How to Make a Tonneau Cover for Your Truck? DIY Steps

Things you’ll need:

Making a homemade tonneau cover will need you a few tools. These are:

• Black paint

• Spray glue and contact glue

• Screws

• Staplers or staple gun

• Vinyl fabric

• A drill.

• A hinge, for example, piano hinges

• Table saw

• 1x2” plywood (total 6)

• Sheets of plywood (around 2)

Steps for Making

1. You need to begin with creating two frames using the 1x2 plywood. One of the plywood should be attached with truck bed here. The other one is for connecting to liftable tonneau cover.
2. Each of the frames should sit well within the truck bed. The sizing should be one-centimeter space on each side between frame and bed.
3. The frames are a really important part here. This is because it provides structural strength to the cover. Securing the cover to truck bed is also a responsibility of a good frame fixing.
4. Now, one needs to cut two plywood pieces and use it for the frames. The plywood needs to exceed horizontal and vertical lengths of frames. This should be a similar width to the edges of truck bed.
5. If you lay the plywood in a flat position over truck bed, it must sit nicely covering all edges. It should be covering from one edge to another.
6. You need to install the hinge. So, make certain there is no overlap between frames at all.
7. Finally, you paint the plywood. Now, this is not a compulsory step. However, doing so will better store the wood from moisture damage. This will ultimately increase the lifespan and durability.
8. After painting the plywood let it dry thoroughly. Now attach the hinge on a spot where this cover will fold.

Using Vinyl Fabric

There is a huge range of example for a DIY tonneau cover that comes with bare bones. This types usually come with plywood working as the main source of protection from different elements.

However, if you need to get something better for quality, using vinyl fabric will be just the right thing. This stuff can improvise the functionality a lot. Same goes for the durability of cover. Here are the steps to use a vinyl fabric for securing.

1. You need a spray glue to evenly spray all over the wood and back of vinyl fabric. This is the finest way to secure a vinyl fabric to a plywood.
2. Once you put the fabric over plywood, make sure to spread it evenly. Now using the contact glue, secure every edge properly.
3. It’s time to use the staple gun. Using it you need to secure edges around the bottom. The edge of fabric needs to be folded within.
4. It’s time to install the tonneau cover now. Use screws and steel angular for installing it across the frames. You can also use T-nuts.
5. To make sure there is no damaging of the truck, use rubber on top of steel angulars.
6. The completion of this installing process depends on size and make of your particular truck. You can enjoy your own artistic freedom while DIYing the whole thing.

Tonneau Cover Reviews

Lists of top 4 best selling truck bed cover | Reviewed from Amazon

Make sure you enter your truck model information before purchase.

GATOR ETX Soft Tri-Fold Truck Bed Tonneau Cover | 59312 | Fits...

• Fits 2015 - 2020 Ford F-150 5' 7" Bed (67.1")
• FAST & EASY NO-TOOL INSTALL | The Gator ETX Tri-Fold can be installed in about 10 minutes by simply clamping the rails on without the use of a drill, providing quick, convenient cargo protection.
• ELIMINATE THE ELEMENTS | This cover’s heavy-duty aluminum frame, industrial-strength vinyl and superior perimeter sealing keep rain, snow and dust out of the bed of your truck bed and protect your...

$288.28

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Tyger Auto T3 Soft Tri-fold Truck Bed Tonneau Cover Compatible...

• FITMENT - Compatible with 2014-2018 Chevy Silverado / GMC Sierra 1500 (2019 LD/Limited) | 5'9" (69") Bed | Equipping the cover will interfere with power tailgate
• DESIGN - US patented. Cover is dual-coated and made out of heavy duty 24oz. marine-grade vinyl, with aircraft-grade aluminum frames, and comes with stainless steel clamps for easy installation and...
• FEATURES - Pre-assembled horizontal crossbars offer support and conveniently fold up with the cover providing full bed access when needed.

$243.00

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Tyger Auto T3 Soft Tri-Fold Truck Bed Tonneau Cover Compatible...

• FITMENT - Compatible with 2015-2020 Ford F-150 | 5.5' (67") Bed
• DESIGN - US patented. Cover is dual-coated and made out of heavy duty 24oz. marine-grade vinyl, with aircraft-grade aluminum frames, and comes with stainless steel clamps for easy installation and...
• FEATURES - Pre-assembled horizontal crossbars offer support and conveniently fold up with the cover providing full bed access when needed.

$224.36

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MaxMate Soft Roll-up Truck Bed Tonneau Cover Compatible with...

• [COMPATIBLE WITH] 2009-2014 Ford F-150 | Fleetside (Not for Stepside) | 5.5' (67") Bed
• [DESIGN] US Design Patented. Cover is dual-coated and made out of heavy duty 24oz. marine-grade vinyl, with built-in horizontal crossbars that offer support when cover is lying flat; and roll up with...
• [BUILD & MATERIAL] Seals with Velcro strip on the sides and secures with latch lock system at the tailgate. Tension system is available and can be adjusted on the end of the side rails to keep the...

$179.00

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Last update on 2024-04-30 at 10:18 PST - Details

Verdict!

That’s the end of this topic for a very interesting DIY that can safeguard your precious trucks. It’s a fun way to try something cool and also saves you enough money.

Make sure to understand your truck type well before jumping into the actual process. It’s okay if you get stuck between the processes. Just keep on going patiently. End results will be satisfying for sure. Good Luck!

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