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Bed Cover

Robbie

Robbie

Member
Hey All,

So I've been searching the forum looking for advice on bed covers, and haven't found much. If anyone knows of a thread, let me know.

We had a bit of an issue on the state highway last week. Apparently, 7 snap buttons aren't enough to keep a bed cover (made out of thin plywood, foam, and leather) from flying off. We recovered it, but it's ruined.

Is there a successful way that people have made their bed cover? I could remake the one I have, which I assume won't be too hard other than getting the supplies to instal new snaps...but then it may happen again.
 
How about a piano hinge at the front and velcro under the back edge? or hood pins at each corner or sliding the front edge under a lip and velcro. The possibilities are endless.
 
Thanks guys. I'd love to see anything that someone has done before. There aren't any t buckets in my neck of the woods. The piano hinge idea may work, but I have to check to see how flat the surface is to put it on. I think the hood pins/Dzus fasteners are pretty cool ideas and would be easy to do.
 
I used a toy box hinge that cantilevers.Opening like this at highway speeds it pushes down on the lid keeping it closed.The only time I lock is when I have something back there that I want to secure.0326111417.jpg
 
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Consider using ball bearing drawer slides from a tool box? A friend of mine did this with his and it works great.

Jim
 
I have only two snaps to hold my bed cover on but there is a boatload of velcro...food for thought. No issues to date and I attach my chairs to the cover as well.
 
This is good stuff....bought mine in past month and it has road rash from blowing off with previous owner. It is at the upholster guy now. It has 2 wood screws holding it on/1 on each end...they go through the lip and into the cover. I'm looking for a better option.....like the hinges, any other ideas?
 
Wellllll, I like different. What I did was mount a piece of a car top carrier lid, the big plastic/fiberglass boxes with tops that mount to the top of the older cars and SUV's on mine.
I cut the outter edge so it matches my pickup bed exactly and has attached weather stripping, so it stays dry in there.
It has ribs the run around the parameter, and the center is raised. Looks like a small tanneau cover for a pickup truck. I had to mount a piece of 2'x 3/16's flatbar across the front of the bed to mount my piano hinge on, because if you have it mounted directly toward the front, anything other that a flat lid would strike the rear lip portion of the body.
I mounted (2) gas shocks off the hatchback of a 93 Nissan Sentra to the rear of the cover, and it has a small cylinder lock in the center to hold it closed. I can either turn the knob and the cover glides up. Or if I go the the store, I also have the option of putting my key in it and locking it....but when I push down, it latches.
One thing I like, it stays open while I put stuff in the bed, or move the battery, etc....
 
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Here's what I did:
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The lid is made of aluminum with a lip and hinged at rear with two hinges. A pair of Dakota Digital linear actuators open and close it. We bonded the hinges and actuator mounts so the lid is smooth on the outside. I stuck a bunch of show stickers on the underside.
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The bed edge was already reinforced with 1/2" square tubing. And the lid has weather stripping to ensure a snug bounce-free fit when closed.
 
Well, I've been pretty slow at the rebuild of my bed cover. Originally I was going to try and use hood pins, but I realized that the bolts holding the whole things in place would get in the way and wouldn't let the bed sit flat. I could still do it, but I'd have to get a thick piece of plywood and bury the top bolt in it. I'm feel that won't flow too well in the end.
PotvinGuy's design is amazing, but I don't think I'm going to mess with that type work yet. I may try the toy hinges (like leomovitz), that seems to be a solid way of making sure it doesn't blow off. The only other option I see is putting some additional snaps (I have 7 now, might add 2 more).
 
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