Folding Hard Tonneau Install on a 21 Trail Edition

Hey guys,

I picked up my 21 SR5 Trail Edition last week. I really need a tonneau on my truck, and I often haul a bed full of stuff that could easily walk away and needs to be kept mostly dry. I coach my daughter's travel softball team and have all the practice gear in the truck for the better part of the year.

In any case, I wanted the Army Green, bed liner, and the black rims on the truck, so the Trail Edition was my choice. The tool boxes in the bed weren't a make or break item on the deal, so I didn't think much of it at time of purchase. Afterwards, I realized that they sit pretty high up on the sides of the bed and was concerned that there would be interference with the tonneau. I looked at many models, and many install videos, and realized that while some were lower profile attachments that others, all of them come down below the cargo rail where the tonneau attaches. In the first, of what I am sure will be many mods, I decided to remove the tool boxes so I can install the tonneau.

The removal was fairly straight forward. The boxes are attached with bolts at the cargo tie downs at the rear of the bed, all the bolts for the cargo rail, and one bolt on the interior of the tool box near the cab. I managed to get the boxes removed in about 45 minutes this evening. I'll get to work on the install of my Rough Country hard folding tonneau tomorrow.

A couple notes and a question -

The factory bed liner is not sprayed at any of the connection points to the truck. There is a gap about the size of a baseball at the bolts near the cab, and another where the cargo tie downs are near the tail gate. I will need to get these touched up in the future. There is no liner behind the cargo rail bolts as well, but this is covered by the rail once re-installed. There was also bare metal behind the cargo tie downs, which are painted the color of the truck. It appears they were installed when the truck was painted, then removed to install the tool boxes.

My question - the cargo rails have a 3/8" spacer between the back of the rail the held the rail off the thickness of the flange where the tool box installed. Should I leave these spacers in when re-installing the rails, or should i bolt the rail directly to the bed?

Sorry for the lack of pictures. I'll try to get some when I have some day light.

 

Here are a couple pics of the gaps at the bed liner.

 

And the installed tonneau.

 

The removed tool boxes:

 

What are you going to be doing with those tool boxes....?

those are going to be very sought out after

 

I have a friend with a Tacoma that is interested if they fit. I'm assuming that Toyota didn't make different boxes for the two models, but who knows.

If he doesn't take them, they'll go up for sale. i don't have any idea what a reasonable price for them would be. Any thoughts?

 

This is a very frustrating and helpful post. Same truck - same issues. However the tool boxes are also very well insulated coolers. Why that snowflake is on there. Part of the reason for the version of this truck with the larger gas tank and Coolers is the idea to take it on remote camping trips, which is one reason I got it. But like you, I need the tonneau cover, AND the cooler and extra storage. The underseat storage has already been removed due to the larger gas tank.


I've been searching for days for a cover that doesn't require I bring down the rail system ( because I don't want to remove the cooler and storage) and finally came across your post. Frustrating that everything I've found requires the mod you did. I'll continue my search. I'd hope that at some point someone comes out with any cover that works with this truck - even though there won't be many of this specific version made.

 

There is another thread where another Trail Edition owner somehow modified his brackets to allow for the install of a tonneau with the boxes installed. I'll see if i can find it.

 

Found it:

https://www.tundras.com/threads/hel...2021-tundra-crewmax-trail.76345/#post-1997832

 

Dude! Thank you! Reading it now!

 

If you do decide to ever get rid of those boxes i'd be happy to buy them from you. I'm also in MD.

 

I also have a 2021 trial edition. I put on the truxedo sentry ct tonneau cover and it fits great. I doesn’t interfere with the boxes at all - I kept them in place and can continue to use them. The sentry cover is a hard, rolling cover. It attaches to the bed via the rail system with 4 attachment points. Very easy to remove the entire cover if needed. I searched for awhile and settled on this cover - so far, so good. Like to hear what anybody else decides to install. Good luck!

 

I'm considering the same sentry ct bedcover in conjuction with a deezee headache rack. However, applying that cash toward a real nice fiberglass cap seems like a better choice. Any opinions?

 

Tough call. I guess it Depends on how much access you need to the bed. I had a cap on a Tacoma a couple years back and missed the option of driving a quad into the bed or dumping mulch and gravel in the bed if needed. If you’re not going to need to use the bed for that sort of thing a cap is a good option. Good luck.

 

I know this is an older thread, but in case someone gets here because of a search, the Lomax Stance is a great low profile toneau and it works with the rails, bins, and tie downs. You do lose some mobility of the tie downs, but I just grabbed a couple extra off of Craigslist and it’s been no big deal.

 

Checking in to see what the latest covers people are running, while keeping the Trail bed boxes installed? Looking for a hard cover myself for my Trail.

 

anyone out there find a tonneau cover that works with the storage?