DIY temporary tonneau / bed cover?

[Bf3]

I'm surprised you're not knee-deep in that plastic fluff from the slides by now!

You’re not joking. It’s truly shocking how much black plastic snow and sharp aluminum glitter I’ve produced already.

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[Soju1]

I placed my order today. Looking forward to receiving this after all the issues i've had with another vendor.

 

[vogtaction]

Too bad about the sag, but I think you're right, binding them into panels of 3 with some form of stiffener will make a big difference. I thought it was more like wood, but it seems like it's a 'trex' decking type product? More plastic than wood, is that correct? Should hold up to the elements pretty well then!

Well, this is my temporary manual tonneau cover, a work in process:
Since my truck had the end caps on the rails, I cut the caps such that the slots continue through the end caps.
Then I cut (to a length of 54 5/8") ten slats of the Shou Sugi Ban. At this point, I just slide the ten slats into the rails. The slats are a bit too flexible, so they sag some, as you can see in the photo. Eventually I expect to bind them into three panels, with at least one 1/2" aluminum channel or angle across each panel. That should stiffen them up.

I would like to caution anyone who might consider these NewTechWood slats of two things:
1) Most (or all) of the slats had one end from the factory which was cut way out of square. I didn't notice this until I had cut several slats to length.
2) There was shipping damage on some of the slats in each of the two boxes of five. Home Depot didn't stock them locally, so I had to order them, and wait about ten days. Fortunately, I was able to cut off (as waste) the worst of the damage.

I also made mine out of this same material about two weeks ago now. I luckily didn't have any issues with shipping damage. I found that they slide much better when. cutting a little shorter than needed. I made 4 sections, the two middle are 3 slats, the front is 2 and rear is 2.25. I used some rolled c channel to combine the slats together, then sliding door latches to keep each section at the same level as the next one connected to it (might change and do 6 latches soon). For sagging, I have a piece in the middle up against the front and one at the rear standing up against the tailgate. Both are notched so one long piece slides into the notches and pushes up on the middle of all slats for support. I dont really care of this technique, but it is what it is until I figure out a better idea. I might buy some aluminum L shaped channel and run one on each side of the four slat ends, then I shouldn't need the door latches anymore, as each should stay level all the way across. Your'e right about the rugged wood look matching the inside trim!

 

[Foobar]

This batch that yours is in would have been out a lot sooner, but I ran into trouble with my CNC and spent a little over a week just working through that. Murphy’s law I suppose. Thanks for your patience!

No worries. It happens. Do you have an ETA on when they're actually getting picked up by UPS? Not in a rush, just want to plan my schedule around it.

 

[Bf3]

No worries. It happens. Do you have an ETA on when they're actually getting picked up by UPS? Not in a rush, just want to plan my schedule around it.

Today is the day!

 

[Foobar]

Today is the day!

 

[Smashby]

I don’t think the cab side needs it because there’s already some there from the factory. I just made sure the pointy part of the V channel on the fence slats was facing the cab. It hasn’t rained yet here but I have some leftover weather stripping from the maverick cover I bought and returned if I end up needing it. As it stands now the tailgate has constant pressure on the last slat so there isn’t much room anyway

You mentioned you removed the weather stripping from the side rails. Where they easy to take out? I don't want to destroy them as I have a Rivian manual tonneau on order still so I'm going to want to have them in there, but these 7/8" are tight with that stripping in there so taking them out may be beneficial if I can avoid damaging them and abler to reuse....what was your experience with the removal?

 

[brancky3]

You mentioned you removed the weather stripping from the side rails. Where they easy to take out? I don't want to destroy them as I have a Rivian manual tonneau on order still so I'm going to want to have them in there, but these 7/8" are tight with that stripping in there so taking them out may be beneficial if I can avoid damaging them and abler to reuse....what was your experience with the removal?

Extremely easy to remove. I only removed the very thin strip closest to the bed on each side, I think there’s a thicker one on the far side that I didn’t mess with. They should go back in super easy also

 

[Smashby]

Extremely easy to remove. I only removed the very thin strip closest to the bed on each side, I think there’s a thicker one on the far side that I didn’t mess with. They should go back in super easy also

Thanks Again. Just did that and yes very simple. Now, I think I have some clips on the very end, did you do anything with those, I cut mine to length 54-5/8" and am having issues getting them in, I think it's because of the end pieces. Any trick how to get those off or did you just force them in there?

 

[rkccs257]

I'm not proud of it but hey it works. Tomorrow is the real test as it'll rain tomorrow in Portland, OR....

Rough country's hard trifold tonneau cover, maverick's size. I had to take off a few goodie layers.... I hope it works!

There's a bit of a gap at the tailgate. I think I'll just put some weather seal and it should be good....

 

[Smashby]

I'm not proud of it but hey it works. Tomorrow is the real test as it'll rain tomorrow in Portland, OR....

Rough country's hard trifold tonneau cover, maverick's size. I had to take off a few goodie layers.... I hope it works!

There's a bit of a gap at the tailgate. I think I'll just put some weather seal and it should be good....

Looks Great! I just finished brancky3's mod using vinyl fence panels. I've got a Rivian manual tonneau on order so that seemed like a cheapish and easy option to tide me over. I'll post some pics tomorrow.

 

[krails]

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

Festool for the win!

Still waiting on my R1T to arrive, but when it does this is the one I'm going to try to replicate. Thanks for sharing so many details. Great community here!

 

[brancky3]

Thanks Again. Just did that and yes very simple. Now, I think I have some clips on the very end, did you do anything with those, I cut mine to length 54-5/8" and am having issues getting them in, I think it's because of the end pieces. Any trick how to get those off or did you just force them in there?

I just forced it in after crushing it by hand (the first time the ends are flexed after cutting it’s a little stiff) but I might have cut mine slightly shorter, I don’t recall. I’m just happy the manual tonneau is only a couple months away

 

[Smashby]

Got it finished last night. Here is what mine looks like, 9 of these panels fit perfectly and with cutting the supports about 3" or so, allowed for the ends to squish down enough to not have to take out the end caps...which sounds a bit tricky and risky of breaking tabs unless you are extremely careful.
Is it waterproof, no but it is much better than nothing at all and adds some protection. The slats are kind of stiff to slide so they should remain tight however it would be a bit of a hassle to get them out if need be but I'm not too worried about that. I don't mind this grey colour either, kind of matches my Ocean Coast Interior. I got these panels from Home Depot. It's a good alternative until my Rivian Manual Tonneau comes in...who knows, by then they may have a new auto cover that they can retrofit....for a price of course.

This was all thanks to brancky3 mod.

 

[brancky3]

Looks good and I like the gray! I wouldn’t call it my mod though, I think several have done it before me

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