DIY temporary tonneau / bed cover?

[eRacer]

Another @Bf3 home design tonneau cover completed. All done under $800 using the Home Depot boards and the Interrobang store UHMW slide pieces. “Kid tested and mother approved.” The little one got on top to check the strength. Held all 55lbs of her. Such a simple yet elegant design that appears to be very durable. I’m going to test how water tight it is next weekend when I wash the truck.

I also used the scrap pieces to test fit the width of the one board that needed to be cut to width with the weather striping.

Thanks @Bf3 for the advice along the way and the tip to glue the strip inside the single board. It worked perfectly!

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[Zebul0n0418]

I also opted for the @Bf3 solution. I bought from him and installed as soon as they arrived. Very solid construction and it looks awesome. I'm very happy with the decision to purchase the Interrobang Tonneau Cover instead of the Rivian OEM option.

 

[leftride]

wanted to follow up as I've received and installed my Interrobang cover and am super happy with the quality. It's a suprisingly solid/strong cover and looks great as well. Don't see how the manual Rivian cover could be any better, especially at $500 more.

@Bf3 was also extremely responsive around shipping status and sent a replacement piece due to what seemed to be damage during shipping.

the Colorado sun and snow has basically destroyed my DIY plywood cover and can’t keep waiting on the Rivian cover to go live in the gear shop.

The @Bf3 design and functionality is perfect, only slight hesitation has been early comments around fit and finish due to the handmade nature (which is totally understandable) but was curious what others think with their recent builds?

 

[HyperionMark]

Anyone thought about doing a couple 200W solar panels together? Most of them are about the right dimensions to cover the bed. Could even give up to 400W for campgrounds or other places you might need a little off grid juice. And even if you never use them for solar they could be one of the more decent looking and solid options out there. Thoughts?

 

[dode]

Fence panels:https://www.homedepot.com/p/Veranda...Aluminum-Metal-Fence-Panel-EF-00308/205625711
Update, it looks like HD is out of stock... Lowes has a version, these should be identical, made by the same manufacturer, just Lowes brand: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Infinity-A...ack-Aluminum-Composite-Fence-Panel/1000041755

Plastic edging:BuyPlastic Repro Black UHMW Polyethylene Plastic Sheet 1/2" x 24" x 24", Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Board, Size 23.75 in x 23.75 in https://a.co/d/fdWZeeO

Weather stripping: Tintvent Car Door Rubber Seal Strip with Top Bulb(26Ft), Automotive Weather Stripping Soundproofing Edge Guard Trim for Cars, Trucks, Boats, and Home Applications https://a.co/d/eN5ard0

Velcro (arriving today, so I don't know how well it'll work, but I've got high confidence):VELCRO Brand Extreme Outdoor Mounting Tape | 20Ft x 1 In, Holds 15 lbs | Strong Heavy Duty Stick on Adhesive | Mount on Brick, Concrete for Hanging, 30702 https://a.co/d/1pKyaBZ

The weather stripping, at the rear is over the tongue section of the fence panel. At the front, since that panel was cut down to size a little, it's wedged into the interior cavity of the fence panel... Same stuff though, so that was nice

Thanks for the list of parts here. I'm giving this route a go at it saw another owner on Reddit has some success.

(https://www.reddit.com/r/Rivian/s/QTUmZGt49u)

Out of curiosity can you explain how you're incorporating the plastic edging?

 

[Phatman113]

Thanks for the list of parts here. I'm giving this route a go at it saw another owner on Reddit has some success.

(https://www.reddit.com/r/Rivian/s/QTUmZGt49u)

Out of curiosity can you explain how you're incorporating the plastic edging?

You have to cut it into a bit of a comb shape to match the fence panels

 

[dode]

very ingenious, I take it this is done so they fit comfortably with the rails and slide easily?

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Phatman113]

very ingenious, I take it this is done so they fit comfortably with the rails and slide easily?

Thanks for sharing!

The panels themselves are ever-so-slightly too thick to slide into the tonneau rails, so the 1/2 plastic sheeting fits nicely into both the rails and the fence panels. It's done the way I did it to hold two panels together (so you don't have 12 separate panels, this way they're grouped into 2) and so they actually fit and slide in the rails.

All design kudos to @Bf3, I just built what his v1 cover was. His newer stuff is much more refined, but this is entirely sufficient for my needs, and looks just fine!

 

[Kman199]

That looks nice. Looks like you cut the ends of the rails to be able to slide it in. I'm not 100% ready to commit to that yet.

I took delivery of my R1T and immediately built the tonneau cover per your idea. I used four 1 by 4's to make a frame. Then put the hard plastic 4 by 8 by about 1/2 inch sheet on it. Used the scraps to fill in the side. 1 inch stainless screws to attach to the 1 by 4's. One tip is to leave a lip at the front edge so that the plastic protrudes out about 0.5 to 1 inch so that it forms a watertight connection with the rubber in the truck bed. Lucky for me this materials were left over from a previous home improvement job so I bought nothing.

Works great. Most people are surprised that this is DIY not factory. It's not as convenient as I suspect the factory slats will be because it comes out as one slab. Easier to do with two people.

 

[Friar_J]

I also went with a @Bf3 design but made it myself due to timing. In all it was about $750 in materials, a $24 saw blade, and about 4 hours* of my time. For me the hardest part was putting the weatherstripping on the tounge closest to the tailgate. It was a pain to slide on and get the edge to be consistent. I also haven't put on the Velcro straps yet.

It's a great design. There's minimal water intrusion... our luggage in the bed was dry after our 400 mile drive with most of it in heavy rain.

*4 hours doesn't include the time spent cleaning all the plastic shavings off me and the garage. I had originally planned on buying the slides from @Bf3 but I had to figure out a way to make them myself.

 

[Bf3]

I also went with a @Bf3 design but made it myself due to timing. In all it was about $750 in materials, a $24 saw blade, and about 4 hours* of my time. For me the hardest part was putting the weatherstripping on the tounge closest to the tailgate. It was a pain to slide on and get the edge to be consistent. I also haven't put on the Velcro straps yet.

It's a great design. There's minimal water intrusion... our luggage in the bed was dry after our 400 mile drive with most of it in heavy rain.

*4 hours doesn't include the time spent cleaning all the plastic shavings off me and the garage. I had originally planned on buying the slides from @Bf3 but I had to figure out a way to make them myself.

Nice work! Yeah, between the all the aluminum glitter and the black plastic mouse poop, my workshop is a mess pretty much all the time.

 

[Gandy14]

Yeah, but they don’t have my state of the art production facilities.

how are you enjoying the mobile table from Festool? I haven't seen one in person yet but it seems that if Festool makes it than its worth getting. The MFT is so perfect for what your doing eh

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