DiamondBack Covers | Modifications

Anyone have issues getting the T30 bolts off for the bulk head prep? I can't get them loose and am scared I am going to strip them. Been trying to get this cover installed for 2 months and its just not going great. Weather has mainly been the issue as I don't have a garage.

 

If you don’t have an impact gun, I’ve had luck with these…

 

Kroil and patience to get the bolts loose.

 

Anybody have any tips to get the front panel seal to fit better? Pics attached, you can see the rear panel fits nice and smooth but the front panel doesn't sit as well.

 

Put some weights on the front panel and get under the cover with a ratchet to make the adjustments to the locking bars...You’ll have to move the adjuster up/down to get the proper fit. I’d recommend a sharpie to make a line and follow that going forward

 

You're talking about adjusting the locking bars with these *deez nuts* (sry) right? I had trouble with these since you don't get much room to operate as the locking bar has to fit into the bed rail track, whereas the rear panel locking bars has that extended metal part DB gives you. Sounds I need a buddy to stand up there while I try adjusting them again.

 

Correct those are the adjustment bars I’m talking about. Definitely have someone stand or sit on it while you fine tune the adjustments

 

When i shut my front side, I have to give it a good shove down while i lock it to set the rods in place. I had my partner sit on it while i tightened it down and that was perfect.

 

I was able to pick the lock on my DiamondBack with zero lock picking experience in under 5 minutes. And half that time was because I forgot which way the cylinder turned.

The entire DiamondBack handle/lock system is 100% not actual security.

 

Anybody haul cargo boxes or a cooler on top of their diamondback? Would you need additional mounting hardware or do you think you'd just be able to tie them down to the bed cleats?

 

Do you have the diamondback cleats? You should be able to tie your cargo boxes or cooler down to those easily.

 

Yep just the four that came with the SE version. I'm wondering if I'd need more to tie down a cooler and 100qt cargo box so that they're secure while going off road. If anybody does something similar, would you mind sharing some pics?

 

What about strapping them down then covering with a tight cargo net?

 

Ratcheting straps hooked onto the DB cover cleats or the strap lassoed around the cargo and the cover panel it’s sitting on with the ratchet strap’s hooks hooked onto each other have worked for me. Just use enough straps with proper load rating, tighten them down, and check that stuff are secure. I use the HD, so I have more cleats to work with. The lasso method with the straps may work for you, if needing to strap down along an area without any cleats on the SE.

That was mainly before I added the bed rack, rtt and crossbars. Those accessories changed what I could haul, and how, on the DB cover.

Also, not sure what you meant with mounting hardware. Were you trying to make a more permanent setup with a cooler / cargo container attached to the DB cover on the daily? Or, something temporary just for road trips?

 

Was thinking about this as well, tie everything down then have the cargo net as a fail safe.

Ahhh that's a good idea, I didn't think about running the straps under the panel. I was trying to get at if anybody has done this successfully without needing additional mounting hardware. I'm just looking for temporary road trip solutions but I've seen people build out track line type systems into the cover, would prefer avoiding that haha. I'm gonna try your original method and see if adding additional cleats would help as well. Thanks!

 

Glad you like the idea of wrapping the strap(s) under the panel cover. Hope it works out for you.

Prior to having a bedrack & rtt system, I used that method to strap a smaller Lifetime folding table to the back panel so that it created an extension of sorts to the DB cover. From there, I proceeded to set up a 2-person backpacking tent on the longer footprint of the DB cover with a table strapped to one end of it. The cleats served as good tie down points for the tent. But, I used longer guy lines w/ reflective material to stake the rain fly into the ground. Nothing fancy, but it was functional.

Photo is courtesy of my friend during our camp and shoot trip.

 

I decided to forgo the weather stripping under the bulk head but stripped a T30 in the bed rail so looks like I'm never getting this cover installed and have an expensive cover doing nothing but taking up all the space in my garage. Such fun times. Money wasted it seems. So frustrated.

 

Is that T30 screw one of those for the metal catch piece that the back panel's locking rods go under? Or, is that screw for the bulk head? Edit: you said bed rail, must be for one of the catch pieces.

Watch this and see if you can use one of the methods with what tools you have.

If you don't have the tools, this might be a good excuse to go buy more tools.

Edit: Actually, I think you’re referring to a bulkhead T30 screw based on an earlier post:

Even if you don’t get the bulkhead portion done, the cover should still be able to get installed. Correct me if I’m wrong on that, someone.

 

Test fitting bikes, Jerrycans and boxes.

 

I actually stripped one of the t30 as well when I installed my cover. The way I got it out was to get a hammer and bang the t30 wrench into the stripped bolt until it's stuck, then apply a lot of pressure as you slowly wrench it out. I'm not sure about forgoing the weather stripping part.