Diamondback SE install--a few notes and tips (pic heavy)

[JonMN]

Well, after months of considering the alternatives, I went with a Diamondback SE for my JT. Thanks to the forum members that answered all of my questions! Also considered folding and retractable options, but I was attracted to the simple design and access to both front and back of the bed. We also have a 20 year old F150 sitting around when full access is needed. A 5 by 10 open trailer in the barn too.

Summary: Install took a while, but I reallly like it. More details below, and a few tips.

Bed Rail Shims: As you might have heard, this is the most annoying part. I stand in awe of the ones that removed the existing caps without breaking any tabs! I took the easy way of pre-purchasing replacements. Even so, it was a pain. But a one-time pain. I used this one-time event to Woolwax the open cavities in anticipation of my poor JTs first salty Minnesota winter.

Bulkhead Weatherstrip: The IFUs imply installing this first. In retrospect, I would have installed it last as I would know exactly where the front of the cover would have ended up. No big deal, but just an idea if you purchase one.

Location: I spent a lot of time measuring the spacing and tweaking it around. Probably not needed. When I measured multiple times and was happy with it, I had a little interference with the back lock rod bracket. It contacted the bed rail cap on one side. Not sure why--I checked the mounting of the bracket on the cover and it was identical on both sides. When I moved the cover enough to clear, I was not happy with placement. So I just ground down the bracket a little. (Out of principle, I did both sides.) Here are a couple photos. First one as-is, second is after tweaking (but before I filed off the burs).

Clamping tweak: My cover arrived with the wrong clamps. (Part my fault, part their fault.) DB fixed this really fast, of course, but it gave me a chance see both clamps. The standard clamps, or the ones used without the trail rail, seemed way sturdier. They had more contact area on both the cap side and on the overlap side. I almost took off my trail rail to use these! (Standard on top, trail-rail below)

Tweak: There is no description of how far in to place the top of the clamps. When you feel in the clamping surface of the center section there is a distinct ridge where the aluminum of the top is bent under and welded to the mounting plate. This makes placing the clamps really confusing (to me anyway). After reading a bunch of threads, I found a great idea over on a Tacoma website. The ridge can be filled almost exactly with a piece of 1/8" by 1" aluminum. This makes clamping very secure, and the clamps seem to work better. It has been reported that this also reduced the tendency of the trail-rail clamps to loosen. Here is what it looks like clamped. You can see the piece of aluminum above the edge of the DB cover.

Locking rods: Thanks for the tips on using weights! I went with 5 gal buckets of water since I had them handy.

On the front the lock rod hits the gap in the trail-rail, so I used another idea from the forum (thanks again!) and added a piece of pex on both sides. Makes locking really smooth.

LAST TWEAK: Just one last thing I made for the project. On the off chance that I wanted to flip the back section forward and drive like this, I made a couple foam blocks to protect the locks. I used 1" as that is about the height of the lock. Probably could have used 1/2" for the contact side. Cut the hole just a little tight for a friction fit. Just flip it forward and strap the cleats together on both sides.

Just a couple final photos . . .

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[TRUKD]

Nice work! Great writeup!

 

[JonMN]

One extra comment: Be prepared for a LARGE truck. Mine was delivered by a full size semi. Dropped off at the end of the driveway, but he had a hand cart along to pull it up to the garage.

The box was beat up a little, but the driver was nice enough to wait till I opened it and there was no internal damage.

[PS: I can't figure out why I cannot delete the last photo of the original post. Tried edit but it just keeps popping up. . .]

 

[NVjeff]

Thanks for the tips, my Diamond back is coming next week.
The outlet store had an uncoated 270, the model I really wanted but was to cheap to pay full price on.
I think I need to install trail rails, I was on the fence about buying them so I won't mind if I have to.

 

[JonMN]

Thanks for the tips, my Diamond back is coming next week.
The outlet store had an uncoated 270, the model I really wanted but was to cheap to pay full price on.
I think I need to install trail rails, I was on the fence about buying them so I won't mind if I have to.

Thanks! By mistake, my cover was configured for no trail rail. For my cover, there were two difference between the standard and the trail-rail. The clamps were different, and the guides used for the locking rods were longer when using a trail rail.

So you are right--if your order is for the trail-rail model, you do need to install it. (or, I suppose, you can order new clamps and new rod guides for less than the cost of the trail rail)'

PS: The 270 is really cool!

 

[Texbaz]

Well, after months of considering the alternatives, I went with a Diamondback SE for my JT. Thanks to the forum members that answered all of my questions! Also considered folding and retractable options, but I was attracted to the simple design and access to both front and back of the bed. We also have a 20 year old F150 sitting around when full access is needed. A 5 by 10 open trailer in the barn too.

