Tonneau Covers

Please Note: This page has a lot of information on tonneau covers which are sometimes called tonno covers, truck bed covers or truck lids. If you already are an expert on the tonno cover then you may want to skip to the Tonneau Cover Manufacturers page where you'll find links to most of the major North American Manufacturers of Tonneau Covers. Each of these detail info pages contain a link to the manufacturers website where you'll find more information on the product, local dealer locater apps and in most cases, customer reviews.

In addition, the Miscellaneous Tonneau Cover Manufacturers page contains a list of some interesting tonneau cover manufacturers for which we have insufficient information to justify the creation a an entire page.

Tonneau Covers come from the word Tonneau which was originally a word used to describe a vehicle with an open rear passenger seat like the sporty and very popular Fords, Buicks and Cadillacs of the early 1900’s with rumble seats. But today Tonneau Covers or as they are commonly called - truck bed covers or truck lids – fit over the bed of your pickup truck and are one of the most popular ways to protect and enhance your vehicles appearance. A truck bed cover may also provide such benefits as better gas mileage, protection for items you keep in your truck bed and enhanced security. Since there is such a large selection of pickup truck lids in the marketplace today I’m going to define some of the common terms, talk about types and styles and bring you up to date on the most popular manufacturers. What style and type of tonneau cover fits your needs the best - the strongest, the lightest, the easiest to install, the one that best matches the paint job on your pickup? Let's find out!!!

Attention !!!

This Manufacturers Link sends you to a page that lists the major manufacturers of tonneau covers in North America. Each manufacturer then has its own page with some valuable background info and tech stuff you might want to know about. The pages include a short blurb on the manufacturer, contact info, approximate pricing and some good detail on each tonno cover model made by the manufacturer. And just in case you still need more info on stuff like where to get parts and accessories for your tonno there is a link to each manufacturers website. In general you can also use the manufacturers website to find authorized dealers in your geographic area. The dealers are great connections if your tonno needs repairs or you want to buy a used tonneau cover and save some bucks.

 

If you have a favorite product that I haven’t included herein or you have a question or want to make a comment please Contact Us. Enjoy! And checkout the young lady in this pic lifting the 58 pound ultra strong Undercover Truck Bed Cover! If she can remove the UnderCover Tonno and carry it around - so can you! ... or maybe not ...

Common Truck Bed Cover Terms

Tonneau Cover = Truck Bed Cover = Tonno Cover = Pickup Truck Lid
                         = Truck Bed Lid = Truck Lid = Lid

ABS - Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene

EPDM - Ethylene Propylene diene Monomer

EPS - Expanded PolyStyrene

Geloy - An amorphous terpolymer of acrylic styrene acrylonitrile. Used for its exceptional durability in outdoor environments. Manufactured by Saudi Basic Industries Corp (formerly GE Plastics).

TPO - ThermoPlastic Olefin

Carpeted Headliner - is a polyester carpet bonded to the underside of the the tonneau cover.

Hard Tonneau Covers : Usually made of fiberglass, aluminum, ABS, TPO or other hard stuff. The operative word here being “hard”. Good examples of hard truck bed covers are :
(1) Undercover truck lids made of ABS and polymers
(2) BAK’s TiltBAK truck bed cover made of TPO with a waterproof core
(3) Pace Edward’s Full Metal JackRabbit made of vinyl laminated
      aluminum
(4) Extang’s Solid Fold made of aircraft aluminum with a honeycomb
      core
(5) Leer’s truck bed covers constructed of fiberglass

Most hard truck bed covers (hard lids) support a considerable amount of weight placed on them - the Undercover people claim they can support 6 football players on top of their cover! Most hard lids have a locking mechanism to secure the lid and your tailgate and use weather stripping or other sealing mechanism to minimize water and dust intrusion. Your new truck bed cover is usually color matched by the factory to blend perfectly with your trucks factory paint job, although some come just in black.

Hard truck bed covers can be a hinged single piece construction - like BAK's Tilt BAK Tonneau Cover and the Undercover truck bed covers - or retractables like the Pace Edwards truck bed covers - or folding covers like the Extang Solid Fold tonneau cover. You can usually drive your truck with a folding or retractable lid part way open. Some hinged lids, like the Undercover truck bed cover have to be removed if you’re transporting anything that sits higher than the bed rail.

