POOR MANS TONNEAU COVER w/ Plywood

[Ronaldo]

No, no stock what so ever and yes you are correct a car company would get laughed at for mass production vehicles getting that. But that's what it's considered a homemade tonneau not everything has to be engineered to death. I realize your from California land of extreme caution I mean heck even water gives u cancer in CA. But for the average joe that isn't an engineer and had literally seen hundreds of sheets of plywood held down by bungees and be fine at highway speeds I will not be taking you opinions that it will fail as facts. Yes someone may build a setup that fails but hey wasn't you the one that said the manufactured one fail so I mean did that engineer get laughed at for a part failing... if you feel unsafe by a bungee being used don't use one simple but to tell someone else not to because your professionally built topper failed is stupid.

I was with you until you said stupid, stupid is using bungee cords to hold down a deadly piece of plywood at speed on the freeway. Why don’t you save up and spend two extra dollars on ratcheting tie downs.
maybe you can understand this way, build something strong enough that you would feel comfortable with your mom driving behind you in a convertible or you brother on a motorcycle.

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[04mach146]

I was with you until you said stupid, stupid is using bungee cords to hold down a deadly piece of plywood at speed on the freeway. Why don’t you save up and spend two extra dollars on ratcheting tie downs.
maybe you can understand this way, build something strong enough that you would feel comfortable with your mom driving behind you in a convertible or you brother on a motorcycle.

It is stupid to tell someone else that bungees won't when it has worked for many ppl due to you having an issue with something else breaking and I would feel comfortable with the setup he is doing. Again not all things have to have an engineers approval to be safe. But hey if you need the comfort of having a company do it the way an engineer says by all means be comfortable me ill be fine with someone doing a custom top. That's the great thing about this country we all can have different opinions. Not all right but hey if it works it works.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

The Baltic birch I'm seeing uses interior-grade glue, I could order a 5' x 10' sheet of ACX for about the same cost, if 2 people would be willing to share.

https://www.menards.com/main/buildi...5-c-13336.htm?tid=-7894321684436365546&ipos=1

HRG

Be an optimist! Buy a lift! Cut some in half! Sell some uncut with bring you buddy discount! Wait for Mavericks to show up!

 

[MakinDoForNow]

I was with you until you said stupid, stupid is using bungee cords to hold down a deadly piece of plywood at speed on the freeway. Why don’t you save up and spend two extra dollars on ratcheting tie downs.
maybe you can understand this way, build something strong enough that you would feel comfortable with your mom driving behind you in a convertible or you brother on a motorcycle.

Dang! This brings back memories. Thirty or forty years ago in Amarillo Texas I read in newspaper or maybe on TV where two guys were hauling a mattress in the back of a pickup. Every thing was going fine until upon entering the expressway the one who was holding (riding?) blew off the pickup with the mattress and was killed.

 

[boe757]

Tri fold for 259.00 just came back in stock. Ordered today.

Tonneau Cover | RealTruck
https://realtruck.com/p/gator-sfx-tri-fold-tonneau-cover/gxt-61322/

Thanks, orded

 

[wyouger]

Buying a brand new truck and then trying to “poor mans” something don’t really go together. Don’t buy a brand new vehicle if you can’t afford a tonneau cover.

Doesn't doing a DIY cover fit right in with the "Maker" image Ford is advertising and showing in their "Hack Your Maverick" videos?

 

[Headdead]

Thanks, orded

Thanks also. Ordered also. I went slowly, so the chat guy came up and offered it for his "special chat price". $239.47, free FedEx delivery.

UPDATE: after 1 week I chatted with Realtruck.com and was told they are not in stock and were ordered from the manufacturer. They tell me it could take up to 40 business days to ship...

 

[DarkStormy]

Plywood and tarps are to different things Let’s just say I don’t want to drive beside you

Seeing that 4 of your 6 factory installed metal hold downs failed, I would say the feeling is mutual, I definitely don't want to drive beside YOU.
I will be more than happy to follow far behind you though, and get another free tri-fold cover, like the one I currently have, courtesy of someone who thought the factory tie downs worked just fine.

 

[DarkStormy]

I was with you until you said stupid, stupid is using bungee cords to hold down a deadly piece of plywood at speed on the freeway. Why don’t you save up and spend two extra dollars on ratcheting tie downs.
maybe you can understand this way, build something strong enough that you would feel comfortable with your mom driving behind you in a convertible or you brother on a motorcycle.

I guess you had better tell the entire Flatbed trucking industry that they are doing it wrong by holding down there tarps with bungee cords.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=flat+bed+...ngees&t=brave&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images

I'm guessing you don't get out of the city much.

 

[DarkStormy]

Dang! This brings back memories. Thirty or forty years ago in Amarillo Texas I read in newspaper or maybe on TV where two guys were hauling a mattress in the back of a pickup. Every thing was going fine until upon entering the expressway the one who was holding (riding?) blew off the pickup with the mattress and was killed.

In my time driving over the road I've seen a lot of stuff fly out of pick ups, boats, and trailers. It's crazy out on the highways.

 

[04mach146]

Plywood and tarps are to different things Let’s just say I don’t want to drive beside you

Yeah a tarp can catch alot more wind....

 

[Amakrida]

That thing will take sail at about 75 mph and kill someone. You will have to anchor it down with metal hardware.

This. I think you'd have the potential to hurt someone.

 

[Amakrida]

Plenty of others have used these on other trucks over the years as long as it's attached in some fashion it will be ok. Seen it done with bungee cords multiple times and no issues 85+ on a highway.

This is why the most terrifying thing about the highway is other drivers. I'm not saying that manufactured covers don't ever come off or fail. But, I'd trust them over a homemade option done by individuals of varying degree of expertise in fabricobbling something together. I'm sure there's one guy who could make a cover you could drop a bomb on and it'd be okay. For every one of those guys, there's probably 3 other guys yoloing something together with bungee cords.

I work in trucking, even guys who are professional truckers think they've got something strapped down 'good enough' and tragedy strikes.

I too don't much care for the idea of buying a cover. I'm back in forth between a soft cover in the $249-$299 range or a hard rollup around $1000. Trying to decide how much I need to prevent from theft or not.

If I were the OP I'd just get a less expansive soft cover, it won' t be much less when you factor in 2 sheets of plywood and other misc hardware you'd need.

TLDR: Everything being said, its your truck. Do what you want. Just be safe about it.

 

[Decayed]

Tri fold for 259.00 just came back in stock. Ordered today.

Tonneau Cover | RealTruck
https://realtruck.com/p/gator-sfx-tri-fold-tonneau-cover/gxt-61322/

Will you guys please post when you get these, if they are any good?

 

[jalbano2]

Will you guys please post when you get these, if they are any good?

Will do

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