Duck Amuck
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 25, 2024
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- Location
- Alberta, Canada
- Vehicle(s)
- 24 Tacoma TRD Off-Road/17 MINI Cooper Clubman S
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- #1
I installed my Bison tonneau a few days ago, and today finally had some time to make some adjustments and take some photos of the finished product. Overall, I am very happy with the product for the price. At $720 CAD delivered, I think it's amazing value and can overlook some of the minor niggles I have with it. It looks great and feels incredibly solid. Bison says it can handle 350 lbs of weight - I'm 180 lbs and stood on it with no issues (you can see my dusty shoe prints in some of the photos). We haven't had any rain and I didn't think to spray it with the hose to see how waterproof it is, but I guess we'll find out.
First, some pictures:
My negatives are mostly related to installation and quality control. The included instructions are next to useless. I wound up finding a YouTube video of a guy installing one on his third-gen, and that was very helpful as installation is basically the same. The biggest issue is that they don't tell you that you need to remove the factory tie-down rails as the tonneau rails use the same bolt holes. The factory rails then get relocated onto the brackets that come with the cover. Once you figure this out the install is pretty intuitive and goes very quickly, except for one quibble I'll address below.
This leads me to my first big negative, which is that by repositioning the tie down rail, you block access to the in-bed 12V power. Today I removed the rail and took the door off the power port, which solved the problem. I just kind of set the door in its place and visually it looks normal, we'll see if it jostles loose on dirt roads. I read a post on here from someone installing a different product with a similar issue, they were recommended to use little magnets to keep the door in place, so I may try that if it becomes an issue later on.
Although a minor issue, it would have been really nice to know because getting the factory tie down rails back on was for me the hardest part of this install. It's hard to describe, but the bolt is very short and the head is shallow, so I couldn't get it started with a socket, and because it's inside the factory rail, I couldn't get another tool in there. I had to very gently get it started by hand before I could finish it up with a socket. This was tedious and took a lot longer than it should have - if they'd used a screw with a Torx head (or literally any head) this would have been a LOT easier.
Finally, the bars that hold the cover in place when folded up were not located properly and were not usable. I had to unscrew the brackets and shuffle them a bit further back, and now they're fine. Literally a two minute fix and not the end of the world, but a little annoying.
Overall, I have to say I am very happy with this cover. It looks great, it seems well-made and secure, it locks, and of course it can be used in a variety of positions. Considering it's by far the cheapest hard cover I've seen, I can deal with a couple small inconveniences and poor instructions.
First, some pictures:
My negatives are mostly related to installation and quality control. The included instructions are next to useless. I wound up finding a YouTube video of a guy installing one on his third-gen, and that was very helpful as installation is basically the same. The biggest issue is that they don't tell you that you need to remove the factory tie-down rails as the tonneau rails use the same bolt holes. The factory rails then get relocated onto the brackets that come with the cover. Once you figure this out the install is pretty intuitive and goes very quickly, except for one quibble I'll address below.
This leads me to my first big negative, which is that by repositioning the tie down rail, you block access to the in-bed 12V power. Today I removed the rail and took the door off the power port, which solved the problem. I just kind of set the door in its place and visually it looks normal, we'll see if it jostles loose on dirt roads. I read a post on here from someone installing a different product with a similar issue, they were recommended to use little magnets to keep the door in place, so I may try that if it becomes an issue later on.
Although a minor issue, it would have been really nice to know because getting the factory tie down rails back on was for me the hardest part of this install. It's hard to describe, but the bolt is very short and the head is shallow, so I couldn't get it started with a socket, and because it's inside the factory rail, I couldn't get another tool in there. I had to very gently get it started by hand before I could finish it up with a socket. This was tedious and took a lot longer than it should have - if they'd used a screw with a Torx head (or literally any head) this would have been a LOT easier.
Finally, the bars that hold the cover in place when folded up were not located properly and were not usable. I had to unscrew the brackets and shuffle them a bit further back, and now they're fine. Literally a two minute fix and not the end of the world, but a little annoying.
Overall, I have to say I am very happy with this cover. It looks great, it seems well-made and secure, it locks, and of course it can be used in a variety of positions. Considering it's by far the cheapest hard cover I've seen, I can deal with a couple small inconveniences and poor instructions.
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