One Truck Accessory that is a great fit for just about any application involving a truck with an open bed is a Tonneau Cover.
It can be very difficult for a truck owner, however, to make the decision to buy one.
The difficulty lies in a few different areas: not understanding the benefits that a tonneau cover will provide, how versatile they can be, how affordable they can be, and figuring out which one is right for your needs.
With a few simple explanations, the process of choosing a tonneau cover can become very painless.
Yes, tonneau cover is a strange name.
Sometimes you'll see it spelled "tonno cover" and often you'll see them called "truck bed covers," which is a bit more intuitive.
The strange naming may contribute to a lot of truck owners not really knowing about the product, even though everyone has seen trucks on the road with tonneau covers.
The fact is, if you have a pickup truck, and you don't have a tonneau cover, you need one.
The benefits are numerous: Saving money on gas.
Studies have shown that by closing off the extremely non-aerodynamic bed of the truck, gas mileage will increase 5-10%.
Improving storage conditions.
Most tonneau covers sold are water-tight, and all will prevent anything stored or transported in the truck bed from falling out and will reduce items even shifting around while driving.
Security.
Hard tonneau covers have latches with locks, allowing for secure storage even when you're not occupying your truck.
Looks.
Tonneau covers really streamline the look of a truck, and many can be painted to match the truck color.
Once the decision has been made to purchase a tonneau cover, The difficult task of selecting the proper one begins.
Many different types of covers are widely available, starting with basic vinyl tonneaus that attach to the sides of the bed with snaps or velcro.
Some of these have ribs that span from one side of the truck bed to the other, to keep the cover from sagging, while others rely on the tension of the attachment to prevent sagging.
The advantages of these vinyl tonneau covers is that they're very inexpensive, starting out under $200, and they're very light and easily removed.
The disadvantages are that they sometimes require the use of permanent adhesive to the truck or drilling holes, and you won't get the security benefits from a tonneau cover like this.
Another common type of tonneau cover is the one-piece hard cover - usually made of fiberglass, although some aluminum and plastic/composite material models are available.
These covers lift on hinges to access the truck bed, and the latch when closed usually locks for the benefit of security.
Some hard covers can support a load on top of the cover as well as underneath in the truck bed, for added utility.
Many hard tonneau covers can be painted to match the truck color.
One downside is that it can be relatively difficult to remove this type of cover.
Cost is generally above $500 and can top $1,000, depending on features and brand.
Other common tonneau cover styles fit between vinyl soft covers and hard covers, with soft rolling (some even retractible) tonneau covers, folding tonneau covers (these come in both soft and hard materials) and two-piece hard tonneau covers for allowing easier access to the truck bed.
Most of the higher-end tonneau covers are very easy to install, simply using clamps with no drilling or gluing required.
And for the best piece of news: Higher-end tonneau covers don't even have to cost any more than their budget counterparts - if you shop around, you'll find some great deals on tonneau covers from brands such as Extang, Undercover, Access, Pace Edwards, Roll-N-Lock, Fold a Cover, BesTop, Truxedo and more.