Tonneau Covers World

Tonneau Covers World

At Tonneau Covers World we sell tonneau covers, but we also try to help with resources where you can find out more about tonneau covers. We may not have the tonneau cover you are looking for, but we want to give you an opportunity to find what you need!

We'll start with the definition of a tonneau cover:

A tonneau cover is a cover for the bed of your pickup truck. It is mostly used to keep your stuff out of the elements, but it also prevents thieves from taking your luggage or groceries....or whatever is in the bed of your pickup.

The styles of covers vary from the high-end one piece aluminum covers to the low-end homemade versions. Prices vary from around $100 for materials to make your own up to $2000 for custom-made truck bed covers.

Lets go through the different styles of covers.

Aluminum Tonneau Covers

Currently, there are two different brands of aluminum truck bed covers, LT Sport Extreme Flat and Lazer Lite. Both are very similar with the major difference being that the Extreme Flat is painted to match the body paint on your truck while the Lazer Lite has a tough black textured powdercoat finish to match the black trim on your truck.

These covers were highly engineered and the design process is patented. We've heard from existing customers that these covers are better than any OEM cover you can buy. Prices range from $650 to around $1100. Both covers are designed for security, style and increasing your gas mileage.

They've tested their truck bed covers and found you can expect about an 8% increase in fuel savings. At today's gas prices, that means you save about $.24/gallon of gas. In most cases, you can expect the tonneau cover to pay for itself in gas savings in about 3 years.
Lazer Lite Tonneau Covers
LT Sport Tonneau Covers

Retractable Tonneau Covers

Four different manufacturers make retractable truck bed covers. Retractable truck bed covers are a great product. A retractable gives you the flexibility of having a 'hard'  tonneau cover with the ability to haul large items without removing the cover from the bed. Although this seems to be the best of both worlds, you sacrifice some of the space up front for the canister and since they typically site flush or below the bed rails, they are prone to reports of leaking. Many have a run-off canister/container that needs to be emptied periodically. Installation may require drilling and is sometimes cumbersome, but all-in-all they are still a great value. The prices range from about $500 up to around $1300.
Retrax
Roll-N-Lock
Pace Edwards
Peragon

Fiberglass Tonneau Covers

For a long time, fiberglass bed covers were the leader in tonneau covers. There was a reason for that: They are secure and are usually painted to match your truck. They are, for the most part, very weather-tite. Many fiberglass manufacturers opt to style the lid so it blends in styling on the truck itself. On the other hand, they are usually fairly heavy, requiring a fair amount of effort to remove if you wish to haul larger items. (Which is why the Lazer Lite and the LT Sport Extreme Flat are so popular). The paint finish is rarely a "Class A" finish. Still, they look great and if you don't plan on removing the cover often, fiberglass covers are a great buy. Expect them to weigh up to 150 lbs. Prices vary, but you can get one for anywhere from $600 to $1100.

Folding Tonneau Covers

New to the scene are folding truck bed covers. They are usually in 3 or 4 sections, with the OEM version for the Explorer Sport Trac in 2 sections. We've yet to hear of a folding version that isn't prone to leaking a little bit. If they are out there, please let us know so we can feature them at Tonneau Covers World. Personally, we don't mind a little bit a dripping of water, and think they are a great value as an alternative to the more expensive retractable or solid hard tonneau covers. If getting a little water, every now and then, into your truck bed isn't a problem, then these are great covers for your truck.

Roll-up Tonneau Covers

If you live in an area where crime is quite low (out of sight - out of mind) or if you rarely carry valuables in your truck bed, then a roll-up tonneau cover is an application for your truck you may want to consider. They rarely take up much space in the truck bed when rolled up and are easily shipped to your door. Most covers are attached via clamps, but some require some light drilling.

"Drop Down" Truck Bed Covers

New to the scene is a type of a cover that drops down INTO your truck bed when you want to haul something large. These tonneau covers allow access to the truck bed when you want to haul large items without removing the cover. Nice idea.