Diamondback Tonneau Cover

Looks fine to me. Honestly I wouldn’t worry about it to much. Before they added the 5 ft lbs to the manual there was no specs to go buy. I just tightened them down on my Tacoma as tight as I could get them. Never had an issue. But even when I installed on my tundra I used a torque wrench and it never was clicking. So I just went to when it was tight and called it good. Just check them a week from now after driving a bit and see if they still good. But you should be all good

 

Thank you. Appreciate the info!

 

What rails were you starting to bend? Inside the bed?

 

Mine was due to be ready March 20 and I found an email in my Junk Folder from Friday 3/15/24, letting me know it was done.
I plan to have them install it, since I am only about 2.5 hours away, and also take a factory tour while on site.
I'll call them today to schedule everything.
I plan to take Butyl tape with me and ask them about installing it under the bed side caps and also asking about adding additional shims to ensure the caps don't deform down the road.

 

Anyone have a good photo of tailgate lineup? I’m not sure if mine is too far forward. For the life of me I cannot get mine perfectly even. Idk if my bed is slightly warped. But, it’s impossible to get it even on both sides and have the back edge be straight. I think my seal might be glued a little off on the front passenger corner also. Any input is great!

 

Just saw some warping of the plastic rails from the clamps. I did put the butle tape on the inside, so not too worried about water getting under. It’s almost like the clamp perfectly hits where there is no shim. Of course… I think it’s as good as it will get. More worried about my front to back placement and the fact that I cannot get it straight no matter how much I tweak.

 

Did you install the shims under the bed rail caps?

 

Line it up based on the cab side, since there’s less area for the seal to rest on. The tailgate end doesn’t matter as much for placement.

As far as alignment, ignore the seal; look at the cover itself. The seal may not compress perfectly even around the outside edge.

 

Yes I did. I think I’m just over analyzing haha.

 

That’s what I tried to do for that exact reason. Thanks!

 

I am not reading 36 pages of this but just traded in my Ram 2500 on a Tundra 5.5 bed crewmax hybrid with the Diamondback Se cover.

I had the Diamondback on the last one but I am not sure I am going back with it. I had the crossbin tool box but it really made the last few feet of the bed unusable. Also the area in the middle is pretty inaccessible unless you crawl up in it. Honestly thought I would always have one of these but find my self longing for a bed cover that I can access the whole bed or roll all the way back if needed. Also can't put the dog kennel in the bed without facing it sideways which is really annoying.

Help me decide?

 

Really not to difficult to take the cover off. I was able to do it under 10 minutes after a while. Putting it back on the same way. I don’t have the cross bin and have a long bed so bed space is all still usable. But you do have to do some pre planning on when loading large items in the bed. I think for the money the Diamondback offers the best value. I was seeing bakflips with quality issues and CS really declined. Retrax takes up bed space so that was a no go. Others just didn’t offered me what I was looking for. If you want more usable space you can check out the switchback. That is different and allows you to trifold.

 

I have a 6.5' bed and find the access to the forward part of the bed was hard to reach so I added a longer set of side steps and now I can stand there and reach into the bed. The bed is pretty deep and spacious under the cover.

Right now I have an Uptop rack on the cover and tent on the rack. Pretty hard to open either front or back sections now, everything has to go in through the tailgate now!

 

My Install at their facility is scheduled for April 1st.
I asked the installer if he would recommend adding additional Shims and the Butyl tape and he said the shims supplied are sufficient and he does not think the Butyl tape on the side is needed.
I am wondering if I should just have them add shims to the entire length of the caps to be safe.
I already have Butyl tape and was thinking of having him add that to the bed side when he installs the cover.

What's everyone's thoughts on this?
Necessity or not?

 

If you don’t add butyl tape or some kind of sealant at the front of the caps and front bed corners you’ll get water into the bed. Many of us that have had DB covers on our tundras have experienced this.

Full length shims aren’t a bad idea, either.

 

Any chance you could mark up a picture or diagram to show exactly where the Butyl should be added to prevent the water intrusion?

Thanks

 

I posted about it before:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/diamondback-tonneau-cover.15320/page-35

 

I carry my ATV quite often and the answer to your question is "depends". Yes, you can load and unload from either side, however part of the ATV package is a slip-on guard rail who's job it is to prevent an ATV from going too far over the other side while loading. The way it "slips on" requires an initial angle that a loaded ATV standing behind it prevents. So, to unload forward, one needs to either not use that guard OR have an ATV that has a wheelbase that allow the ATV to be rolled back enough. Once the ATV is loaded the guard serves no purpose towards anchoring down the vehicle. If I know before hand I will unload forward, I don't mount it. I'm sure it's strong enough to stop a loading ATV, but I've never touched it while loading. The opposite rails (where the guard attaches under) act as my front wheel stops. The ATV is loaded up in 4WD Low so (mine) has very precise low-speed control.

 

Thanks!

 

Has anyone tried the new trifold switchback? That style will work better for me I think. Just looking to see if anyone has one.

 

^I almost bought a switchback. The reason I didn’t was the 400lb limit. I also felt the regular cleats of the se/hd would serve me better than the “mini” cleats of the switchback.

I’ll likely never need 1600lb but I liked the huge “margin of error”.

if a trifold is what works for you, I would say that you will not find a better made, more secure trifold than the switchback.

you won’t go wrong with a diamondback product

 

Today’s project-a custom saddle style box to use with my 270 cover. Made out of some 1/2” plywood. Wood was left over from another project, after that about $50 in hardware and I love how it turned out. Going to paint it black once I make a couple more adjustments and the weather gets a bit nicer. Sure beats $400+ buying one from the factory.

 

Next Monday (April 1) Taking a little road trip and will have the HD cover installed and take a tour of the factory.
I think I will take the Butyl Tape and ask them to install more shim as a precautionary measure.
This weekend I have to take the OEM Tri Fold cover off and raise the rail system up.
Now I need to figure out if I need add anything else for organization or not.

 

My HD has been on for about 3 weeks. Been through a few rain storms and a snow storm with heavy melt the next day. Cover did a great job keeping things dry. I did use butyl tape on the inside edge of my rails. I did have water get in. I think the culprits are the bulkhead plugs at the bottom. They have small holes in them that let water in. Going to try and fill with silicone and see if that stops the problem. Anyone else experience this?

 

more likely that it’s leaking in the top corners of the bed. Did you install the bulkhead gasket and did it span the entire width of the bed. I don’t think the plugs would leak like that and I get intrusion from the same area (top corners) during heavy rains, etc

 

why would you have to raise the bed rails?

 

I installed the seal and used silicone up top. Siliconed the gap between the bulkhead and rails. No sign of leaking there. No dripping. After the last rain storm I could visually see water beads build up around the plug holes. Also with the snow build up and fallen between the bulkhead and cab, it sat there and melted. There were no water marks showing it dripping down.

 

Hmmmmn……maybe try to pop off the plugs, run a bead of silicone around the rim and reinstall? See if that fixes it.

 

My thought exactly. And the two small holes they have. I mean maybe it dripped down. But it was only wet at the bottom and near the plugs. Idk why Toyota put two little holes in those plugs?? Drainage for those who don’t cover the bed?

 

Uses some silicone on the holes and butyl tape around the rim before pushing them back in. I think it should work.

on another note: went through a touch free car wash for the first time. Had some water get in. Saw dripping on the wheel well hubs and in the front corners. Is this expected with the power of those jets?