Sorry the pictures are so awful. I have crappy light in my garage...

I removed nearly ALL of the overspray on the cover to the point that you REALLY have to look for it, and know where to look, to even find it. I also had to go through the manufacturer of the cover to get the clamps that hold the rails on the truck (which was a MEGA-HUGE PAIN IN THE ****!!!!) But, as you can see, it's on the truck. It was a HUGE challenge but, it's all paid off... I'm still not sure I like it though...

I love the cover when it's sitting on the floor in the garage off the truck but, once it's installed it doesn't really 'do it' for me...

So, what do I do now? Do you all like it? Mind you, they are crappy pictures but, you get the jist....


RP

 

RP...

I haven't decided if I even want a tonneau cover yet, so take my comments with a grain of salt.

Your tonneau is unique and looks just fine (for a soft tonneau). If I decide to get a tonneau, I'll probably go for a hard tonneau because the appearance is 'cleaner' (IMHO).

Bottom line is that the best top for you is the one that *you* are happy with. If the soft top look is not what you want, maybe the KR owners can get together and talk someone into producing a KR hardcover. I'd probably go for that!

 

RP,

I'm glad you finally got it on your truck. Your "never say die" attitude is inspirational. I'm sure you had a good sense of accomplishment when it was finally all together. Good for you!

I think the cover looks good. I can't say great because I'm not a big fan of that style of tonneau cover (just my personal preference and I'm sure many others feel differently). I think it is nicer than most because it is KR labled and therefore special.

Even if you're not terribly thrilled with it now, after all the effort you went through to put it on, I'd recommend leaving it on for a while. It might "grow on you"...if not, at least you have a working tonneau cover until you decide on a replacement.

Out of curiosity:
1) Did the seller ever respond to your messages to him?
2) Did the manufacturer charge you for the clamps?

 

Looks great RP!!! I think I would have given up on that with the problems you ran into but not you.
KRC

 

Well...

1) Yes and no. I'm just going to leave it at that.

2) The manufacturer charged me NOTHING and shipped them the same day that I talked to them. It took a while to chase down who actually made them (a company in Colorado called Bestop under contract to Decoma out of Michigan which was under contract to FoMoCo) and NUMEROUS voice mail messages but, I finally chased down the actual person who was in charge of the 'specialty covers' like the KR and HD with logos. He was a very understanding guy and, needless to say, knew exactly what I needed and made it happen. I value service like that... someone that will go out of their way to 'make it happen'. He did that for me.

The cover has grown on me a little bit already. I'm not sure what I'm going to do but, it might be for sale. We'll have to wait and see... I, too, love the look of a hard top but, worried about it when it came to hauling 'large stuff' (which happens occasionally for work). I can roll this tonneau up and it's out of the way whereas the ARE would be quite the beast to remove and replace and realign.... decisions decisions...

After really examining the cover while on the truck this morning in 'real' light, it looks good. The grey from the overspray is almost totally invisible to the naked eye and, to even see the gray, you have to know EXACTLY where to look.

RP

 

Well, after re-looking over the couple of pictures that I took, I realized one thing...

The cross-bows on the cover don't 'rib-out' nearly that bad. I took that picture from the landing at the top of my stairs going into the garage (there are 6 steps)... the floodlights that I had going accentuated the the bows to the point that the look like they're REALLY sticking out bad.... trust me, they don't.

It looks just like this, from Sarman's Gallery:



RP

 

RP - I like it. I prefer the soft tonneaus over the hard and I think it looks good. If you do decide to put it up for sale let me know. I may be interested. If not, that's fine too, it looks good. Do me a favor tho, when you get a chance take some pictures of it in the daylight. I'd like to see it on your truck.

IL6fan

 

Shall do IL6. Thanks for the compliments...


I didn't drive the truck today (stole the wifey mobile as she had the day off due to snow -- she's a teacher).... I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow pending the snow is halfway gone... I'm so sick of winter.

RP

 

Sick of winter? Tell me about it. It's 1:50 PM right now in beautiful Rockford, IL and the temp is a cool -2 degrees F. Sucks. It was -11 on my way into work this morning. I'll take some 80's any time now.

 

I think the color looks great. Far superior to the "black", particularly on the KR. I'm not nuts about the logo overkill, but Ford should offer it as an option again.
As ususal, RP, you are very much the King!


Can Bestop make one that color? Or did I misunderstand your post. They're about 10 blocks from my office.

 

RP It looks good. So, do you know if they plan to ever make them again or is that it for the KR tonneau?



Good work,
Ron

 

Ron,

Nope, they're not going to make them any longer. They were discontinued in 02' and Ford totally pulled the plug with this particular company to manufacture any further items under that contract.

It all stemmed from a goof by this company that caused the release of the Lincoln Blackwood to be delayed. A part that they made was faulty and delayed them actually hitting the lots. Ford didn't forget about that and say 'that's okay guys.... we understand'.... in short, they bought out the contract and outsourced elsewhere from what I was told.

My contact where at the factory in Colorado further 'somewhat' confirmed this notion and said that they weren't making it any longer and had none in backstock or anything like that...

As far as them 'making you one' cooper, I couldn't confirm or deny that. I don't have any idea. My hunch is that they'll just vend to retailers and such but, I guess a phone call down there wouldn't hurt. *shrugs*

Thanks for all the opinions guys. I'm still on the fence post on if I like it or not.... many of you haven't chimed in... give me an opinion. You're not going to hurt my feelings!!

RP

 

RP I wasn't crazy about the way it looked in your photos but then saw Sarman's. His photo looks very good. I understand about the lighting and angles and such.

I like it alot. I have the ARE lid and like it very much. The soft cover can be more practical depending how large of a load you carry. With all the driving we do I felt more secure with the ARE lid.

Let us know how YOU like it. I would be interested in knowing how easy/hard it is to put on/take off and how well it seals with the bed. And does it leak or not.

 

Sorry RP. I'm not crazy about it but then again, I've never been much for soft tonneaus. I've never liked the ribbed look no matter how un-noticeable it is. I do like the King Ranch and F-150 logos that are on it. I like that alot. Now if I could get the King Ranch logo on an ARE tonneau, that would be nice!

 

RP

Had a black soft cover on a yellow chevy truck in high school. I enjoyed it and liked the fact that it was different from everybody else. I think it looks good. But it is your truck.