Archive for February, 2012

Choosing and installing your first tonneau cover

Picking your first tonneau cover could be a tough job especially if you don’t have any working knowledge on the accessory. Well, that shouldn’t be a cause for worry anymore as this will be a short guide for you to effectively pick out the best tonneau cover for your truck and the method for installation as well. Here’s a short guide to choosing and installing your first truck tonneau cover ever:

Choosing your cover – the first question should not be whether you should pick up a tonneau cover for you pickup truck or not but what tonneau cover you should get for your pickup truck. There are only a handful of options to choose from – don’t be surprised that you’ll find hundreds of models as some are actually built by different manufacturers for different types of trucks that come in different sizes. The two main types of tonneau covers you’ll be choosing from are the soft tonneau covers and the hard tonneau covers.

The soft tonneau covers are the economy models – they cost around $200 to $600 depending on the type of cover and are usually more popular compared to their countertype. This is because they’re much more affordable yet versatile compared to hard covers. These models would usually come in roll up types or folding types and are usually made of vinyl cloth so they’re not just your regular tarp material but they’re really sturdy to start with.

Hard bed covers on the other hand are more expensive yet more reliable in many areas. What soft tonneau covers lack in terms of security, hard tonneau covers make up for it. So if you’re in need of more security, hard tonneau covers are the way for you. They also have locking features that would allow the owner to restrict access to the truck bed unless the main key is used which is a very handy feature for keeping those thieves out while you’re away.

The last thing you may be worrying about is the installation of truck bed covers. While they may look complicated and installation may seem impossible for the newbie, it’s actually not. Installing a tonneau cover is so easy that anyone without mechanical knowledge could do it with little or no problems. All it takes is a bit of time and the instructional manual – which usually comes with the tonneau cover packaging. If it’s not there, you can call the tonneau cover distributor for support and they’d be more than happy to help you through the process.