Tri-fold clamp question regarding caps/body

[ggang1]

Hey everyone, first post here! I have a question regarding the clamps that attach a hard TRI-FOLD tonneau to the Gladiator.

I’ve seen videos of people’s bed rail caps warping after clamping their tonneau to the plastic. I’m curious to hear if anyone had success in cutting a notch into the bed rail caps at the contact point of the clamp, resulting in the clamp making direct contact to the lip of metal from the actual body.

I’m 50/50 on whether or not I should clamp over the plastic while trying not to over-tighten it, or trim the plastic away so the clamps can contact the metal. Also, do you think the metal is strong enough to be clamped without damaging the body in that area? (Especially deeper into the bed toward the rear window). Thanks in advance!

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[Reddout99]

You just have to make sure your clamps are all the way up and against the metal and not the plastic bed rail covers. I recently installed a tri-fold on mine and made sure where the back of the clamps were contacting.

 

[ggang1]

Thanks for the response! Won’t the plastic from the cap still compress a bit when tightened since it hangs a hair lower than the metal though?

 

[Reddout99]

Mine seems to be just fine. I haven't noticed any warping or lifting

 

[whiteglad]

I trimmed the plastic so the clamps hit directly on the steel bed rail.

 

[ggang1]

Thanks! I installed it yesterday and decided to do the same thing.

I trimmed the plastic so the clamps hit directly on the steel bed rail.

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