Reclaiming empty powered tonneau cover space

[Phatman113]

Oh man, I already have the molle panel from @builtrightind, I would love to see someone mock up a vertical access for that space, the Molle panel has already proved very useful!

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[Ervan]

Not sure a rolling tonneau would fit given the circular diameter requirements, but agree that would be ideal. Retrax rolling tonneau spiral canister is roughly 11" square at the profile, which theoretically could be smaller with the Rivian shorter bed needs.

This amazing thread sent me down the “what is smallest canister retracting tonneau” and some like the “roll n lock” for Mavericks claim to be about 7 or 7.25” max for canister size which seems like might fit well. Also, the rolling part is meant for a recessed track a little wider than 50” which also seems like would fit the rails.

This thread gives me hope for retracting tonneau even if manual.

 

[camping123]

Took the panel off again to get some final measurements before I plan out and order some material. I'm just going to go with a basic flat 1/4 inch abs sheet black and textured, then cut out a door that will flip down on hinges. Really hoping this is just a temporary thing and that maybe in a few years when Rivian figures out a redesigned PTC, I hope to be able to retrofit it in.

Panel measurements:
48 5/16" x 17 1/4" x 1 3/8"
Notes:
The panel stick out the bottom and bit but still manages to leave about 1/4 gap at the bottom. There are also some molded in pieces on the bottom edge to help easily align the panel in the bed. I plan to buy a 24"x48" sheet and go from there.

Opening into the empty space:
47 3/4" x 4 1/2"
The black bar the panel bolts to and blocks part of the opening is 1 1/2 tall.

Empty space:
55" wide, 8" deep, 6 1/2" tall

It doesn't look like there are a lot of places to mount something like a box or slide out without making some modifications. No holes or bolts in the sheet steel to mount to. However there are some holes in the top aluminum plate you could possibly suspend something from. Another interesting note is those nuts on the angle bracket are welded on so they must be bolted in from inside the cabin.

The black bar the plastic panel bolts to, top plate, and the lower portion of the bed are aluminum. The upper portion, back of the cabin, and bracket are steel.

Finally the grommets and good news here for people. There are 2 grommets on each side. Drivers side has circle grommets and passenger side has oval grommets. The grommets on the back of the bed wall lead into the gear tunnel. In one of the pictures you can see the fuzzy back of the gear tunnel carpet. The grommets in the empty space next to the vent flaps lead into the cabin behind the rear seats. You could definitely fish a cable behind the seats if you needed to. @SJaYx2P @NorCalRivianFan

 

[Mfurman]

As mentioned above the grommets work for passing a wire into the cab. I used the right side upper grommet to pass a cable through. The cable came out at the top of the rear seat near the headrest.

Using the rain channel on the floor of the bed I was able to tuck the wire up behind the panel . Hopefully the pics will help explain.

Thank you for camping123 for the idea!!

 

[Mfurman]

The pics were taken with my test cable, and yes I put the grommet back in after slitting a hole in the center and passing the cable through

 

[Goose]

This is going to be great. Would be a perfect place to store my boat tie down straps, tire chocks, transom saver, and boat cover when not in use.

I still think someone could make a manual sliding tonneau cover in the same vein as the powered one. That might be for an established 3rd party make though, someone like Retrax.

 

[WattTruckMatt]

As mentioned above the grommets work for passing a wire into the cab. I used the right side upper grommet to pass a cable through. The cable came out at the top of the rear seat near the headrest.

Using the rain channel on the floor of the bed I was able to tuck the wire up behind the panel . Hopefully the pics will help explain.

Thank you for camping123 for the idea!!

Thank you for doing this due-diligence. I still wonder if I'd be able to run a GMRS antenna to a bed rack w/ a functioning tonneau cover. Cable would have to come out above the storage area.

 

[zefram47]

As mentioned above the grommets work for passing a wire into the cab. I used the right side upper grommet to pass a cable through. The cable came out at the top of the rear seat near the headrest.

Using the rain channel on the floor of the bed I was able to tuck the wire up behind the panel . Hopefully the pics will help explain.

