DiamondBack Covers | Modifications

Thanks for the detailed reply, and for doing the legwork on this already. I think I might just play it slow, wait for my diamondback to get here, then mock up where my tent would/could go, and go from there. I already have a bed rack, but it's not in the greatest shape, and I don't really want to modify it to fit the diamondback and put holes in the cover just to change the setup to something else soon after. Definitely bookmarked your setup for future reference though!

 

No problem and you’re welcome. I know Front Runners’ stuff can get pricey, so try to catch them when they’re on sale if you wanna go that route. I don’t know if anyone’s ever tried doing a group buy for discounts with them like the DB group buy, but that may be another way to get the prices down.

I wish I invented the Front Runner stuff. Same thing with the DB covers. Haha... From the year and a half that I’ve had their products, I’ve had a great experience. My friends who’ve followed me on the trails say they don’t see any weird flexing with the bedrack or DB cover. They’re both great products that work really well together. Thanks to God, nothing has fallen off and led to a bad accident on the road or trails. Some of the hardware has had some rust, but they still work. If anything, those can be replaced with some of the spare hardware they provided or buying some replacement nuts & bolts from the hardware store.

 

Are you saying two bars/four legs might not be enough for a bigger tent or only if you offset the tent towards the rear like you have it? I just ordered the “LLOD Package” from FR last night, just want to make sure that will be sufficient for my larger RTT?

 

I bought a Diamondback cover three times yesterday. Once from Diamondback, cancelled that when I found the RealTruck group buy, bought from them at 10% off, cancelled that when I found one locally. Picked this up last night for half off retail and didn't have to wait the 3-4 weeks DB claims. Pretty stoked. Ordered kit from Front Runner last night so I'm hoping to have the RTT on by MLK weekend so we can camp.

 

Nice! I'm jelly, there's basically no secondhand aftermarket Tacoma parts here in MI

 

Well I like this set up very much. So much easier to open/close the RTT vs being on the camper shell.

 

That was fast! Looks great!

 

I've been testing a kit that I've put together that uses 2 KC cyclone paired with a Li-on battery pack mounted to the inside of the diamond back .

I've always struggled with trying to find a lighting solution that lights up the entire bed of the truck front to back and decided to make my own .

This isn't a cheap solution but is by far the brightest and best solution for light coverage in the bed front to back.

If you are in San Diego and are interested in a kit or seeing it in person . Please send me a message and I'll be more than happy to give a demo .

 

Welcome to TW! (Assume you are new if you didn’t find a solution) @mattgecko kits are super solid. I’ve been running mine for a couple years. Wire into the truck power very cleanly so you don’t have to fool around with another battery. Also mounts under the rails so it stays when you take the cover off.

 

I like the set-up a lot. What battery pack are you using? I’d love to see a close-up.

I don’t want to tap into the electrical that others tend to use.

 

This is the exact reason why I wanted this set up. I didn't want a wire that i needed to route and for try to find a home for when it's closed and would be long enough when open.

I'll take close up photos of the battery pack later today.

 

Mounting the lights to the bed instead of the cover solves the wiring problem. Why not mount the lights under the bed rail?

 

This didn't work that good for my needs. I wanted the bed to be lit from up top so I can always see the stuff on my bed slide because I pack the side of the bed with stuff when i'm camping and that blocked the light to the center of the bed.

 

I strap recover gear on top of the wheel wells as well as extra fluids for the vehicle in that area. When I do that it blocks the light to the center of the bed.

 

Interesting, I've been using this for years, including with a packed camper shell and it's always provided more than enough light. I guess because there is light 80% around the bed so there is no shadow due to the number of LEDs. Seems more effective than two lights like you've got? But different strokes for different folks. Congrats on finding a solution to your problem.

 

See my reply above about light coming from all directions

 

This is the battery pack . The battery pack had green led indicator for the amount of power left in the battery .

Its mounted to the cover using 3m j hook velcro that snaps into place .

 

Can anyone post pictures of spare tire relocated to the top of the db? I’m searching for options and I’m sure someone has done this before..

 

I live in SE Michigan. Domestic trucks are king here. Rarely see any Taco everyday.

 

Yeah browsing the classifieds for anything on here is just like SoCal, SoCal, NorCal, SoCal, SoCal, SoCal, SoCal, SoCal SoCal, South Carolina, SoCal, SoCal, SoCal, Pennsylvania.... Makes it hard to keep looking for items that won't ship cheap.

Anyway, I just found out my new diamondback is waiting in my garage for me to get home, so I got that going for me, which is nice. Too bad it's 27 degrees out, but I'll somehow manage the install lol. Then I've really got to take a look at whether I think my tent will be supported well enough to do a rack-less version of what @BattlecryTaco has going on with his set up. It'd be really nice to be able to get access to the front of the bed