Frozen Retractable Tonneau

As the title suggests, it won't "retract". I'm assuming it's frozen (I've remove snow/ ice from the top but maybe some blowing snow got in there).

Only opens to the first latch (about 10-12" from the tailgate). I was trying to somewhat "slam" it open to break free any ice, but thought wiser of it and didn't want to break anything on the cover so after 2 or so I stopped.

Anyone have any solutions? Warm it up in the garage first to confirm or eliminate freezing/ice as the culprit?

 

What brand is it? The brands have different mechanisms and might have different icing issues. One thing you might try is to go down each side and bang on the rails with your fist in case there is some ice in the grooves where the cover tracks and seals. That might break it loose.

 

Thanks, I'll try that - it's a Truck Covers USA American Roll cover.

 

there's definitely ice blockage in the rails. I have a retracting cover also. The rails are gutters for water and any melting snow likely froze up blocking the rollers. Let it thaw in the garage like you said.

 

I used to (angrily) use a heat gun on my old trifold which would freeze up. Beating on it just broke stuff due to cold plastic. I had wondered about the retractable ones when I was replacing it so it is good to know they don’t like ice- sales guy was evasive on this point.

 

Yeah if I can figure out how to manage it, I'll certainly post the solution. And assuming it's not a major problem/or I've broken it, I highly recommend them (retractables)

 

Update - just haven't had time to make room in the garage for the truck yet - but the cover has since opened (retracted) half-way so..... progress? LOL. I keep meaning to take a pic, but it's cold out.

Some of our roads up here couldn't pass for Fallujah and I'm sure its rattling some ice free.

 

I’ve had similar issues with the one that I had on my 2008. There are a few specific things to keep an eye on:

1. Check your drain tubes for crud/gunk/blockages. The two by the tailgate you’ll need to have the cover open and you can run a fish tape into them sort of like a drain snake. I don’t like popping the tube off of them because over time it seems to wear out the tube. The two in the front, you need to close the cover, then pull the four screws on the cover plate. Clean out any leaves, pine needles, maple helicopters, etc. that have accumulated. I remember the first time I did that, my canister had about 1” of standing water in it because it wasn’t draining.
2. Hit the rails with a little silicon lubricant - I would just use the spray can stuff. I’m pretty sure the user manual for the cover mentioned this somewhere in it.
3. Check the lock bars. I found that slot/opening that they are inside of in the back of the cover would get water inside of it and with the close tolerance between the bar and the slot, that water would make them “sticky” so that they didn’t want to spring back out. I would disengage the wire mechanism underneath from the bars, pull them out, wipe them off, and blow air into the slot to drive water out. TCUSA says not to lubricate those at all, but I would hit them with some silicon spray and it would seem to limit the sticking.

I would usually hit all these steps in the fall just before winter. We don’t get a lot of freezing cold, but we do get a lot of rain, and it always seemed that if I didn’t do this little bit of preventative maintenance, it would never fail that I would go out on a frosty morning after it had rained the day before and something would be frozen up (usually the lock bars for me).

 

Thanks @RainMan_PNW -
All of these seem like practical and effective preventative maintenance things. I appreciate it

 

Update:

it was just ice/frozen, thanks for the advice everyone.

 

Hi All,
Just installed my American roll cover on a 2019 tundra with a spray on bed liner. Can anyone post pics of recommended drain tube locations?

Thanks in advance.
Rick

 

I drilled two holes in the oval pop outs in the front panel of the bed. Prev owner line-x'd over them, so drilling through them was easy.

 

Thanks for the reply. I was hoping to avoid using those. I would prefer them up higher and maybe out the side. Guess I’ll have to do a little more research. Thanks again.