Hard Tonneau cover worth the cost?

[Scott Atwater]

I am looking to purchase a used or possibly new factory hard tonneau cover. Are these pretty nice? I am looking at a few things. Are they waterproof? Can you fold them up and put them in the backseat if you need to haul something? How hard is it to take in and out. Anyone got anydeals besides ebay which is full of damaged ones which people are paying stupid money for.

 

[Shaun Haskell]

I like mine I open it like a trunk and put stuff in the extend a bed area, Havent seen water in the bed except when I open it with the lid wet. I havent taken mine off yet but it looks easy enough except the manual suggest 2 people it weighs 70lbs.

The negative

Lock mech. very cheap and sometimes doesnt work well.

 

[Les]

None of them will fit in the back seat unless you get a soft snap-on cover and none of them will claim to be water-proof, although most tend to be. I think I have the Elite folding cover which is lighter than the Ford supplied cover. It only takes a couple of minutes to install or remove. I paid $550 for mine, new. I had the Pace-Edwards retractable cover, however the cannister used too much space in the bed so I sold it.

 

[Chad Merry]

Get a soft cover. They look good, they are water proof, and just roll it up and secure it at the front of bed to haul stuff. The hard cover will limit what you can place in bed due height restrictions. And I always see people driving around with items in their beds, with the hard covers lifted up, and it just looks goofy.

 

[Casey B]

I have a hard cover that is functional but does leak in the fold. Not a big deal to me as it was pretty much free because of damage it had. I keep it off until I need a big trunk (over the holidays I put it on to transport gifts).



I can take mine off/on by myself but it's recommended that two people do it. I think a soft cover would be easier to handle but would be less secure.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Les, I have placed my hard T-cover on the back seat of my ST several times.



TJR

 

[CountyMounty]

I love my hard tonneau. I think it looks great. I got mine on Ebay and at first the shipping charge was scary but the seller worked with me to get a lower shipping cost (we used DHL which was about half of UPS or Fed Ex). You just need to make sure you are not getting a damaged one. It would be even better if you could find a seller near enough for you to drive to. As far as waterproof, mine was at first. I took it through car washes and went through pouring rain and didn't leak a drop but now it leaks a little. It needs to be adjusted but I haven't got to it yet. I think the change in temperature did this. You can take it of in just a minute but it is much easier with two people because it is so heavy. To do it by yourself you have to be creative. I have not tried to put it in the backseat as I didn't think it would work but TJR says yes so maybe I will try it. The big question is if it is worth the money for you. We often drive a couple hours to the "big city" to do all our shopping. We load up the back with all the goods and drive home. Without the tonneau we couldn't do this. When I have larger items I fold the back half forward and put the tailgate down and that is normally enough room. This weekend we are going to get a couple chairs to I will take the cover off for the day.

 

[Kerry Matthews]

I have the Ford OEM factory hard tonneau cover. It is quite versatile, and I wouldn't have bought the ST if not for it. In fact, my ST came without one, and I paid $1k for mine from a dealer. Well worth it... I put my tools back there all the time, and when I need to, I take it off and put building materials back there. Andf it does fit in the back seat, I've done it also...

 

[Domenic Celeste]

I have the factory one on my 2003 and it is great. No leaks ever, and I can take it off myself easily when I have to.

 

[Jim Weber 2]

have the factory one on my 07, love it. It is a little awkward to put on and replace by one self, not just because the 70lbs but the distribution, whatever. Still not undoable. If I had a buddy around I would use him, otherwise it would not stop me from doing it myself. I put my in the garage when I take it off because it really won't fit in/on the vehicle if you are needding to load the bed (which is the reason you are taking it off to start with).

 

[Ryan Schaecher]

I have an '02 with a factory hard cover.... love it. It leaks a bit, but not a big deal.



I like the hard over the soft as I can still strap stuff to the top of the cover when the bed is full. It's nice to have that secured area, especially since I am a recreational shooter so I can transport several long rifles and crates of ammunition to the range without having to either carefully put it all in the back seat or worry about stiff growing legs.



At Christmas time, it's a life saver for my family. We got to St Louis (4 hours away) and come back with the ST loaded (child in the back, dog and dog carrier next to her, packages galore everywhere else).



I've strapped a disassembled Fisher-Price playhouse to the cover with ratchet straps and drove 4 hours like that without any issues.



I highly recommend them.

 

[JohnnyB]

The ST would not be nearly as useful without the tonneau cover if you ask me. Actually without the advantage of having a covered "trunk" type space its nothing more than the average pickup truck. The cover is one of the ingredients that makes the ST what it is.

 

[Scott Heckler]

It depends upon what you want the truck bed for. The tops are not 100% leak proof but 99.9%. If you wanted to just carry something in your bed there is an option to just fold it up and it comes with straps to hold it down. Add the bed extender and you have allot of space there. I remove it most of the time by myself. It's 85lbs. If the seem should leak, as mine did, you can do the project that puts silicone in the seem after taking it completely apart, about an 1 - 1.5 hours of your time and $20 parts. The tops make it a large trunk. I love it. The bed is another one of the characteristics of the track that makes it so special.



I hope that helps your decision.



ScoTt

 

[Nelson Atwell]

I love the OEM tonneau on mine. Many times you can even haul things without removing it. It makes the ST a very versatile vehicle. It is very secure too. One of our members posted about 18 months ago that someone tried to break into his with a crowbar. They did some damage to his vehicle, but never got it to open.



[Broken External Image]:

The tonneau acted as a brace while hauling this load.

 

[Richard L]

The hard tonneau cover is very versitile and converts the pickup bed into a large trunck for secure storage.



Ford only claims that the tonneau cover is weather-tight, but not necessarily water-proof. If the cover is installed correctly, you will probably not have any problems with water leaks from rain, even heavy rain. I drove through a tropical storm and never got a drop of water in my pickup bed.



You can get a small amount of water into your bed if your tonneau is wet when you open it. The water will run down the cover to the center hinge and can drip into the bed at the end of the hinge.



A few people here have had problems with the center hinge seal leaking. That can be cured by drilling out the rivets and resealing with a silicone sealant and riveting or using screws to reassembly the hinge.



The only other problem with the Ford hard tonneau cover is the cable releases. The cables are fine, but the housing that attaches to the bottom of the lock cylinders uses a very thin plastic hook to pull the cables and release the side latches. It is very common for that plastic hook to chip off the very tip and prevent the key lock from releasing the latches. The only cure is to replace the cable assembly with the same cheap housing.



I make and sell a lock conversion kit called the EZLok that replaces the key lock mechanism is interfaced to operate with the electric door lock system on the Sport Trac.

I have sold about 50 kits, however the machine shop that made the parts has raised their prices substantially, and I am still trying to find a place that will make the parts cheaper before I can put them back on the market again.



I also make the EZLift kit that uses gas springs to lift and hold open the front and rear sections of the tonneau cover. This leaves both hands free to load/unload your cargo. Also, most shorter women find opening and folding the tonneau cover open to load/unload cargo is nearly impossible since the cover weights about 70 lbs. With the EZLift, you only have to unlock the tonneau and the cover opens by it self with the aide of the gas springs.



If you are looking for a Ford hard tonneau cover, I recommend looking for a used one in good condition. They typically sell for $300-$500 depending on where you live in relationship to the seller. If you buy from someone near you, you can go and pick it up and there is no shipping charges, or risk of shipping damage.



...Rich Lunder

The LeverLift Company