Diamondback Covers

I've got the SE on my truck with the bedliner coating and the mid height headache rack. I love it.

My brother bought it new in 2016. When he sold it to me 18 months ago (he sold the Tacoma) I reached out to Diamondback for all new weather seals and hardware (brother damaged a hinge that made taking off the cab panel a real bitch) and they sent it out completely free of charge overnight shipping. I was stunned with the excellent customer service as this was mid covid issues where seemingly every company had problems.

Next, it really does a great job protecting my stuff. It holds anything I can't fit under it up top no problem easily secured to the cleats. Both panels also come off in seconds for when I need the bed open. It also provides a great place to sit/stand when gearing up for some skiing. Overall, I'd recommend it and would absolutely purchase again. My brother bought another one when he traded the Tacoma for an F150, so he would agree too.

Edit: to be fair, I should disclose I would also look hard at the aluminum retrax system because that looked pretty good too.

 

I liked mine but really didn’t like the center mount. It made it impossible to use the truck bed for larger items without completely removing it which took some time

if they made one that was a solid piece and hinged at the front by the cab, I’d probably buy one again

 

I have the HD (went with HD over the SE just for peace of mind but probably didn't need to) and added the front runner load bar setup.

At the end of the day, I think it's all about your use case. If you want to secure items in your bed, it's hard to beat. My personal experience with it has been mixed.

Pros:
-It protects gear from the elements pretty well (the rest of the bed is the problem)
-Looks great.
-With the frontrunner bars, provides a really solid platform to mount a tent

Cons:
-Expensive
-Requires full removal to move large items
-Like any cover, limits bed storage vertically
-If you like to do the rooftop tent thing, it limits the types of tents you can use. I've used a 23Zero fold out but would ideally shift to a wedge. I would have to drastically alter my setup to accommodate that switch.

 

Appreciate all the input, I think ima cop the SE and call it a day

 

Coop pretty much nails it. I have the HD and I like that it pretty much makes my entire bed a lockable toolbox. Built like a tank, and i think it looks pretty awesome.

 

Diamond back or retrax?

 

How much does the SE weigh for the short bed?

 

from what I’ve read they only weight about 100 lbs

 

I love mine but i do miss the ability to remove my cover completely. If you find yourself using your bed for big items alot its gona be a pain but for myself its rare that ill be putting anything back there like that. If i do i can usually just fold the tailgate panel up and remove the struts then tie it down, then i can fit stuff past the bed height.

Other than that its pretty water tight, i only had to fill in a few gaps at the front of the bed and i dont get much water inside, looks awesome and i cant wait to mount a tent on top

 

+1 same reason I went with a Lomax

 

I had one before switching to an alucab.

If it suits how you use the truck, it's 100% worth it.

The thing is absolutely bulletproof and I firmly believe it would outlive the truck.

 

I’ve gone back and froth on a DiamondBack/tonneau/Softopper.

And I still can’t decide..

But I would go SE, Smooth, without cleats.

 

The cleats are awesome though.

 

Another DB SE fan here. Mine's been on my Taco for the past five months or so. I opted not to have the cleats installed since I don't plan on ever hauling anything on it.

My DB proved it's worth last December while on a road/wheeling trip in Arizona. I kept my tools and recovery gear in the front section and mine and my GF's luggage under the rear cover. It was nice stopping for the night at a Hotel and being able to just pull our two bags out of the back, lock it and forget about it. The previous year on basically the same trip every night we had unload the rear of the truck every night and re-load the next morning.

I get lots of compliments on mine from people who want to buy one...until they learn what they cost!

The loss of the truck bed for larger items hasn't been a big deal as I have another truck with an open bed which normally gets used for those tasks.

Bottom line: Get it! I doubt you'll regret it!!

 

I have the HD and love it. Had it for about a year and a half. I’m in CT and haven’t had any issues with snow complicating any entry for me. Water isn’t getting into mine. If I need the entire bed it’s a 5-10 minute complete removal by myself.

 

That's what I like about it. Looks simple enough...section by section.

I would keep mine on, somewhat permanently anyway. For some reason, I think the cleats on black look the best! Just my opinion though.

 

I bought an SE back in September. It came very well packaged and install was straight forward. I couldn't be happier with my decision and have yet to exhaust its abilities.

Two of my biggest needs were water "proof" and security. While I don't think anyone has ever tried breaking into it, I'm convinced it'd be a challenge. It's solid. I can shake my whole truck by pushing on the cover, and nothing about it budges the slightest.

As far as the waterproof aspect, it's not 100% perfect, but it only allows in a few drops, literally. A large part of this depends on how well you prep it to be sealed. It comes with a bulkhead seal and you can caulk up most of the bed seams. I've driven through heavy gulf coast storms and northeast snow and I've never worried about my bed getting wet enough to cause any problems to anything I'm carrying.

It allows the most possible space for hauling stuff under the cover (see two toilets under the cover.) And when you need to haul something bigger, it comes off quick. I can have it off in about 5 minutes. I weighed the three sections when I first bought and I believe it was around 80lbs total.

 

I love the way that smooth finish looks, whatever they call it. I’ve never actually seen that in person. Every cover I’ve seen has had the trademark diamond pattern. That looks way better IMO.

 

Can you post more pics of it closed? Finding examples of smooth with no cleats is hard. Thanks.

 

I'll grab some pics soon and post them up.