Stripped screw hole on new truck's tonneau cover

The day after I brought home my new Tundra, I found a screw in lying in the bed. I traced it to one of the tonneau cover latch brackets. Apparently the assembler overtorqued at least one screw, stripping the threads out entirely. (While I like the tonneau cover, its assembly seems to have been sloppy at best. Some of the screws were driven in at an angle, and there are coils of aluminum sticking out from half of them.)



So now I need to fix this in a way that comports with my OCD and my annoyance at having to fix something on a new truck. The stripped threads are in thin aluminum, probably too thin for a helicoil insert. Plus that would require spending money to fix this problem. As I see it, the options are:

• Drill a pilot hole in one of the other slots, insert the screw, and hope the asymmetry doesn't irritate me for the life of the tonneau cover.
• JB Weld the damn screw in place, since the load on it is lateral anyway.
• Take it in for service and make it Toyota's problem.
• Ignore the missing screw, crank down the other one, and hope it never causes a problem.

I guess my question is: is this too minor to bother a service center with? I *can* fix it myself, though not quite to my satisfaction. I also feel like I shouldn't have to on a new $70k truck?

 

If it’s new, talk to your dealer. They should resolve this. No reason you should have to deal with this.

If it is used, you should still give them the opportunity to make it right, but they may not have a legal obligation to.

 

Definitely go back to the original installer and have it corrected. Zero reason to fix this yourself on a new truck and tonneau install.

 

Yeah, it's a brand new truck with OEM tonneau cover. I don't know if that means it was factory-installed or added at the dealership.

 

Seems unlikely Toyota would just send it in with self tapers like that.

I doubt anyone is going to "properly" fix that. I bet whoever works on it drills it out so it's straight (if that) and then throws some glue on the threads and calls it good.

 

Yeah, they'll probably just fix it the same way I would. But at least if someone else does the fix, I might have some recourse down the line if it doesn't hold up. Though given how many of the other screws weren't driven in straight, maybe they can swap the cover for one that *wasn't* built on a Friday afternoon. Unless this is just par for the course for Bakflip's "high-quality, American-made truck bed covers".

 

Go to dealer and request a new one. You payed for a new, not refurbished one. It is not a warranty issue, they sold you a damaged item.

 

Those screws came that way from the cover manufacturer.
Putting those screws in place isn't part of the installation to the truck.
Chances are they were stripped when the cover was assembled.

I'd fix it myself and move on, but that is just me.
I don't have the time or patience to deal with the dealership and sit in their waiting room for hours for something this simple.
Good luck.