Tonneau Advice

I know this question has been asked many times, but combing through search results has left me with more questions than answers. So please, Tacoma World gods, forgive me.

I have a 2016 Tacoma TRD OR short bed, and am in need of a tonneau cover. My research has suggested that a folding hard cover would probably be best for me, but beyond that I really don't know what to look for. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. My budget is $600, assuming what I want exists in the price range.

I think my bed already has rails for the OEM tonneau cover, but I can't seem to figure out where to buy one. Am I right that I have the pins needed to fit it to the bed?

 

Ideally I would like some semblance of security, and if I'm entirely honest, I don't like the look of soft covers.

 

Will an aftermarket tri-fold cover such as the extang 2.0 fit with the OEM pins and stuff installed? Or will I need to buy the other bed rails? Also what are some other high-quality tri-fold covers?

 

Me too, especially after rain........

 

I threw a TruXedo Sentry which is a hard roll up cover in the dumpster for the same reason. A $750 robin bird bath is all it was. Had it on my truck for 29 days. After a rain before I could get out to sop the water up off the cover a pair of robins would be bathing in the pool of water on the tonneau cover.What was sad I saw how water pooled up on my buddies Sentry cover on his new Tundra and dumb ass me went ahead and bought the same cover thinking mine would not pool water because the tonneau cover was smaller than the one on his Tundra.

You win some and you lose some.

 

I came away from a 20 year old F350 with a hard cap. Only ever had very small amounts of water near the tailgate.

I got my Tacoma this May and wanted to keep things simple, so I invested in a soft top trifold which supposedly had decent reviews. The original one arrived with damaged seals, so the company sent me new gaskets to replace those damaged pieces.

Installed the unit and found soon after that even a 10 minute rain shower in the driveway allowed water in every single joint. E-mailed the company with my issues and sent pictures of all the numerous lite leaks from within the bed to show all the water entry points. They would not do a refund because the unit had been “installed on the truck”.

More e-mails later resulted in them finally agreeing to send a replacement unit after I had to cut out the manufacturer’s production nbr stamping on the inside of the cover, rendering it useless.

The replacement unit arrived also with damaged seals, so again, I installed the replacement gasket material and installed the unit. This one allowed even more water to enter the bed. The issues were the result of small gaps between the aluminum framework and gasket seals that were either cut too short or had contracted after initial assembly. I am no engineer, however, possess enough common sense to see obvious manufacturing/quality control issues. I am also handy with tools and repair techniques and could totally redo the frame joints and properly re-install all the seals and gaskets, but the question is, why should I have to?

More e-mails black and forth between the company and the manufacturer and myself finally resulted in them agreeing to refund my total cost so I might purchase a totally different type cover of my choice instead. The only catch is that I would have to cover the shipping cost of the unit back to the actual manufacturer. I am researching the shipping cost now to see if it is worth my time and money to do so, as I am getting varying estimates depending upon the actual weight of the product in its carton or the actual size of the carton. Whole thing doesn’t weigh much more than 40 lbs but it is a large box. If the shipping cost comes too close to the actual purchase price, then it really is not worth it.

Added to the issue is that I am currently in Florida regarding some family medical issues and the original shipping carton is back in Virginia and I am not certain when I will be returning home to even begin dealing with this thing. And the daily Florida afternoon thunderstorms come everyday. The picture in my previous post shows the depth of the water “puddle” in just one of the trifold sections. I wonder what might happen if i get one of those freak snowstorms this winter when I get back to VA.

Anyway, I am now in search of a replacement bed cover of reasonable expectations without breaking the bank too much, most likely a single piece composite type. Wasn’t my initial choice, but sometimes, you just gotta do what you gotta do.

Enough of my soapbox rant, I feel a little better now..........until it rains tomorrow afternoon.

 

I was in the same boat recently and with with the Rugged E Series. I did a write up here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rugged-liner-e-series-tonneau.551072/

Just took it on a long road trip and it did great, particularly with keeping rain out.

 

For what you are looking for we highly recommend either a BAK cover or a Lomax
https://www.agricover.com/lomax/

We sell a ton of both and can offer you great pricing on either. we also offer many other brands. Message me for more info and pricing if interested.

 

So the OP stated a budget of $600, a quality hard trifold is obtainable in that price? I work for the local Toyota dealer and have considered the Ruged Liner because of the employee pricing.

 

What hard fold would you suggest in the $600 budget range?

 

And where would one go to find the g2 at a better price point?

 

Does this apply to a 2014 Limited DCLB?

 

I have the TruXedo Sentry CT hard cover and do not experience any water puddling. It is a fantastic cover. The fabric on the Sentry CT is canvas vs vinyl on the Sentry, otherwise they are exactly the same, so I am surprised you had issues. My Sentry CT has a 2019 build date. Maybe it was redesigned?

 

Do I just send ya a PM?