Diamondback Tonneau Cover

Huge shoutout to Diamondback for making what I feel like is the only quality cover for trucks out there.

I loved the look of the BakFlip MX4 and purchased one for my new Tundra. To say it was crap is an understatement - it was bent, missing parts, had wrong parts installed and attached to it, easily scratched, was missing seals, and where it did have seals it leaked in numerous placed. There was absolutely no quality assurance or inspections done on the items before they were shipped. I returned the item and replaced it, only to have the same issue.

I need to have a watertight seal for my truck bed - that is why I want to cover it in the first place.

I was considering the Solid Fold brand after not having luck with the BakFlip, as I had that previously on my Tacoma. However, others have indicated that the quality has decreased in the past few years and the manufacturer had removed some supports to lighten/cheapen the product which unfortunately resulted in some quick dents.

Everyone was raving about the Diamondback - from the quality to the customer service. So I pulled the trigger and bought the Diamondback HD. It is SOLID. And extremely HIGH QUALITY. The seals that it comes with are thick and will clearly be very durable. The directions provided were simple and after installation the cover has been water tight. I am very impressed with the cover and look forward to the adventures ahead.

Also, I wanted to note that when installing some of the bulkhead seals, I cut one slightly short. I emailed Diamondback at 11 PM on a Sunday night so as to not forget, asking if I could buy a replacement since it was my fault. I got an immediate response from their customer service department and they sent me a new one for free. I'm not only impressed that they did that complimentary, but that they seem to make themselves available at all hours even for minor requests like that.

Here are some photos of it installed:

 

Yep! DiamondBack fan here as well!

 

Love my Diamondback cover and BedRug

 

Man these are very nice. I chose to go with a cheap gator cover that I can remove easily. I would have gone with one of these but knowing from experience having a cover in the past years ago on my Tacoma and putting stuff in the back . I may change my mind one day and add this. Love these covers.

 

Woz 23 and Odin43, those are great photos of your DiamondBack setups. You have me almost convinced that I "need" a Cross Bin 13 or Cross Bin 8!

 

You sacrifice a bit of bed space to gain a bit of storage space. For me, I think the trade off works and the few times I needed more bed space, I took the cross bin out and left it in the garage. If I was regularly using all the bed, maybe the cross bin wouldn’t be right for me.

 

Even the dog is loving the cover

 

@Odin43, what’s the distance from the bottom of the Cross Bin 8 to the bed?

EDIT: Also, what’s the clearance from the lowest point on the tonneau cover to the bed? My Wavian jerry can is 18.5” tall and I’m hoping I don’t have any clearance issues. I’d measure these items myself except my truck doesn’t arrive until the end of April 2023. Thanks.

 

12 1/4 in from the top of my BedRug to the bottom of the CrossBin and 22 in from the top of the BedRug to the lowest part of the Diamondback.

This is on my 2.5 gen.

 

My apologies as I mistakenly thought you had a 22+ model year.

Are any 3rd gen owners able to provide me with these measurements? Thanks.

 

I have a '23. However, I have the 13" cross bin. So probably best to add 5" to the bin clearance if you are looking at the 8" bin.

Its about 7.3" from the bed to the bottom of the bin. However, I have the rubber bed mat which is around 0.5" thick, so you would be closer to 8" without the bed mat.

It is around 21.4" from the bed to the bottom of the cover, closer to 22" if you don't count the rubber weather strip.

 

Thanks, Woz 23. Much appreciated.

 

Loving your Platinum, dog and the Diamondback !!! Taking delivery of my new Limited tonight, will be ordering an SE smooth this weekend.

 

Damn this is the cover I should have gotten. I might have to give back my 3rd now Bakflip MX4 because it just sucks. I know it isn't waterproof but it leaks pretty bad in the middle of the bed. I could deal with the tailgate and very front of the bed but not the middle. Diamondback looks solid!!!

 

It is.

 

My Diamondback SE is supposed to be delivered tomorrow. Luckily the wife will be here to receive it.
After looking at all available options for the 3rd Gen, Diamondback was the clear and only logical choice for me. Most one piece tonneaus today are ABS plastic, the painted fiberglass covers aren’t really available for the 3rd Gen. Maybe one or two, but fit and design is lacking.
About one month after I bought my new 1st Gen in 2000, I had a fiberglass Century Astro tonneau installed. It was painted and cleared to Toyota paint code. Believe it was right at $1100.00.
I loved that cover ! Very low profile with a slight drop to the bed sides. It didn’t overlap the bed sides or tailgate but closed and sealed on the rails top of tailgate and top of bed bulkhead. Completely water tight unless you were power washing water and the tailgate. Had that cover for 15 years until I sold the truck. My wife’s uncle owns that truck now and cover is still on it… The Astro was discontinued, not sure when exactly but no longer available.
Anyway, after considering the most important factors I wanted in a cover.. durability, weather tight, security and design. The Diamondback checked all the boxes

 

Agreed. My Bakflip was junk and I returned them twice.

