DiamondBack Covers | Modifications

Oh thanks man! Appreciate it

 

I want to order a Diamondback HD cover but I haven’t made the jump yet. I see this thread goes back a while, can anyone who has had theirs for a couple years or more tell me how it has held up?

I am also trying to decide if I need the OEM bed mat with this cover so things won’t slide around.

 

Yes get the oem mat. Probably the best $70 I spent on the truck. Nothing moves.

 

The OEM bed mat is a must. Don't think, just purchase. Night and day.

I have the SE, not the HD, and these things are a beast. I bought it in late 2017 right after getting the truck. It was one of my have-to-haves when outfitting the truck. Rubber seals are still good. I have the old hinge style and they are still holding up well. The newer hinges seem even better. The latches took a couple months to break in, but now they are perfect. I think it was just the compression and pressure on them from the rubber seals pushing the cover up. All in all, it's part of my truck. Love it.

 

I second this, there's been 2 times where somehow I forgot to close the tailgate on a drive (both I went on the highway), and both times i surely would have lost something if the bed mat wasn't there.

 

Holds up great after a couple years. I don't have a bed mat and haven't thought I needed one. I keep my bed fairly tightly packed with gear so I prefer to be able to easily slide equipment in and out.

 

For whatever reason I was stalling on 'tweaking' it...actually took it apart twice thinking I had compressed it wrong. Tonight I wedged a 4x4 post to hold up the driver side (without struts attached of course) went over and pulled down (barely) on the passenger side....removed post. It Closed completely on the first try. Winning.
My cover has only been on and close for 2 days so the struts make it pretty hard to close still...
Also a Question: all 4 gas struts are rated at 135 lb....not sure if this is normal as the directions say "if 2 are higher" or "if only 1 is higher put on the driver side."

 

The DiamondBack cover will prevent your stuff from coming out of the bed and the mat would help prevent stuff in the bed from sliding around. However, I’d say it’s recommended that you strap/anchor stuff down or pack things tightly so that they don’t bounce around in the bed while driving, especially when off-roading.

Personally, I don’t use a mat so that I can more easily slide stuff in and out of the bed and I want to have as much available space possible (height wise) in the bed.

As for the DB cover, I mainly got it for improved bed security and with plans to add some kind of bed rack system to it for overlanding. A neighbor who has a different brand/style tonneau cover on his Tacoma recently had it broken into. It happened while his truck was parked on the street. The thieves pried open the passenger side and must’ve taken whatever they could squeeze out of the slot. (Their cover was open with at least a half foot gap from the bed rail when I first saw the aftermath while the truck was parked on the street.)

The DB cover looks so tough and cool that I think it has that intimidation factor as it’s first line of security. From there, I believe it is the best designed tonneau cover for truck bed security currently in the market.

 

Thanks for the feedback. That makes sense about still strapping things down so they won’t bounce.

 

Finally got it installed and I have to say, it looks even more awesome in person. My plan was to pair it with the front runner rack system/RTT but I love the way it looks currently and now having second thoughts about drilling through the cover and putting the rail system on lol

 

This too shall pass. It's tough. It can handle it.

 

They look even better with the rail system on IMO. Not to mention, the functionality is improved also.

Drill baby drill!

 

nice! Thanks for the reassurance!

 

Omg, I'm so f'ing excited! Mine doesn't ship till the end of June... arrrrrrrrrrrhhhggg! Did so much research, and realized that as soon as I had the money, it had to be done. Did it! Stoked!

 

So, I thought I sealed mine right, didn't. Water got in, and I blew the fuse to my under rail bed lights again... Gonna have to figure out what the heck is going on with the leakage...

 

We were #diamondbackready at Alabama Hills. Second time camping here.
Quick-&-Dirty privacy room; it works if it ain’t too windy.

 

I finally installed the frontrunner rack... took me a few hours of measuring, stressing and measuring some more, but I'm relieved it's done. Pucker factor was definitely a 10 when it came to drilling all of the holes. I ended up using holes 1-3-5 instead of all 5 (huge shout out to @AndresJulian for the tips on the install). It's definitely not perfect (I don't know how you get this thing perfect when you're measuring off of rounded edges), but it looks good and I can't wait to start using it.

 

So I ordered the 20” Suspa shocks previously mentioned in this thread. Bit disappointed in them, and would not recommend using for our covers. When fully extended, the section of the cover goes completely vertical and 9/10 times unhinges from the center piece. So annoying it’s not worth the benefit of more clearance, IMO. It’s too bad there’s no shock size in between the stock and this one.

$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/dp/B007IV6AYE

 

Cheers

Hope y’all are having a great weekend!

 

Cold beer after a hot day.