I hate my tonneau cover

Just like the title says, I hate my tonneau cover. I have a soft tri-fold cover, and it is in great condition and works exactly like it is supposed to. The only problem is that I hate having to fold it up and down constantly, as I need to access a plano box I have strapped into the front of the the bed. I also carry a plastic jerry can for fuel along the side of the bed. I know that I need the tonneau cover to keep people from stealing my stuff, but I just hate it. I want a shell, but I am a broke college student and can't afford a new one, and used 5ft 2nd gen shells are impossible to find in my area. I guess I am just ranting and rambling on, but are there any tips or advice out there to make me to like my tonneau cover better? Thanks for reading.

 

Well
FWIW.
My buddy had the same deal.
He was always going in to his box.
So
I said secure it By the tailgate.
He looked at me like I had two heads.
So he tried it. he didn’t carry a lot of big stuff so he just put it in front of the box when necessary.
He loved it.
Your situation might vary but it worked for him.

 

Oh Toyota makes, well they did last time I knew, a divider that will slide on the railings.
I’m sure you could copy and do something similar and it would help secure the box.

 

Or, take it off?
I’ve tried them, and much prefer my trucks with an open bed, to access the box and bed constantly.

 

My sale thread if you’re ever in the bay…

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fs-are-short-bed-camper-shell-w-extras-bay-area.784921/

 

I've never cared for a tonneau cover. They are in the way more than they help. I've had a cap on every truck I've owned since the 1970's. A toolbox takes up bed space, even an 8' bed only has about 6' usable bed after adding a toolbox. The beds on more common 5-6" beds are useless after adding a toolbox.

I've found very few things that wouldn't fit inside of a cap and I can take it off if necessary. The 1st thing I did after downsizing from a 1/2 ton to a Tacoma was buy a 10'X6' utility trailer. You ain't gonna put much in a 5' or 6' Tacoma's bed with 1000-1300 lbs payload. Anything of any size or weight goes in the trailer easier anyway. I can haul way more firewood in my trailer than I could put in the 8' bed of a 3/4 ton truck and pull it with ease.

Keep your eyes open for a used cap, hopefully one in a usable color. If you have to pay to get it painted it is no longer a deal. Black, white, or most any shade of gray would look good on your truck. Bargains are out there. And don't discount aluminum caps. They look fine IMO and cost less than a hard shell tonneau cover. They are light enough to put on, and take off with no help. I saw one on a new Nissan Frontier the other day and it looked good. He had a roof rack on the cap matching the height of the rack on his cab.

And there are soft tops. I don't particularly like the looks. But they cost $700-$800 new, which is not much less than the $900 I paid for my cap in 2007. A new fiberglass cap is going to be $2000-$3000 now. For someone on a tight budget they are a consideration.

 

I tried this, but I have a craftsman tool set that I carry in the box, and it is big and heavy. It requires me to have a large box that doesn't fit by the tailgate, and I'm always going in it. I would just leave it at my apartment, but I am constantly bouncing between my apartment and my parents house, and I prefer my tools to my dads. I knew of the bed divider, but I hadn't thought of using it. I may see if I can pick one up used.

 

I would, but in the neighborhood I live in, everything would be gone in 2 seconds. Unless I found some way to lock it in.

 

This is the ultimate goal, and I even have access to on of my scoutmasters auto shops where he said he could paint a mismatched shell for just the cost of the paint. Its just that any shells are like $1000-$1500, or they get sold within hours of being posted.

 

I saw your post earlier, that's a really nice shell. I'm actually going to cali on christmas day too leave for a cruise, but I'm going with my girlfriends family and we are taking their GMC Yukon, so I can't bring the shell back

 

When I first read Mike's suggestion I thought he meant secure the tonneau at the tailgate end, which would be dumb because how are you gonna open it?? But then I started thinking, what if you could somehow unlatch the cab end? The simplest way to do this would be to cut an opening in each side of the tonneau which you could reach through to undo the clamps. Probably get a marine upholstery shop to sew a Velcro flap to keep it all tidy. That would be a pain in the ass to do all the time though. Some kind of quick release would be awesome, more sturdy than the spring clips at the tailgate end but more user friendly than unscrewing a clamp each time. I'm feeling a million peso idea forming here

 

I think you just discovered the diamondback tonneau covers, lol
https://diamondbackcovers.com/pages/tacoma-landing

 

Haha, I didn't know they worked like that but either way I am way too cheap to go that route!

 

Yeah, I would never spend anywhere near that much for a tonneau cover. That is almost camper shell money they are asking

 

$20 Harbor Freight cargo bar and a couple of milk crates bungeed to it in the rear couple of feet of the bed. Maybe find yourself a pair of smaller boxes to put your tools in and put them back there.

 

Here's my solution for the Jerry can - 32" bungee with multiple holes. Stole an extra S hook off the old one that broke so I can attach it in three places and voila.

 

I've gone through a few trucks and many covers.

The fiberglass tonneau cover that came on my Ford Ranger was the best for ease of access and security, but it was annoying if you had anything a tiny bit too tall. Since then I've had some form of shell.

I agree with the other suggestions of moving your frequently accessed items to the tailgate end.

As for your tools, I recommend putting those inside the truck cab where it's more secure. I have my all my tools in a tool bag behind my rear seats in my double cab (except for a too large torque wrench).

Be patient, a shell will come up eventually. In the meantime, try out some different configurations.

Worst case, sell those wheels for $800+, buy a set of steel wheels for under $100 and then you'll have a larger budget to work with. Then when you have some more money on hand, you can upgrade the wheels again.

 

But I love the wheels lol. I had no idea how rare they are when I bought the truck, but I've been complimented so many times for them. The only way I'd do it is a swap to 17" rims for more tire options. My tools are in a lovely tool set that my dad bought me for Christmas last year, but the box is huge and hard to fit behind the seats. I'd prefer them in the cab, but it's not feasible unless I get rid of the box they are in.

 

The wheels are cool, but they aren't super rare anymore as Toyota has just re-released them with new part numbers.

As for the tools, if it's one of those plastic molded cases that holds the tools nicely, sure they are nice but bulky. My dad gave me a mixed SAE/Metric set of those when I was in high school and since then, I have removed the metric ones and built a larger/extended more Tacoma specialized set of tools out of it. The bulky case and the SAE tools just sit in the basement now if I ever want to put it back as one set.

 

After getting over a foot of snow today I am liking my Factory hard tonneau cover. You can never have enough bungy cords. Dewalt makes some storage containers that fit just right.