Installing and removing a tonneau cover, depending on situation?

[danimal2000]

@Mud Pie

I had never seen the Bolt locks- that's a phenomenal idea. How does the hitch pin stand up to road grime? I stopped buying locking pins years ago because the salt would destroy the cylinders and I'd wind up cutting it off to change hitches. Not too worried about theft on a HF triple ball but if I step up to a hitch skid I don't want that to grow legs.

I'm also with you one the minimalist approach. I have enough EDC equipment between my wallet, knife, phone, pen, pew pew and handkerchief. Any way to minimize the crap I carry is better, especially keys. I only have my office key and hood latch key on the Jeep fob and use geofencing and a keypad for the house.

Not as much affected by road grime, but i have a bolt padlock on my trailer hitch. Has been great for 2 years. Seems very well made imo

I have a locking hitch pin too with a rubber cap over the cylinder, so far no issue in 5 years. I didn't like how bulky looking the bolt hitch pin was, or the red accent

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[Mud Pie]

Agreed, the bodies of both locks are larger than I'd like, but they are that big for a reason; to accept your Jeep ignition key. Both are rubber coated and appear like they'll last, but I haven't gotten them wet or muddy yet. The hitch pin has a rubber flapper over the lock that snaps quite well. I prefer the rubber coating on both locks.

I ordered mine through Amazon, I didn't make sure about the padlock; I got the Jeep version for sidecut keys. Had to exchange for centercut.

 

[NC_Overland]

I had an OEM trifold that I had to take off for loads of dirt, gravel, etc and tall large items. I got tired of taking it off so I got a blakflip MX4 since it folds up like a headache rack. I’d never take one on and off without good reason. It gets old fast.

 

[Mud Pie]

I take my trifold off only to add something to the bed. First time, trail rails. Second time, Molle panels. Third time when I wanted to power buff wax my top. They say you can stand on it; I wasn't taking that chance. The cover is heavier than you'd think; easy with two people, it can be done by yourself, but I'm always ready for a testicle to end up in my sock.

It's a royal PITA to put in on and off. I lay it on, totally unfold it, line it all up on all four sides to make sure it's even all the way around, drop the tailgate then shimmy under the trifold up to the front and set those clamps. Then the others auto-align.

The routine of folding it is an action that I still haven't mastered. First, I drop the tailgate and release the two clamps. Flip the first panel. Then instead of releasing the next panel clamp where I was just standing, I walk BACK to the other side, pop that clamp then return to where I was to pop that clamp, then flip it. I have no idea why I do that almost all the time.

 

[azmojave]

My BAK Revolver has “quick disconnect” knobs for removing it easily. No tools needed. Another option is loading a few things on top of the cover. I bought some t-slot eye bolts and use those to tie stuff down.

 

[Janster]

@Mud Pie

I had never seen the Bolt locks- that's a phenomenal idea. How does the hitch pin stand up to road grime? I stopped buying locking pins years ago because the salt would destroy the cylinders and I'd wind up cutting it off to change hitches. Not too worried about theft on a HF triple ball but if I step up to a hitch skid I don't want that to grow legs.

We have a locking hitch pin and we’ve had it for years….. probably a good 10 years. It’s a simple thing that has a rubber cap to cover the keyhole.

I’ll be honest…in the winter, I take it off the truck and store it in the garage.
But, all summer…it stays on the truck.

 

[Mud Pie]

Mine stays in my cargo box as I do not leave my hitch on unless I need it. I've whacked my shins one too many times on that blasted thing. That nice rubber Jeep hitch cover plug is mighty nice.

 

[BourbonRunner]

My BAK Revolver has “quick disconnect” knobs for removing it easily. No tools needed. Another option is loading a few things on top of the cover. I bought some t-slot eye bolts and use those to tie stuff down.

Now that's slick. I wish my trifold had a rail, because I'd do exactly this.

 

[RealTruck]

Right now, I've got a soft-tonneau cover that just clamps onto the sides of the bed, and it's fine for its' purpose. But occasionally, I put some rather expensive stuff in the bed and sometimes, it's in there overnight so I've been wanting a "hard" roll up tonneau cover (ex: BAK Revolver) for a while now.

But we also use the Gladiator for camping and tow a camper behind it and I'm pretty sure between the tongue weight, gear in the bed, gas, and myself and the wife, we've pushed the sticker payload (and, maybe, a bit over.) So my crazy idea is, when we use the truck for camping, removing the tonneau cover to save however many pounds it adds to the truck for regular payload, just using a cargo net to keep anything in the bed, in the bed on the freeway.

Now you might be thinking, "just chuck some of the gear in the camper, geez," and that would normally be a good idea, except our camper doesn't have a lot of floor space to put gear and what we do load in, we need to watch the balance.

So, how dumb an idea IS this? I know I'd be giving up the cover when we're camping, but we don't store anything in the bed really when camping, it all comes out, so that's an acceptable trade-off for me.

My BAK Revolver has “quick disconnect” knobs for removing it easily. No tools needed. Another option is loading a few things on top of the cover. I bought some t-slot eye bolts and use those to tie stuff down.

Great thing about the Revolver X4s is that it really is that easy to remove when you don't need it, like what Bobby did here, and just as easy to reinstall. If a cargo net over the back is really all you need when you're out on the trails, then it's not a crazy idea at all. You do lose the weather protection without the cover though, that's about it.

 

[Mud Pie]

I always leave my tonneau on for a few reasons. Security of what I have in there, of course, and many years ago when I had my first truck, it had no cover. Many, many times when coming up to my truck, I'd find empty soda cans, beer cans, McDonald's bags, cigarette butts, all sorts of trash. For some reason, an open bed to a passer-by qualifies as a dumpster. The biggest offenders were at bars. I guess people would finish off their drink on the way to the bar and throw the empties in my truck. I HAD to clean all the cans out before I hit the road because if I ever got pulled over, you know the officer would not believe what actually happened.

 

[RealTruck]

I always leave my tonneau on for a few reasons. Security of what I have in there, of course, and many years ago when I had my first truck, it had no cover. Many, many times when coming up to my truck, I'd find empty soda cans, beer cans, McDonald's bags, cigarette butts, all sorts of trash. For some reason, an open bed to a passer-by qualifies as a dumpster. The biggest offenders were at bars. I guess people would finish off their drink on the way to the bar and throw the empties in my truck. I HAD to clean all the cans out before I hit the road because if I ever got pulled over, you know the officer would not believe what actually happened.

Those same people probably have the beds of their trucks filled with cans and trash and figured your bed was closer. Good reason to have a cover! No free trash bin!

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