 

I recently removed my DB cover, in favor of a cap. Growing family, needed more room. I do miss the DB cover as it was fantastic for the 2.5 years I had it on the truck. Very useful and looked great.

 

Bakflip was ready to send me a 4th cover... I was like no! I will gladly pack it up and send back. Mine leaks and doesn't leak... depends on how level the truck is parked. But when the water pools on top... it gets in. Love the functionality of it but it is crap. DB will probably be the next one if I can get BF to refund me.

 

When Bakflip finally did open a claim, despite trying to avoid doing so several times, they tried to tell me they don't refund, they will just replace it under warranty. I did not want junk replaced with junk a third time. Eventually they gave in and refunded. Worst case you should dispute it on your credit card if they won't budge.

 

And the F'rs sent me a 4th cover after I said I don't want to keep getting covers. lol I will put #4 on and if it leaks again which I am sure it will, I will go the credit card route if they don't give in. They said after this one they would escalate it up the chain if I have any issues.

 

I have read through this chain trying to figure out how much weight i needed on top when adjusting the locks for the covers. It appears the placing 30 to 35 lbs of weight on the section that is being adjusted is the sweet spot. My question is if 30 to 35 lbs are total weight or on each side for a total of 60 to 70 lbs per side being adjusted. If anyone feels different let me know.

 

I did more weight than that because I just wanted it extra snug so I didn't have to mess w it again. When i was actually adjusting the mechanism i had my average size brother sit on the middle of the panel and a 40lb bag of salt each corner of the panel. I did a 40 lb bag of salt in the middle of the panel and a 40 lb bag per corner so 120 lb total on there for a full day for the seals to form after installation was done. Way overkill but I don't get any leaks now.

 

Finally got er done..!! The first cover I received was damaged by shipper. Diamondback promptly shipped out a replacement cover shipped in a crate. Before even opening the replacement cover in the crate I thought for sure it would be damaged also.. most of the top slats of the skid were broken from the skid and one vertical board of the crate was completely broken in two from crushing the crate sideways. After unboxing I couldn’t believe all panels were in fine shape and cosmetically perfect.
As stated by others, Diamondback was top notch at promptly and professionally addressing and replacing my damaged first cover.
I got the SE smooth with loose tie-downs. This isn’t an inexpensive cover by any means, but the overall quality of product, top notch automotive type seals and hardware, R&D-design are examples of why..
The adjustability and fine tuning available with the lid latching mechanism I was impressed with. Simple, well thought out latches consistently and securely slide the 3/8” locking rods into the center of the bed deck rails.
As far as torque for the clamps on center panel, I never hit 5ft-lbs. but it’s pretty snug. I’ll check torque after a couple hundred miles, but the gasket is pretty well compressed.
The lids I just kept opening and adjusting the brackets till the gasket was evenly and thoroughly compressed, and the lids opened and closed smoothly with a slight downward push on the panel upon closing and latching. Again, I’ll assess how these are closing over time and tweak if necessary.
Overall I’m very satisfied with my first Diamondback product and their stellar customer service !!

 

Thank You!

 

Just ordered mine 2023 Crewmax LB got it on the outlet so dam excited. LLOD and Talion Sei sold me on it. Going to make a plywood deck so I can load a snowmobile right on in the winter. Pics once it lands.

 

I just fine tuned my Thule Tracrac on my DB SE. Looks and works great. I cut off 7.5" off the height so now it sits about 1" higher than the roof. I ordered extra cleats and installed those as well.

The DB covers are quite versatile. I had an HD on my Ridgeline but found that I didn't need that much cover so I did the SE on the Tundra.

I haven't bothered putting the added seal on the front box lid. I haven't seen much water getting into the box even with all the snow that we had.

 

I used two 40 lbs bags of birdseed for each section. I placed them toward the sides of the sections directly over where the lock are adjusted. Worked great.

 

Great Thank you for the input!