Soft Cover Surgery Successful!

Buck Henry · #1 03-31-2005, 11:42 PM

I recently traded an 04 Supercab in for an 05 Supercrew (long story!) I had already bought an Extang Tuff Tonneau III for the 6.5 foot bed Supercab. When I bought the 05 Screw, the cover obviously was too long. I contacted Extang and talked to one of their engineers and he said all the hardware was the same for the 5.5 and 6.5 foot beds, except the length of the side rails and the tarp itself. He said if I was careful, I could cut 11.5 inches off of each side rail and all I would have to buy was a replacement tarp.

The catch was that there was not much room for error. He further said I would have to cut 5.75 inches of of each end to keep the proper curve of the rails in tact. I decided to go for it and broke out the tools. I used a digital micrometer to make my measurements and cut the rails with a scroll saw. I then used my drill press to drill holes for the plastic corner pieces to latch into. Everything went well, but I would not know for sure if I had done everthing right until I put the tarp on and snugged everything down.

Well, today was the moment of truth. My replacement tarp arrived and everything fit perfectly. I now have a brand new cover for my Screw and only had to shell out an additional $87 bucks for a replacement tarp. This beat the hell out of shelling out $219 for a complete new setup and then going through the hassle of selling and shipping my old cover to someone (at a loss for sure).

Sorry for the long post, but wanted to share my little success story. I am granting myself a well deserved nanner!

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rk2girls · #2 04-02-2005, 01:14 PM

hey buck? do you see alot of flapping in the wind with you Tuff Tonno III? I have one on my supercab, and while it is sitting still, it looks great, by moving down the road, you can see it moving around, and that is on the "high" bow setting.

Buck Henry · #3 04-02-2005, 06:31 PM

Yes, I too noticed that it flapped around a good bit at highway speeds when I had it on my 04 Supercab. But the bed on the Supercrew is a full foot shorter and the 5.5 foot cover uses three monster bows just like the 6.5 foot Scab cover does, so it does not have near as much movement as before.

Honestly, I think Extang ought to include 4 bows with the 6.5 foot Supercab cover. You could probably order a forth bow and set of clamps from them if you wanted to, but I don't know if it would be worth the extra money.

The Tuff Tonneau is a very nice soft cover and does what I need it to do, which is keep my stuff dry and out of sight. But soft covers will never look as good as a quality hard cover will.