Anybody had the horrible roll up bed cover replaced?

[Gatorized]

I took the screws clear out of the rear latches where they screw to the box - they are factory threaded holes. No slide in the latch "striker"/bracket.
The front bolts solid - nothing found there either. (those are the bolts they messed up at the factory, looks like their bit kept slipping in the bolt, maybe they cross-threaded them or something)

One dealer DID look to see if there was any adjustment - he had a guy come out and look (apparently they had never seen these as far as working on them as I could tell he was scratching his head and it took him a bit to figure out how it worked)
Their conclusion - no adjustment, this must just be how they are. At least they had a guy check - but all he did was what I already did.

The spots on the box, front and back, are factory holes.
The cover itself - everything is riveted and there are no slots or adjustments.
I noted that with the tail gate down, cover closed, if I pull back really really hard I can take some of that sag out. But not all.
Can't say I have to pull back hard, but I do have to pull a little bit and line things up before I can put the latched in and close the back end of it. The latches don't really put any pull on it. They keep it in place, it's not rattle-loose, but it's not a pull, either.

Still trying to collect pictures of the tight covers and will eventually have to find a way to contact Jeep about this as it's obvious our dealership shops are not that swift when it comes to JT.

Surprised @JeepCares has not offered to help.

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[JeepCares]

Surprised @JeepCares has not offered to help.

Good Morning,
We did reach out to this customer earlier in this thread and offered to assist. Thank you for tagging us!
Alex
JeepCares

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Good Morning,
We did reach out to this customer earlier in this thread and offered to assist. Thank you for tagging us!
Alex
JeepCares

Yeah, looking back a few posts looks like I need to set up an appointment with a dealer and then coordinate by letting JeepCares know about the appointment.
So I'll contact them today - in fact, I'll be driving within a mile of them on my way to Ames so will likely just stop in.

Not sure what will happen from there - but hoping with the pictures and all - something can be done.
I'll also ask that they correct the screwed up or messed up bolt heads - but I'd bet a steak dinner those have to be ordered as well since they aren't part of the truck but are part of the cover.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

OK, will have to PM @JeepCares about this but I got an appointment set up next Monday for the dealer in Ankeny and told them that Jeep support would be involved somehow. I got the service writers name and email info and all so it can all be coordinated. It's actually possibly a bit worse than I thought after what my wife told me and I observed today on the road. Granted it was windy, but still...........

Today for the first time - I happened to look back and see something weird in the mirror - and saw the back end of the cover flopping or vibrating very quickly up and down. I mentioned to my wife who was with me today and she said yeah, it's been doing that and it's really flopping on this side...........
I wanted to say why the heck haven't you said this before - but I bet she ASSUMED I knew that about the flopping already since I was complaining about cover fit. So I let it go and thanked her for telling me - and I kept watch and the back part of the cover was really shaking and it was flopping back there. I suspect wind was getting under the right side where she saw it flopping and exiting the rear of the cover through that back flip-up part - rising up to let the pressure out, then dropping back down due to spring tension, then back up again and so on. But after she mentioned it I adjusted the mirrors a bit and kept watch and I could see the rear part of the cover really hammering up and down. For air to want out, for something to lift the back end, there had to be air getting in somewhere.

 

[salvino]

Thanks, in the dealership picture it looks pretty tight, but in the other picture it looks like it has some sag. I decided to order mine with the roll-up tonneau. I guess hopefully I get a good one!

There is probably going to be some sag when it's raining in any of them. Mine sagged but kept everything quite dry. I replaced it with an RDL canopy. Not because I didn't like it because I wanted a canopy. I sold it to another member of this forum, he put it on and immediately drove several hours in the hard rain. He let me know he liked it and it kept things very dry.

Just make sure it is fully closed by pushing down on the rear corner until it clicks latched. Some have complained about them flapping and opening up. I never had any issues and mine was on the hi way for long distances.

I can see the advantages of a hard cover but the canvas looks way Jeepier.

 

[furrymurray]

A cross wind ripped mine off, broke one of the latches and bent both bed rails in the process... definitely going to need something better.

DAMN! Must have been one hell of a crosswind? Was it the same one that blew the Amazon truck and trailer off the highway?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

There is probably going to be some sag when it's raining in any of them. Mine sagged but kept everything quite dry. I replaced it with an RDL canopy. Not because I didn't like it because I wanted a canopy. I sold it to another member of this forum, he put it on and immediately drove several hours in the hard rain. He let me know he liked it and it kept things very dry.

