Renegade vs Diamondback bed cover.

Troy Truck Guy,

Thanks for your post about your Renegade Tonneau Cover. I had to sell my Taco a few weeks ago because I needed a crew cab for family storage. I owned a Diamondback SE but below find my reasons for my love/hate relationship with it.

1. The diamondback looked awesome and it was (I owned one for 3 years)...but the 2 key entries and hinges to open the cover always got in the way if I wanted to carry something large and flat...like plywood. You could mitigate that if you carried around 2x4's to elevate the platform but sometimes it's a pain to always have to plan for that contingency.

2. Had a love/hate relationship with the bi-fold design of the Diamondback cover. Loved that they had gas-spring assists to raise the cover up when opened and wouldn't slam down on you or your head. Hated that you were constantly restricted to 1/3 your bed for large items because the mid-bar couldn't be moved without removing the entire tonneau cover. It made moving furniture and larger awkward items a pain in the ***...or having to drive with the tailgate down...preventing you from carrying smaller household items that could roll around and fall out while driving. Also, because of the restrictive design, I could only load 2-rows of stacked 2x4's (in my Tacoma) before the bi-fold center bar got in the way, equating to 16 2x4's if I wanted to leave the tailgate up and locked.

3. Love/hate relationship with the anchor cleats on the diamondback. The hooks that are on most ratchet straps are usually covered with rubber/plastic. They were usually too wide to hook into the cleats so I often had to wrap the ratchet straps around the boat cleats to secure the load. I had the Diamondback SE so I only had cleats at each end but sometimes I needed them in different areas. That's what is so attractive about the concept of the Renegade tonneau cover and being able to place a tie down anchor point anywhere and large open D-rings that the strap hooks can attach to. I did love that the cleats made the Diamondback tonneau cover look unique and functional but they needed a little more height for them to be truly functional IMO.

My only trepidation about getting the renegade cover are the same reasons everyone else has. It's super expensive and the only reviews you can find online (other than 1 post I could fine) seem to be company endorsed and are linked to their website. So, if anyone out there has a renegade tonneau cover in addition to Troy Truck Guy, please let us know how you like it. Thanks!

 

Great review! First time I’ve realized the HD has more cleats.

 

Thanks for all of this. Regarding the cleats, I'm planning on ordering the cover with them "loose" I plan to affix some l-track when I get it in lieu of the cleats.

 

Glad to help guys! I’m likely going with the Renegade this round so once I get it, I’ll report back after some time so there’s a little more info out there. Both covers are super solid and secure. The only reason I’m going with the Renegade this time around is:

1. The locks and hinges on the top of the Diamondback can create little obstacle courses for things like furniture and plywood.

2. With the locks located on the outside of the diamondback, anyone with some skill could likely pick the lock and gain access to the bed. However, I think the chances are highly unlikely that a common criminal would have that kind of time or dedication on their side.

3. The Renegade cover is expensive as heck but I give them credit for their innovation, creativity and versatility. They won in the accessory market IMO. Their headache/stop racks, for instance, are a game changer for me not having to worry about plywood going through my rear window or shifting on me in a hard turn when I’m carrying diverse loads like plywood and 2x4s on top of the cover. I like that you can easily remove them afterwards and store them away to return to a clean, low profile look again.

Anyways, that’s my reasoning for wanting to try out the Renegade this time but I would love to hear if people found innovative ways to mitigate those problems listed above for those that don’t want to spend Renegade prices. I really did love my Diamondback SE so you won’t be disappointed if you opt to go that route. It’s a great cover!

 

I have the Diamondback and while it is unmatched in terms of ruggedness and its ability to secure cargo, I feel like a lot of people don't talk about some of the downsides. Obviously, there's cost. This thing is $1700 pretax. And that's the SE version. The other negative, IMO of course, is the ability to quickly and easily remove for larger loads. I use my truck a bunch to haul larger items that will exceed the height of the bedsides. It gets annoying removing the two panels, then removing the 4 bolts that secure the center section. Not to mention the four pistons and the extra nut holding the security bar for the cab side panel. The panels weight 30 lbs each, then I have to find a spot for the in my already tight garage.

Then you have to do the entire thing in reverse to reinstall. A few times, I've reinstalled and didn't like the alignment, so I had to readjust the bolts.

I used to have the Extang tri fold, and that was awesome removing it. It took two hand tightened wing nuts and boom it was off.

As with everything, pros and cons.

