Tonneau Leak

[Terry McFarland]

Hey guys,

Took my 04 SportTrac in to dealer for 30,000 maintenance and had them check a few things.

My OEM factory hard tonneau cover is leaking at the hinge dividing the front and back. The dealer states "removed cover and reposition all hinges and latches". Promptly went to the carwash and was still leaking. Had read posts here where someone had thier rivets replaced and another popped the rivets and put in bolts. Would like some feedback as my warranty will be up soon.



P.S. Had also got a rattle behind the radio fixed with "reposition acell and hood cables per TSB 051003". Thought this might help someone else with the problem.

 

[Todd Z]

The leak is a common problem... I am surprised thew dealer even tried to fix it,,, the cover had a sticker and all the 07's do, that the cover is not a water tight enviroment...



Drilling the rivets and replacing them with bolts is a help, but mine still leaks.....

I went and bought a cap...



Todd Z

 

[Bart Adkins]

mine has never leaked a drop...but if it does...oh well I guess. I doubt it would leak a whole lot.

 

[Scott Heckler]

The project to replace the rivets with bolts and using silicone actually worked very well for me. It was worth the couple of hours spent doing it.

 

[Richard L]

Those who have leaks at the center hinge had the center gasket installed wrong at the factory. Ford's excuse is that the tonneau covers are not intended to be water-tight. They were intended to be weather-tight or Ford spent a lot of money for weather stripping.



There is not trick tor removing the rivets and installing screws, the trick is to use a silcone sealant to the hinge seals before you install the seal and screws. It's not the screws or rivets that cause or stop the leak, it's the added sealant. The screws are just a handy replacement if you don't have a pop rivent gun.



...Rich

 

[Phill R]

Here's a couple of pics I took of the repair to mine.



[Broken External Image]:



[Broken External Image]:

 

[Kerry Matthews]

I spent a couple hours drilling out the rivets and replacing them with nuts & bolts. Sealed the gasket with silicone. No leakage since...



[Broken External Image]:

[Broken External Image]: