DiamondBack Covers | Modifications

Pro

 

Was this you? I saw this truck in Rancho mirage I think couple months back...

 

No

 

Ya, I was there for the Overlander Experience where I got to do some mall crawling onto the side walk and parked across The Yard House by the fountain w/ my friends' rigs: another Quicksand Taco and a Desert Gobi Jeep. I think that was end of October. The following weekend, first weekend of November, my wife and I went to our church's marriage retreat at Indian Wells; back around that same area. On our way back home to San Fernando Valley, we stopped by at a Filipino fusion sandwich shop at the same spot as the Overlander Experience at The River at Rancho Mirage. Judging on that picture, you must've seen our rig that Sunday when we had lunch with our friends at Apong's Philly Steak. That's the parking spot right by Bob Hope Dr. It ain't the SoCal spotted thread, but I'll take it. Lol...

 

I added some Yakima tracks and crossbars to my cover a few weeks ago and I'm really happy with how it turned out! The end caps for the tracks stick out a tiny bit, so I'm having someone 3d print me smaller end caps. Here are a few photos:

 

I use these light from @mattgecko and they work great for me. They are out of the way and provide plenty of light.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fs-waterproof-under-bed-rail-led-lights.253004/

 

I have the same and they work great

 

I installed longer gas shocks on the front panel to allow the cover to open further. I’m not sure why it didn’t come like this from the factory. The new shocks are 20” long, 80 lb shocks from Suspa (part number C16-08053). They are identical to the original shocks (also made by Suspa) except they extend about 2” further. The only concern I had was the slotted hinges separating when the cover opens close to 90 degrees. This wasn’t a problem on the front panel because when you close the panel from the driver’s side you are pulling down toward the hinge. I don’t think it would work on the rear panel since you would close it from the middle. I bet the hinge would pop out.

$24 Suspa C16-08053 C1608053 20" Gas Prop, Quantity (2), Force 80 Lbs Per Prop, Force Per Set 160 Lbs, Camper Rear Window, Tonneau Cover Lift Supports, Window Lift Support, Made in USA

https://www.amazon.com/C16-08053-C1608053-Quantity-Camper-Supports/dp/B007IV6AYE

 

Great idea on the longer struts. How old is your DB? I ask because I got mine a couple of months ago and you have to take to covers back to about 120 degrees to unhinge them. That means the longer struts should work on the back as well as the front so I may buy two pair.

 

That’s good to know. I got mine a couple months ago. But it was from the outlet store so I’m not sure how old it was. I may call them and ask about those hinges you mentioned. I didn’t see much advantage to changing the rear panel shocks because I usually access that side from the rear anyway. The panel has never really been in the way.

Also, if you do change shocks you can swap the end fittings from your old ones. The shocks from Diamondback have quick release fittings that unthread.

 

Hey guys, I just put a RTT on my camper shell but I'm really not happy with how tall the truck is now. Cant get in the garage/parking garages, tough getting the dogs in and out of the tent etc. I am strongly considering a Diamondback SE but I'd like to mount the RTT directly to the cover using Front Runner quick mounts. Does anyone see any issue with this set up? I see most of you with RTTs have them mounted to rails?

 

If you use those FRO QD rtt mounts bolted directly onto the DB cover, wouldn’t the clearance be too tight between the top of the DB cover and the bottom of the rtt? It may be hard to fit an adult sized hand and arm between the rtt and bed cover to reach the controls for those mounts. A rtt mounted on load bars/cross bars allow for some room to reach the controls for those mounts.

I’ve been using their tall rtt mounts on the bed rack with their tall legs and the setup is still low enough to fit under a garage with a 6’8” height clearance. The rtt is a Tepui Ayer 2 and is 11” tall when packed. It sits about level with the gun case I have mounted on the FRO lo-pro roof rack.



The rtt is also opening toward the tailgate now for 2020. The height of the rtt on the FRO bed rack off of the DB cover allows an open rtt to still clear the bikes on the Yakima Dr. Tray, which also still allows for the tailgate to open all the way while the bikes are mounted on the bike rack.

 

Yep you are right, I have already contacted Front runner to get set up with the parts like you and LLOD have.

 

You mind if I ask how much the set up costs and what pieces you got?

 

Alyssa is one of the people who helped me with my order at their showroom in Augora Hills, CA when some of the bolts for the legs did not initially fit onto their tracks. It definitely helped to go in store to test the fitment of things to each other. The customer service manager at that time, a Brian (or Bryan?) who took my order over the phone, no longer works with them and, I believe, has moved on to work with Dometic. I saw him with the Dometic group at Overland Expo West 2019 in Arizona last year. Brian's Chevy Colorado had that FRO bedrack setup with a roll-top bed cover that I got to use as a reference for their bedrack on the DiamondBack HD/SE covers.

 

That's not so bad, and if you have a for-sure mounting setup you could save some money getting the short tracks

 

@BattlecryTaco I like your setup, but I'm a cheapskate. Do you think I could mount a rtt on two fro load bars like you've got, with one in the center section and one on the back of the diamondback, but just on the bars without the rack? Like do you think your rack is what's making that work?

 

I guess, I thought it was a little steep, with shipping its almost as much as I paid for my full Prinsu rack. I thought about getting the short 140mm tracks but I like the modular aspect of running them the full length. I'll likely change the RTT over time to something different and now I'll be able to adjust as needed.

 

My setup may not be for everyone. That Tepui Ayer 2 is a really small tent, kind of the size of a luxurious backpackers tent. Typically, it’s just me in there, unless my wife comes along (better for those cold nights). That size allows me to center the rtt on the FRO bedrack better with the legs positioned on the center panel and toward the back end of the back cover panel. It doesn’t look as aesthetically pleasing as a 3-4 person tent covering the full length of the bed like that Skycamp Mini or similar sized tents. But, that setup allows for me to almost fully utilize the front panel of the DB cover and access things toward the front of the bed. The reason I went with the full tray of the bedrack instead of just doing load bars is because I knew I’d want to add their accessories mounts for other gear. Their customer service also said that they didn’t think an rtt mounted just on their FRO load bars would be secure enough. The tray would make the setup more secure for hauling an rtt on top. However, that Ayer Sky 2 is like 95lbs. and the FRO products are so robust. I think that just having a set of two load bars would have worked.

I did initially just have the two load bars to test out fitment, but quickly upgraded to the bedrack tray system soon after. I never got to test out the rtt just on the load bars, so I can’t give an opinionor recommendation based on experience with that. I’d say a bigger 3-4 person tent should have three sets of load bars just to be on the safer side. You could try having two sets of legs spread out on the tracks mounted on the back cover panel and the third set of legs on the center panel. Depending on the height of the legs, you may get to open that front cover panel still with some overhang of the rtt above it. I’d guess that the spacing wouldn’t allow for bulkier objects to fit through the opening of an opened front cover panel with that kind of setup, but at least the front portion of the bed could still be accessible to a degree. Anyone ever try this yet? Mike of LLOD is using that three sets of legs setup for the hard shell tent and that seems to be holding up for them without the whole tray system for the bedrack. However, he’s got the legs spread out more and one set is on the front cover panel. If you’re okay to not having the front cover panel opening up, then that may be the way to go for a bigger rtt.

If you’ve got the know how and the right tools already, then you can try making your own set of load bars like some have done and shown in this thread. That ought to make things more affordable.