 

Just curious what you are hauling that doesn't fit on top of the DB. I've hauled a full size toolbox, a 48 gun capacity safe, and a refrigerator on top of my HD. The hardest part is hoisting it high enough to get it on top, but once its up there, no problem hauling it.

I agree taking it apart is a pain in the ass and I don't do it anymore.

 

Wouldn't some of those items be manageable in the bed with the rear panel just flipped over?

 

Not really because you would have to stand them upright and would be a bit harder to cinch them down properly, in addition to putting a lot of weight on top of your tailgate. Find its much easier to just lay them flat on top of the DB. By putting moving blankets under the load, you can negate the impact of the hinges/locks.

 

Hey Troy - strongly considering a Renegade... one question: do you lose the ability to use the factory tie-down rails in the bed or is there a work-around to drop them below the slide latches?

TIA

 

I'm interested in this too when deciding between the two.

 

Used to run the Diamondback HD for awhile. Biggest pet peeve was the center bar rendering your bed useless if you wanted to use your truck at all.

Any updates on your Renegade covers? Would love to see any pictures on our 3rd gens.

Very curious about factory tie down points as well.

 

there just doesn't seem to be enough renegades out in the field. And reviews not affiliated with renegade.

 

You actually brought up a point I hadn't thought about (payload). I've been looking to grab a Diamondback but have been torn between the HD and the SE. I'm going to put a rooftop tent with the frontrunner rack and was thinking "well, I might as well get the one that can hold more weight and just commit." But I can't imagine a time when I'll be adding 1600lbs on top of the cover, let alone 2000lbs. Now I'm leaning more towards the SE for the obvious cost difference. Any other reasons you went with the SE over the HD?

 

Just cost was most of it. Same locks, so security was no different. SE=.080", HD=.100". Not enough of a difference for me. I think it was $400. more for the HD, and $300. for paint. I was ok with $1329. (cost more now), as it was close enough to the mass of cover brands that run around $1000.

I'm still very pleased with this DB cover.

 

I'm glad I went through this thread and your post. The more I've thought about it... I don't ever intend on using this top as a bed to tie stuff down on. If I plan on using my truck bed as a truck bed, I'll be removing the whole cover regardless because it would be a piece of furniture or something. But as far as 90 percent of the time, it's either going to be covered for a daily-driver scenario, or covered with a tent on top for the overlanding intention I bought it for. Either way, there's never going to be that much weight sitting on top of the DB to justify the cost increase for more weight capacity it will never see.

Thank you sir!

 

So I reached out to Renegade about the factory tie-down rails and here's what they said...
"Our latches run most of the length of the bed sides. Rail systems found on Nissan and Toyotas are what we use to mount our latches and they are then unable to be used for other purposes."

On 10/15 they also told me lead times were 13-15 weeks for a 2019 long bed version.

Looked at their website again tonite and see a 9% price increase is in the wings as of 1/1/22. I'm probably going to pull trigger soon - don't need it to get any more expensive.

The only thing really holding me up is the loss of the factory tie down rails but I'm thinking I could get another set of rails and fab some plates that drop them down below the factory rail locations/Renegade slide latches. Thoughts?

 

Anybody else pull the trigger on a Renegade? I’m deciding between Renegade or Diamondback. I like that the Renegade is easier to take off and the quick-detach tie down system, but i agree, as others have said, that it’s odd that almost everything about them online is their own propaganda. Diamondback seems to have a rock-solid reputation, but I need to take my cover off fairly often to drive my dog around in her dog box, and that would be a pain with the Diamondback.

 

I went with the Diamondback. Over New Years my girl and I took a 1,000 mile road trip in my Taco and the DB really worked well. I generally pack in plastic crates (as much as possible) so I had two crates up front under the front cover with my tools and recovery gear stowed in them. Under the rear hatch we had our luggage and an ice chest. With the locks I felt comfortable leaving most of our stuff locked in the back at an overnight Hotel stop. We hit a fair amount of rain and all of our gear stayed dry. Plus I like the look of the DB.

The only problem we had with mine was two of the middle brackets came loose and I had to reattach and tighten them down again. That may have been my fault as I was in a hurry the night I initially installed my DB and I may not have gotten those brackets tight enough.

 

They recommend retorquing those after driving a certain number of miles. I was Whipping around some service roads and one of mine came loose as well from the vibrations. Retorqued them all and they are still going strong now. One nice thing about the design too is if they all came loose the locking bars would still keep the cover in place.

 

Timeline Update: I ordered a Renegade in December... Just reached out to them for an ETA... was told end of May delivery.