Summary: Install took a while, but I reallly like it. More details below, and a few tips.

Bed Rail Shims: As you might have heard, this is the most annoying part. I stand in awe of the ones that removed the existing caps without breaking any tabs! I took the easy way of pre-purchasing replacements. Even so, it was a pain. But a one-time pain. I used this one-time event to Woolwax the open cavities in anticipation of my poor JTs first salty Minnesota winter.

Bulkhead Weatherstrip: The IFUs imply installing this first. In retrospect, I would have installed it last as I would know exactly where the front of the cover would have ended up. No big deal, but just an idea if you purchase one.

Location: I spent a lot of time measuring the spacing and tweaking it around. Probably not needed. When I measured multiple times and was happy with it, I had a little interference with the back lock rod bracket. It contacted the bed rail cap on one side. Not sure why--I checked the mounting of the bracket on the cover and it was identical on both sides. When I moved the cover enough to clear, I was not happy with placement. So I just ground down the bracket a little. (Out of principle, I did both sides.) Here are a couple photos. First one as-is, second is after tweaking (but before I filed off the burs).

Clamping tweak: My cover arrived with the wrong clamps. (Part my fault, part their fault.) DB fixed this really fast, of course, but it gave me a chance see both clamps. The standard clamps, or the ones used without the trail rail, seemed way sturdier. They had more contact area on both the cap side and on the overlap side. I almost took off my trail rail to use these! (Standard on top, trail-rail below)

Tweak: There is no description of how far in to place the top of the clamps. When you feel in the clamping surface of the center section there is a distinct ridge where the aluminum of the top is bent under and welded to the mounting plate. This makes placing the clamps really confusing (to me anyway). After reading a bunch of threads, I found a great idea over on a Tacoma website. The ridge can be filled almost exactly with a piece of 1/8" by 1" aluminum. This makes clamping very secure, and the clamps seem to work better. It has been reported that this also reduced the tendency of the trail-rail clamps to loosen. Heres what it looks like clamped. You can see the piece of aluminum above the edge of the DB cover.

Locking rods: Thanks for the tips on using weights! I went with 5 gal buckets of water since I had them handy.

On the front the lock rod hits the gap in the trail-rail, so I used another idea from the forum (thanks again!) and added a piece of pex on both sides. Makes locking really smooth.

LAST TWEAK: Just one last thing I made for the project. On the off chance that I wanted to flip the back section forward and drive like this, I made a couple foam blocks to protect the locks. I used 1" as that is about the height of the lock. Probably could have used 1/2" for the contact side. Cut the hole just a little tight for a friction fit. Just flip it forward and strap the cleats together on both sides.

Just a couple final photos . . .

Looks great. good tips too.

I still get compression on the bed top plastic rail covers even with the supplied rubber shims. Wish they would have used a harder rubber material maybe even phenolic or plastic. Also, wish the Center section had some sort of height adjustment like maybe 1/8-3/16 to help make the front and rear covers lay more flat. Even compressing the seals,the covers will never sit perfectly flat. This was the same on my Tacoma.

 

[NVjeff]

I thought I'd add a couple of things I learned while removing the bed rail caps to install the shims.

I had my shop temp in the mid 50's, the plastic was plenty pliable enough to remove the caps.
In fact, the plastic was more pliable than I expected. I thought it would be quit brittle and at risk of breaking.

The instructions say to start in the tail light recess's, I started with a couple of clips forward of that, in the truck bed. My truck came with the roll up tonneau so the bed rails were cut out near the rear, this made it easy to get a small plastic pry bar under the cap once I had a couple of clips lose.

I placed a little tension on the cap and it made it easier to pop the clips lose in the tail light recess's.
Then I began working my way forward, I had quit a bend in the cap as I moved forward.
Sometimes I'd wedge a small flashlight under the cap, to hold it up and so I could see what I was doing under there.

The first cap came off with no damage to the clips. I was less careful with the second cap and did damage two clips.

The instructions say to break the final fastener, it's a white plastic clip in a hole in the metal bed rail that slides into a groove in the cap.

I was able to slide the cap forward and off of this clip after getting all of the black clips loose. To reinstall the cap I trimmed that groove down by about 2/3rds and was able to slide the cap back on the white clip before starting the black clips in their holes.

 

[MainePure]

I've had my SE on for a couple weeks now and I LOVE IT. I got the Trail Rail version, and used the Builtright Utility Rail, along with a full set of their molle bed panels to secure my gear. Install was straightforward and had no issues. Delivery was painless, I met the carrier in a Lowes parking lot, backed up to his rig and slid the crate into the bed of my truck. Driver took the wood pallet for me. Very pleased with everything so far. Looks fantastic too.

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