbs of static weight, meaning when the vehicle is standing still, so you have plenty of capacity for people.

Ok, time to close this thread out.

I just ordered the Pace Edwards Bed Locker with Explorer Rails. That's the electrically-powered one, and the reason for that is mainly due to the fact that twisting of the bed in offroad crossups can cause a manually-locked cover to come open. Tony, the tech at Pace Edwards said the bed will flex enough that the pall on the cover will get pulled out of the stop strip inside the track. But the electrically-powered one won't do that.

However, they don't have the 6' 8" Explorer rails in stock so will have to make those and I probably won't get the unit for about a month. Which is ok 'cause I have lots of other things to do.

Anyway, thanks for all the input.