Soft Tonneau Covers: Usually made of a vinyl or vinyl coated canvas tarp that may be attached to a frame and secured to your pickup with snaps, clips or other mechanism. A soft truck bed cover doesn’t typically support a lot of weight but is simple to install, remove, rollup and is lightweight. Examples of soft tonneaus are :

(1) Roll-ups like Truxedo's Truxport or the Access Vanish lid
(2) Hinged like the Truxedo Deuce or the Lund Genesis Hinged.

You can usually drive your pickup with a soft lid in the rolled-up or folded position as opposed to many hinged hard tonneau covers which must be driven in the locked down position or removed from the truck bed.

Tonneau Cover Styles

Hinged : usually a solid, one piece lid made of fiberglass, aluminum, ABS, TPO or other plastic/composite material. The hinge allows you lift the truck bed cover up and access your stuff without totally removing the lid from the truck. Most manufacturers offer locking mechanisms to secure the lid in the closed position - and some even secure the tailgate. Gas struts/shocks are used to keep most hinged lids in the open position so they don’t fall on your head or fingers!

Folding : folding truck bed covers can be hard or soft. If hard they are usually made of one of the plastics and/or aluminum. If soft they are usually made of a framed vinyl tarp. They are nice because they let you open just that part of the truck bed you need to carry your cargo.

Roll-up : roll-up truck bed covers are usually made of a vinyl or vinyl coated canvas tarp. To access your truck bed you just roll-up the tarp as far as you need to and then secure the tarp in place with snaps or whatever. Ribs or trusses that span from side to side are often used to support the tarp. It’s hard to secure your truck bed and cargo area with this kind of lid - but ease of use, light of weight and low of cost make a roll-up truck bed cover a wise choice in a lot of cases.

Retractable : retractable truck bed covers are way too cool and very expensive. They are usually made with metal slats that are coated with vinyl or similar material and kinda work like venetian blinds. Some are so strong you can stand on top of them and some not … Some have manual systems to retract the lid and some have electrically operated retraction systems. They are low profile and usually sit below or at the level of the truck bed rail. They usually come standard with key locks but some come with electric locks. Yah, that’s right - you can click a button on the remote control fob for the retractable truck bed cover and it will unlock itself and slide open while you stand in awe of the new accessory you just added to your pickup!

Tool Box : hinged, folding, roll-up or retractable truck bed covers designed to work with an integrated toolbox system for those of you who really use your pickup for work, sigh!

Special Designs : 4Way Tonneau Cover lets you open the cover from any side of your truck - SilverShield same as 4Way Tonneau Cover

What's in a Truck Bed Cover ? 

Fiberglass : Strong and heavy, can be shaped into cool aerodynamic shapes, near exact color match to your pickups factory paint. Hard fiberglass truck bed covers are perennial favorites with ARE Tonneau Covers being one of the most prestigous manufacturers. An interesting component in the fiberglass tonneau cover is a honeycomb kraft paper product made by Tricel. The Tricel Honeycomb adds structural integrity and strength to the fiberglass used to make the tonno and at the same time reduces the amount of glass and resin that must be used.

Plastics, Rubbers and composites : Strong and lightweight, sometimes color matched - sometimes just black. Hide scratches pretty good. Easy to clean. The Undercover Tonneau is a fine example of a plastic (ABS & Geloy) truck bed cover with exceptional strength and survivability.

Aluminum, other metals : Strong and light to medium weight, used for folding, hinged and retractable truck bed covers, enhanced security and strength. A galvanized steel tonno from Lund, the Genesis Hard Tonneau is a little heavy, but adds security and strength not found in fiberglass tonno products.

Tarps : Durable and light, made of canvas, vinyl or vinyl coated canvas. Supported with metal bows. Inexpensive, keep the weather out but don’t stand on them! Many popular manufacturers such as Extang and Truxedo include this type of tonno in their product lines.

Product Reviews

There are so many tonneau cover manufacturers in North America that I couldn't find just 1 website to send you to for customer reviews. Most web based resellers of pickup truck parts and accessories carry several different manufacturers product lines. Whenever possible I'll link to an online reseller for a given manufacturers product on the detailed product page you can access by going to the Tonneau Cover Manufacturers page.

A good source of links for web based resellers of pickup truck parts may be found on the Logo Floor Mats Buyers Guide on this website. Most of these resellers maintain substantial numbers of actual user reviews of their products which you can use to aid in your decision making process. So read reviews. Browse through the manufacturers product lines. It usually helps me in my decision making process to see what others like or dislike and what the manufacturer has to say about the product I’m interested in purchasing. I hope it helps you too.

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