tonneau removal and reinstallation

[menoco]

Amigos,
Have taken my FWC Hawk off truck for the winter. I’m about to order a Leer 550 Tonneau for my Tundra. Need a hard cover in Wyoming winter. I will be putting the tonneau off, when I slide the Hawk onto the truck. I’m concerned that tonneau rails or brackets attached to truck bed could then block sliding the camper in. Leer only sells through distributors who then install. Probably why I can’t find any installation instructions on Leer website or elsewhere to check for myself. Did find one comment on a Dodge forum about difficulty of removing and reinstalling Leer tonneau. Leer and distributor say no problem, but cover is painted to match truck and can't return if turns out to be a big job to switch from tonneau to camper or vice versa.

Has anyone experience with tonneau? Thanks.

Armando

 

[Alley-Kat]

Before I got my ATC Bobcat, my fiberglass truck bed tonneau has been on & off many times. I used to leave the mounts on, however, with the ATC Bobcat its too snug to the truck bed sides to leave the mounts in place.

I've got a Leer unit, however, it was made in 2000. Let's see if my description of the mounts is the same as what you'll be getting. Mine has a forward "U" shaped aluminium "L-angle" material mount section (all the way across the front and about 14" wrapped down the sides, towards the back) and one mount on each side in the rear (about 14" in length).

Two locks on the back section, one on each side (better IMO than the single lock/handle, rods mechanism in the middle of the top - too easy to unlock without the key - as I demonstrated to the Leer dealer when I purchased - maybe they are better now). I also found an aftermarket locking lift handle for my tailgate, that adds some security - or maybe a false sense of security - although I've never been broken into.

Removal: I take the bottom of the gas struts off (keep them attached at the top, they just hang there), put the top down and remove the ring clips on the front hinge thingies, then lift the top off, after that I can easily remove the above mounts, which are held in place with machine screws and "u" brackets. Takes about 20 minutes for either removal or reinstallation. Of course I need to get help to lift the top, too big and heavy for me.

To reinstall, the front section has nowhere else to mount so positioning is easy. And for the back mounts I can see the dimples of where the mounts were originally placed, so, I just put them right back. Sometimes, if I don't get it exactly right at the back, so that the locks work correctly, I do a little "fudging", 1/16" or less, and everything is OK.

I also have matching color top (yeah, right, it's white!). The top has worn away some of the paint on the top rear of the truck bed, even with the rubber gasket in the right place. Both Leer and the dealer I purchased it from say it's normal and I can get some touch up paint. Oh well, the side of the truck bed has some dents in it now from previous off road trips, from my younger days.

Hope that helps.

 

[menoco]

Alley-Kat,

It does help. At this stage, I need to decide if the removal/reinstallation job is reasonable to do a couple times a year, and thus I can commit to buy the tonneau. It looks like you found a way to make it a doable job.

The Leer model I may order, the 550, did not exist 12 years ago. So, the exact attachments have probably changed. Hopefully I don’t have to deal with additional locks. One advantage here is that we don’t lock things. Protecting from the elements is tough enough.

I should ask the shop to walk me through the removal process, perhaps I will even video it. I’ll need all the help I can get.

Thanks for advice.

Armando