Art & Inspiration TONNEAU COVERS

I’ll add something for those looking at soft covers in the weather. Back in the 80-90’s my new truck daily’s always had tonneau covers. This was before commercially available stuff.

Being in the boat business, I had them made by my marine canvas vendor. They are still a good source for those wanting soft covers.

The material you want is SunBrella - it’s a common boat top and upholstery material. It’s water tight, doesn’t fade, and comes in many colors and several textures.

One thing I hated for years was the “tent” look from the bows to make it shed water. The bows were attached to the bed rails. The last one I had a new vendor do. I dropped off the truck snd the bows and told him black SunBrella, black s***ching, black snaps.

Came back a few days later and the cover was awesome - it was flat, with just the slightest almost imperceptible arch. My bows were on the floor.

This cover had tube bows incorporated into the cover - they were in pockets across the cover, not bows under the cover. The bows were tubing with the ends flattened in a vise to sit on the bed rail. When it was on the truck it looked flat with little bumps where the bows were sewn in. It had just enough arch (maybe 3/8 in.) to shed water, and when I was up north snow didn’t seem to bother it.

Not sure I’m explaining it well, but it worked.

 

Tonneau covers and a baby crib mattress in a business coupe make a back seat area into a play pen. I had this setup in a 49 Ford club coupe.

 

For my tonneau cover I used 1/2" nine ply Baltic Birch void free plywood, fully sealed on all sides.
Sid Chavers covered it with the same material I used for my top. I also had Sid cover the side curtains I built.
I needed a place to store the curtains when not in use so I built a storage box mounted on the underside.
I also installed locks using the stops I mounted on the tailgate.
For this install I only had to drill two holes for pivot points on the hinges, bolted thru the stake pockets.

 

​

 

Here's mine on my 39 Ford tub, made from heavy material in 2 pieces front and back with the front having a zipper down the middle.

 

Aluminum dimple die bed cover, Moon finned cam hole cover gas door and a Moon tank fuel cell vent system

 

Mox Miller's '58 Impala.
TRJ#32.

 

Slick!