Just make sure it is fully closed by pushing down on the rear corner until it clicks latched. Some have complained about them flapping and opening up. I never had any issues and mine was on the hi way for long distances.

I can see the advantages of a hard cover but the canvas looks way Jeepier.

LOL - mine sags with NO RAIN on it at all.

My wife saw the back end of mine flapping or vibrating up and down as we drove at 70 mph. Cross wind was 20-30 mph, some gusts to 35.
Mine sags bad - I have pictures from other members here that show mine is far worse than any of theirs.
When we saw the cover flapping in the wind and that rear-most section actually lifting up and down, I decided that was it - they WILL deal with it. You can see the marks where it was flapping.

You can't really not get these latched. It either is or it isn't - and when it isn't, to me it's pretty obvious that it isn't.
Since it latches so very easily, simply by letting the back end go down, no need to even push, just set it down, it latches, it's hard to see how you'd not have it latched. Takes zero effort. No pressure, no pushing needed, you hear it click.
It's not exactly a hard thing to roll back and latch. Make sure the "hooks" are in the side pieces and let the cover come down - click, it's latched. I don't have to pull back very hard to get those pieces hooked into the brackets, pretty simple.

It wasn't that part that you latch that was flapping on mine, it was the sides and the very rear section - I guess you call it the week-end warier section or something.
That was jumping. I could see it in the inside mirror where normally I can't even see the cover at all from inside the jeep - not from the inside mirror anyway. Something caught my eye - I looked in that mirror and good grief, it's the very far end of the cover bouncing!
We get winds stronger than what we had the other day so I'm a bit concerned about having it out when we have our 40 mph winds.

I posted pics of how bad mine is earlier in this thread............ the pics with the level on it.
But here's another - you can even see the sag in this pic - with nothing on the cover at all but some frost. And it's cold - meaning when things heat up and the cover expands any with heat and gets more flexible as things do in hot weather, I expect a tad more sag.........

To top things off, they bunged up the two front bolts - didn't know how to operate a Torx socket or their's was worn out or something. Chewed both bolts up pretty nicely - NEW truck and the bolts look like this?

 

[jmdwifi]

That thing is a joke for the money they want. I’m getting an access roll up. Half the price and worked like a charm on my tundra.

 

[Duke56]

Poor Shadow. His papa carved out a melon and stuck it on his head. Why would ANYONE do such a thing to their pet?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Poor Shadow. His papa carved out a melon and stuck it on his head. Why would ANYONE do such a thing to their pet?

Shadow, a Himalayan, died a few years back. The cat in the avatar is a Gladiator kitty - that's his helmet. Don't know who he is but he's got some patience to put up with that crap - I'll call that kitty Spartacus. He doesn't really look too pleased, though does he?

Gee, Santa's elves really DO have pointy ears! I knew it!

 

[Duke56]

Sorry Bill and all. Didn’t mean to hijack the thread. Just meant to inject a bit of humor to distract from a sad excuse for a cover.
Back on topic....
I know this doesn’t solve your warranty issues without costing more money but.......
I did not opt for the factory cover and went with an after market made by “Tyger” and purchased it on Amazon for about $150.
The clamps don’t fit that well with the trail rail option but you can get them to work by taking them apart, putting them in place as best you can and then reassembling the 2 halves and they will work to keep the rails clamped down sufficiently. The cover itself is not the matt or twill finish but rather a smooth shiny vinyl. The back of the rails each have a fore/aft adjustable receptacle for tensioning the cover and making it taught with no sags. The rear side ends of the cover gets “rolled” into the receptacles which cause the cover to pull tight and then spring loaded latches on each side lock it down. The latch release cable can only be accessed when the tailgate is open. The sides Velcro onto the rails at a 45 degree angle to shed water.
I did not follow the assembly instructions. What fun would it be if I did that? I manage to preassembled the the cover with front and side rails as one entire piece and place it on top of the bed loose so I could position the whole assembly, mark the rail locations with a grease pencil, roll up the cover, clamp the rails and roll the cover closed. Perfect the first time. Took about 30 minutes to figure it all out and get it done.
Here is a couple links to the same cover and what this user, OFFRD, did to make it work.....

Skip to 5:20 on this one....


