Truck Aero, Bed cover DIY tonneau?

[ac7ss]

I have a cheap version of this cover. (2 pieces of 1/2 inch plywood, hinged in the front with a special bolt to hold them down.) Did you ever do an ABA test with the cover? I thought from the first part of the post that you were going to make it arched in the front.

I will post some pics of the "poor man's hard tonneau cover" in a few days. (Total cost: $30 more or less.)

You will see the modified bolts that I used. A piece of angle iron welded to a nut, allows for blind fastening, very secure. The leading edge is held down with a bungie cord stretched across the bed hooked over the J hooks in one of the detail shots. Place the un-anchored end to the front! I originaly tried to do it to the rear, but every time I used the brakes I had to climb under it to get whatever was in the back.

Still working on uploading the photos...

[Haywood_U]

I take it that this is not a new project?

I found this thread from 2005 - looks to also be you

Anyone make their own tonneau cover? - Page 2 - CustomTacos.com Forum

Either way, glad to see you reached your goal of 30 mpg.

[Sunwapta]

Heres an idea

Take an old pickup cap - and cut the roof open like a giant sunroof and then create the whaleback slope within the cap by hinging the leading edge of the cut out material? From the sides it would still look like a normal pickup with a cap. From the back you'd still have the top rear of the cap in place but the rear window would be folded inward to meet up with the hinged cutout to complete the whaletail. (Reinforce where needed.)

Lift everything back into place and latch to use the cap as originally intended.

[Haywood_U]

Originally Posted by Sunwapta

Heres an idea

Take an old pickup cap - and cut the roof open like a giant sunroof and then create the whaleback slope within the cap by hinging the leading edge of the cut out material? From the sides it would still look like a normal pickup with a cap. From the back you'd still have the top rear of the cap in place but the rear window would be folded inward to meet up with the hinged cutout to complete the whaletail. (Reinforce where needed.)

Lift everything back into place and latch to use the cap as originally intended.

Just curious, what will provide the rigidity to the sides of the cap? I would think that it would actually cause a decrease in efficiency based on drag.

[Chris D.]

Originally Posted by Haywood_U

I take it that this is not a new project?

I found this thread from 2005 - looks to also be you

Anyone make their own tonneau cover? - Page 2 - CustomTacos.com Forum

Either way, glad to see you reached your goal of 30 mpg.

I made it to 34mpg on one occurrence..

Originally Posted by Sunwapta

Heres an idea

Take an old pickup cap - and cut the roof open like a giant sunroof and then create the whaleback slope within the cap by hinging the leading edge of the cut out material? From the sides it would still look like a normal pickup with a cap. From the back you'd still have the top rear of the cap in place but the rear window would be folded inward to meet up with the hinged cutout to complete the whaletail. (Reinforce where needed.)

Lift everything back into place and latch to use the cap as originally intended.

versatility.. make it happen..

but like Haywood stated, ya need to beef things up..
I dont think it would cause drag.. the sides when the top would be down would act like a stationary rudder.. mite help stability..

[Haywood_U]

Originally Posted by Chris D.

I made it to 34mpg on one occurrence..

Very nice. I'll never see anywhere close to that......not with my 3/4 ton diesel!

I still liked the cover idea - I hadn't thought about using "L" brackets to hang the frame on the bed.

Back in the early 90s, my buddy had a small Toyota pickup with a custom bed cover. It was basically a bed frame covered in vinyl - built mainly with 2x4, 4x4 posts, and 1/2 or 3/4" plywood top. It took 2-4 people to actually put in and out of the bed, but he never really used the truck for hauling.

I'm looking to build something similar to your original idea - don't really have the $$ for the folding cover that I want (molded ABS) and making it weather-tight isn't a major concern - just looking to keep the leaves and other debris out during the fall/winter.

I think I'll probably steal most of your design and probably use 1/4-3/8" plywood as the top decking, and maybe try to cover it with some vinyl. I don't have the patience (or talent) to start messing with fiberglass!

Glad I found this site, might find some tips for improving economy on my cars - I'm pretty sure the diesel truck is a lost cause!

[Haywood_U]

Originally Posted by ac7ss

I have a cheap version of this cover. (2 pieces of 1/2 inch plywood, hinged in the front with a special bolt to hold them down.) Did you ever do an ABA test with the cover? I thought from the first part of the post that you were going to make it arched in the front.

I will post some pics of the "poor man's hard tonneau cover" in a few days. (Total cost: $30 more or less.)

You will see the modified bolts that I used. A piece of angle iron welded to a nut, allows for blind fastening, very secure. The leading edge is held down with a bungie cord stretched across the bed hooked over the J hooks in one of the detail shots. Place the un-anchored end to the front! I originaly tried to do it to the rear, but every time I used the brakes I had to climb under it to get whatever was in the back.

Still working on uploading the photos...

any pics yet?

[Bajascoob]

Similiar thing happened to me. Except mine was 100lbs and I hadn't tied it down for months, it wasn't moving after all. I used 1/2 osb and covered it with FRP fiberglass reinfoced paneling(bathroom section home depot). Didn't realize how heavy it was until I put it all together. I was doing 60mph with a 20mph crosswind, flew 20ft in the air..luckily no one was near me. It was to heavy anyway for the occasional removal. I was going for waterproof too.

Is 12.5 the optimum angle? Would a soft top design work or is there to much loading? Is there significant efficiency if you boat tail the shell as compared to going from top of B pillar to tail light?

I can weld, so I would build a B pillar frame, and bed rail frame and stretch some material over it.

I do a significant amount of long trips with my F-250 and would love to bump up the mileage.

[8307c4]

As I got a notification that someone replied to my thread I did want to update
on this modification of mine, do NOT get that tarp / cover that I bought!!!

It worked great at first but it fell to pieces in less than a year's time.
That was after I replaced their elastic bungee with clothes line, and I also
replaced their clips and what have you with steel hooks.
Why, because those plastic clips of theirs bent to the point they wouldn't hold,
meanwhile the elastic bungee wouldn't hold up under the stress of the wind that comes
down in back at most any speed over say 25mph.

I spent close to $50 extra just in those parts.

And some might think that steel was the problem, but it wasn't, it may have contributed
slightly but the material itself fell apart, big bad tears all up and down, I could have
left it sitting in my driveway and it would have got tore up just from sitting outside.
No, I'm not joking, the weather itself is what wore it out, mostly.

Total POS, cheap and all but stuff like this?
They shouldn't even sell this kind of gar-badge.

[Bajascoob]

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...cap-12573.html

This is what I did...seems to be working.