dcmdon
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Don
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2021
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- Boston Metro-West, Northern NH
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- #1
I just picked up my Gladiator a few days ago. I've had a topper on order for a couple of weeks.
I'm figuring a several month wait, which is too long to have the back of my truck essentially useless as a "trunk" in my day to day life.
So a few weeks ago I posted here asking for advice on an inexpensive tonneau. The recommendations mainly included a few Chinese Amazon covers and the Gator.
The Amazon covers ran in the $200 range. Fitment typically was good and quality was also good. There were some issues reported but nothing serious. But the bottom line remained that after the 30 day return window closed you were pretty much on your own.
The Gator cover was $269. I've since learned that it can be had in the $200 range when they have a sale. Gator is an American company that (I believe) has these made in America out of probably Chinese parts. Their reputation online for customer service is very good. It tested their 800 number and was able to get a live human right off the bat. The tonneau also has a 10 year warranty on the cover itself and a lifetime warranty on the bows and mechanism.
I figured that when (if?) I sold it after I got the topper I wouldn't take too bad a beating and could sell it locally for $200ish if Gator isn't running a sale at the time.
So given all that, I thought it was worth an extra $70 for the Gator.
The box arrived and it was big. Its big because its fully assembled. I opened the box and literally placed it on my bed rail, lined it up, and tightened down the threaded fasteners and it was on.
With head scratching time it took 10 minutes. If I had to install another it would take 3 minutes.
The vinyl material isn't really like vinyl convertible top material. Its THICK. Thick and rubbery. It looks like it will last a long time. The bows are plenty strong and have a subtle arch to them so that the tonneau maintains a convex shape even with snow on it and water won't puddle. (confirmed when I took it through a touches car wash)
The quick detach latches on the aft end of the cover take a bit of getting used to. It took me 5 tries to get them to latch without looking at the the first time and I'm down to 2-3 attempts. But the motion isn't difficult. Its super easy when you squat down to look. So I should get the hang of it soon.
Overall I'm more than pleased with this. There is one down side to this tonneau which is that the front third panel does not fold up. So if you need to carry something like a motorcycle you will need to remove the tonneau. But that's not a big deal for me. And even if I did need to, I could remove the entire thing by loosening 4 thumb screws in about 1 minute. Putting it on again would be about a 3 minute job with the extra time being used to line up the tonneau correctly before tightening the thumb screws. Some tri-fold tonneau allow you to flip the front section up against the back window of the truck. So if this is important to you, look somewhere else.
Overall I'm very pleased. And if you own a Gladiator in the Boston or Campton NH area and want a deal on a tonneau, hit me up and we'll make a deal for when I get my topper at the end of February.
(Yes, the delivery date of my topper moved up by 3 months. Ha. )
I'm figuring a several month wait, which is too long to have the back of my truck essentially useless as a "trunk" in my day to day life.
So a few weeks ago I posted here asking for advice on an inexpensive tonneau. The recommendations mainly included a few Chinese Amazon covers and the Gator.
The Amazon covers ran in the $200 range. Fitment typically was good and quality was also good. There were some issues reported but nothing serious. But the bottom line remained that after the 30 day return window closed you were pretty much on your own.
The Gator cover was $269. I've since learned that it can be had in the $200 range when they have a sale. Gator is an American company that (I believe) has these made in America out of probably Chinese parts. Their reputation online for customer service is very good. It tested their 800 number and was able to get a live human right off the bat. The tonneau also has a 10 year warranty on the cover itself and a lifetime warranty on the bows and mechanism.
I figured that when (if?) I sold it after I got the topper I wouldn't take too bad a beating and could sell it locally for $200ish if Gator isn't running a sale at the time.
So given all that, I thought it was worth an extra $70 for the Gator.
The box arrived and it was big. Its big because its fully assembled. I opened the box and literally placed it on my bed rail, lined it up, and tightened down the threaded fasteners and it was on.
With head scratching time it took 10 minutes. If I had to install another it would take 3 minutes.
The vinyl material isn't really like vinyl convertible top material. Its THICK. Thick and rubbery. It looks like it will last a long time. The bows are plenty strong and have a subtle arch to them so that the tonneau maintains a convex shape even with snow on it and water won't puddle. (confirmed when I took it through a touches car wash)
The quick detach latches on the aft end of the cover take a bit of getting used to. It took me 5 tries to get them to latch without looking at the the first time and I'm down to 2-3 attempts. But the motion isn't difficult. Its super easy when you squat down to look. So I should get the hang of it soon.
Overall I'm more than pleased with this. There is one down side to this tonneau which is that the front third panel does not fold up. So if you need to carry something like a motorcycle you will need to remove the tonneau. But that's not a big deal for me. And even if I did need to, I could remove the entire thing by loosening 4 thumb screws in about 1 minute. Putting it on again would be about a 3 minute job with the extra time being used to line up the tonneau correctly before tightening the thumb screws. Some tri-fold tonneau allow you to flip the front section up against the back window of the truck. So if this is important to you, look somewhere else.
Overall I'm very pleased. And if you own a Gladiator in the Boston or Campton NH area and want a deal on a tonneau, hit me up and we'll make a deal for when I get my topper at the end of February.
(Yes, the delivery date of my topper moved up by 3 months. Ha. )
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