Thank you for camping123 for the idea!!

Interesting and good to know. I'll be trying to figure out a way to mount a ham radio antenna at some point and this could help. I've also been considering a window mount, but using that grommet will probably be better if I can find a decent location to mount the actual antenna around the bed.

 

[Mfurman]

With no cover I'd suggest building an tall metal inverted L shaped bracket. Use 10mm bolts holding the plastic cover on to anchor the vertical portion of the L bracket, mount the antenna on the top of the L

 

[Blakeney]

Well this is crappy…

This is going to be great. Would be a perfect place to store my boat tie down straps, tire chocks, transom saver, and boat cover when not in use.

I still think someone could make a manual sliding tonneau cover in the same vein as the powered one. That might be for an established 3rd party make though, someone like Retrax.

you read my mind! I chatted with Rivian Service today about this already! Haha

also not great news on the design of the manual cover… nothing special and I feel would be a pain.

 

[NoGoingBack]

I would love to see EGR make a cover that could utilize this space. Hey Rivian maybe you should partner with these guys to redesign the cover.

 

[Goose]

Well this is crappy…

you read my mind! I chatted with Rivian Service today about this already! Haha

also not great news on the design of the manual cover… nothing special and I feel would be a pain.

That is very lame! Just 4 locking composite boards that you have to remove individually and then lose storage in the gear tunnel? That's not very elegant. The track is there on all R1T's, why is the "manual" cover not just a hard tonneau that folds accordion style into the already available storage space? if a hard model won't work then a typical roll up style would be just a good!

I would love to see EGR make a cover that could utilize this space. Hey Rivian maybe you should partner with these guys to redesign the cover.

EXACTLY! So many of these tech companies think they need reinvent the wheel, there's already multiple experienced companies in this market.

 

[Olsonsolar]

Tonneau covers aren’t Rivians cup of tea.

 

[racekarl]

I would love to see EGR make a cover that could utilize this space. Hey Rivian maybe you should partner with these guys to redesign the cover.

The canister size on their 5' Gladiator cover is listed as 7" which is *this* close to fitting into the empty space in the R1T. Gives me hope that maybe somebody will be able to figure out how to fit something like this into the existing space.

 

[camping123]

All done with the first version. Turned out pretty close to how I pictured. Not perfect but very functional. Fairly simple project if you have a jigsaw and drill. All in for less than $100. The biggest cost was the sheet of ABS.

Materials:
Textured black ABS sheet 48" x 24" x 1/4"
8 longer bolts M6x1.0x25mm flange bolts
5/8" drawer and cabinet cam lock
4 of 1-1/2" hinges

(Optional):
Magnet blocks
Double sided adhesive
2 pieces of metal

General design and dimensions:

General notes for anyone else looking to do this:

• First cut the sheet to size then you can use your original panel to transfer the bolt holes to the new sheet. I drilled the holes to 11/32" to give me a little extra wiggle room.
• Trace and cut out the door. I purposely cut the door close to the top so that part of the aluminum bar on the truck would show when the door was open. This way it can't be pushed inward. Also made the opening below the "shelf" lower so that taking things in and out wouldn't catch on the ABS sheet.
• Cut a 3" x 1/4" section out of the bottom center and the panel will fit nicely and sit behind the bed bolts.
  
  
• Eventually I may use the leftover ABS sheet to cut a strip to go along the bottom, but for now it's fine.
  
  
• The stock panel isn't exactly flat and it has recessed points. So you'll need longer bolts for the new panel. I used M6x1.0x25mm flange bolts with the original washer. That way you can reuse the original plastic caps to hide the bolts.
  
  
• The screws for the hinges poked out through the back so I used a cut off wheel to trim them down.
• After a test fit, measure and drill the hole for the lock.
• The ends of the door weren't sitting flush so I stuck some magnets on the inside and small metal pieces to the door so that it would sit more flush.
  
  
  
  
  

All in all I'm pretty happy with it. It does have the small lock, but I won't be putting anything super valuable in there. For recovery gear it works great. I also have my DIY tonneau cover on most of the time so I'm not worried about anyone taking anything.

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