Skip to 10:10 on this second one:


I can take and post pics later but I think you’ll get the idea from the vids.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Sorry Bill and all. Didn’t mean to hijack the thread. Just meant to inject a bit of humor to distract from a sad excuse for a cover.
Back on topic....
I know this doesn’t solve your warranty issues without costing more money but.......
I did not opt for the factory cover and went with an after market made by “Tyger” and purchased it on Amazon for about $150.
The clamps don’t fit that well with the trail rail option but you can get them to work by taking them apart, putting them in place as best you can and then reassembling the 2 halves and they will work to keep the rails clamped down sufficiently. The cover itself is not the matt or twill finish but rather a smooth shiny vinyl. The back of the rails each have a fore/aft adjustable receptacle for tensioning the cover and making it taught with no sags. The rear side ends of the cover gets “rolled” into the receptacles which cause the cover to pull tight and then spring loaded latches on each side lock it down. The latch release cable can only be accessed when the tailgate is open. The sides Velcro onto the rails at a 45 degree angle to shed water.
I did not follow the assembly instructions. What fun would it be if I did that? I manage to preassembled the the cover with front and side rails as one entire piece and place it on top of the bed loose so I could position the whole assembly, mark the rail locations with a grease pencil, roll up the cover, clamp the rails and roll the cover closed. Perfect the first time. Took about 30 minutes to figure it all out and get it done.
Here is a couple links to the same cover and what this user, OFFRD, did to make it work.....

Skip to 5:20 on this one....


Skip to 10:10 on this second one:


I can take and post pics later but I think you’ll get the idea from the vids.

My wife said those dogs are "really cute"........

I took my JT to a dealership today. I had an appointment. I had contacted @JeepCares who had set up a case and got a subject matter type person involved. (mentioning JeepCares here so they can sort of see or be aware that I am trying to follow up - and to keep them informed of the process/progress)
That person contacted me via email with the case number, their phone number and said they'd call the dealer after the appointment to see what the dealer suggested.
I argued (NICELY) that I'd been there before - they said nothing could be done, "that's how they are" as far as those covers.
I told the support person that the only reason the dealer even set up another appointment for me was because I had gotten Jeep involved -
the dealer otherwise would look and shoo me back out the door. In fact they sort of started that way today - the guy saying "wasn't this in here before and we can't do anything for it"?

Jeep has to be involved DIRECTLY, proactively because the dealer has already said "there are no recalls and no bulletins so there's no problem" .
So here we go - see-sawing this back and forth - Jeep support says they'll wait for the dealer's repair plans, the dealer says they have no repair plans.
Today was slightly different - another service writer heard me going back and forth with the one who wrote the appointment and service order and got involved and said "yeah, Jeep has a whole team just for this truck" and he continued that he's heard of cases of "the covers loose and flapping all over the place"......... it was like he knew a bit more about the JT than others there?

MAYBE, fingers and toes crossed - there's hope as long as this other guy keeps injecting his two cents worth - he apparently is more open to the possibility that this cover isn't as they should be.
I printed the photos other members have posted, or sent me via PM, and the message from the Jeep support person showing their name and phone number - I got a loaner (after sort of pushing and holding the Jeep Wave folder in my hand) and told them - keep my truck as long as you need it, I don't care if it's days - please figure it out. I have other vehicles, and the loaner.

I'm still not really hopeful.......... the service writer admitted they haven's sold many and don't have many on the lot, there's no demand for them, so they have no real experience with them.
In fact, for this service writer, I think this is the first JT he's had to deal with for ANYTHING at all, even routine service. (It was sad to hear them admit they just don't sell many.)

My take on most things - I got this attitude when dealing with software and networking items at the professional level - I'll be ok with a product that may not be the absolute finest in the world IF their support is the finest in the world.. A product that is the best is worthless if their support isn't top notch. I can accept a vehicle with a problem or two if the support is the best out there and CARES.
You may have the highest rated vehicle made- but if their support stinks when it breaks - what good is it?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

update - got a call from dealer a few minutes ago.

The service writer said "my tech decided to open a star case. We've contacted MOPAR and are waiting to hear back from them on what to do. It may or may not be today"
- my response = "that's fine, I can get by so if you need to keep it longer, that's ok, thanks for the update".

So - star case, whatever the heck that means! At least they took it a bit further.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I got a VM today from the service writer guy - Jeep has authorized a new cover be installed.
I called back and got HIS voice mail and said that's great, keep it if needed, or I can bring it back later, either way - haven't heard back.
Don't know how fast they get those, so have no idea yet until he calls back. (or I call him back again.......)

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Got my Glad back. Dealer said it would take a week to week and a half for the new cover to come in. He'd call when it arrived.
I parked the truck next to my shop when I got back and realized this cover is back to as bad as when I picked the thing up - the left side now sticks straight out and doesn't fit down against the box nice like the right side does.
So their manipulating or working with it now has it worse than it was after I "massaged" and manipulated the left side so it would sit down against the box.

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