OEM TONNEAU MOD

Hey all you cool cats and kittens, loooking for advice/ideas for modding my OEM tonneau. A friend gave it to me and I love it for the most part, but would like to modify it to be able to open the front panel near the cab. Not only would it give me access, but it also makes removing the entire cover a lot easier.

A guy I know has one that is identical to mine, has the Toyota decal on the back end like mine but has a front panel lock and knob to unlatch the front panel latches. After some sleuthing, I'm thinking the dealership got Extang Encores from Toyota with a sticker slapped on. I've read some people talking about this in the past on this and other forums.

Here's what the front panel looks like with out the front access:


You can see the two cables in the middle that are pulled to release the latches.



Now, here's what the Extang's front panel looks like:

 

Here's the plan:

1. Install Rotary/Cam (not a locksmith): Something emulating the Encore which is essentially a cam lock with a wing handle.
I want the lock to engage the handle which will then provide the tension to pull the cables underneath. Ideally, I can leave it unlocked when I want to, and keep it locked.

On the underside, I will replace the latch with one similar to what you see in the encore, one that extends out both ways to pull the cables in opposite directions:


2. Relocate/Replace Cable Guides and cables: My hope is I can hillbilly engineer the existing cables and guides to save some money.

3. Seal Everything up and fill old screw holes.

 

Ok finally had time to dig into this project. Ended up buying a combination cam lock on Amazon for my mechanism.

I had an old metal strap that was about the right thickness to replace the cam that came with the lock. Mocked up my outline and took the dremel to it. Next I had to remove the metal tab on the lock that allows for only 90 degree rotation so the new dual sided cam could slip on down. The lock was almost too short. I may replace it with a longer keyed cam or try to find a longer combo one in the future. It’s on and seems to be tight enough.

The original plan to relocate the cable guides was futile, they have so much glue I’d worry about it ripping the plastic off with it. Didn’t matter, I added extra wire to the passenger side cable and clipped the driver side one.

i 3D printed a cover with TPU to keep rain and dust out is the combo.



I’m sure you are not inclined to cut up your $1k tonneau, but for about $25 I gained easy access to the front of my bed and made it easier to take off by myself.

 

This is great!! I have thought about doing something just like this since I got my truck.

Nice write up.

 

How’s your mod holding up? I’m looking at doing something similar.

 

Same question as above!

 

Very ingenious!!