- First Name
- Ross
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2024
- Threads
- 2
- Messages
- 12
- Reaction score
- 8
- Location
- Washington State
- Vehicle(s)
- 2024 Tacoma Limited
- Thread starter
- #1
Installed a Pace Edwards tonneau on my Limited in November. I thought I'd share some lessons after some weather exposure and one major winter road trip. First, I opted for the retractable tonneau over other bed cover types to meet 3 goals; 1) secure and (relatively) weather tight storage in the bed, 2) easily configurable to allow carrying tall or oversized loads, 3) compatible with a bed top level track system for installing load bars (I'm tired of needing a ladder to get things onto the load bars on the top of a shell or cab). Though I've never really cared for them, the retractable tonneau was the option that best met my needs, though with some trade-offs below. Chose Pace Edwards for the simple (and trivial) reason that it doesn't require a separate key. Retrax seems to be the gold standard in hard tonneaus, and they have a separate key lock for the tonneau with the tailgate closed. Pace Edwards has a latch under the tonneau that you access by lowering the tail gate. The bed walls on this truck are so high that I imagine only rarely opening the tonneau by itself, especially with a rack mounted on the rails over the bed, so not having to keep track of a separate key was a decider for me. Additionally E-trailer reviews indicated they are comparable and looking at a neighbors Retrax, I agree that they are comparable in durability and quality. Lessons & Observations:
1) I purchased from E-Trailer and the unit delivered (311-KMTA10A38) didn't fit the truck. It was for 3G Taco. The difference is that the 4G bed has tapers at the front corners of the bed that block the tonneau cartridge from mating up to the front of the bed at the cab. The 4G unit merely has an extra piece that fills that gap. E-trailer was no help and wanted me to return the unit. Instead I contacted Pace Edwards directly and they expedited me the missing piece free of charge. After that the install was easy. It clamps to the bed track system in the truck on the sides, which is a more robust connection that some cantilevered clamp systems I've seen on-line. One downside is that it blocks the bed track front and back, so you have to get whatever accessories (I have a modified OEM bed divider installed) onto the track before installing the tonneau. See photo.
2) Drain System Tubing- This tonneau has gutters that collect water from the sides and front and direct it to drain tubes that need to be routed out of the bed. I drilled holes in the sides at the rear and front of the bed at the front to route water out of the bed. See photos. The rear drain worked perfectly after initial install with no issues. The routing of the front tube put some pre-load on the somewhat rigid tubing leading to canting the flange where the drain tube met the cartridge. This leaked significantly after the first test drive. I ultimately added silicone sealant around where the flange meets the cartridge and the leakage stopped. See photo. Maybe a bit over the top, but I also ran the Pace Edwards tubing through the side wall, then fitted it to 3/4" tygon tubing which I tie-wrapped to truck frame down below the bottom of the body just to make sure I didn't introduce water to any place that wasn't normal for the truck. Each one is a little different, but I added a photo of the drivers rear side wall drain for example.
3) Bed Front Corner Leakage - At the front corners of the bed, there is a small gap where the front panel meets the side wall caps. The tonneau does nothing to address this gap, which falls right where wind driven rain will go when driving. I've read online about filling this with RTV, but the photos looked a bit messy due to it being in a hard to access location. Before committing to an effort like that I decided to test with some picture hanging putty I had on-hand. I installed it as shown in the photo. The putty is light blue. This appears to have completely resolved leakage from that point, so if my putty starts to break down, I know where to put some more permanent sealant.
4) Ultimate Leak Tightness - I have experienced some minor water intrusion at the sides of the tonneau after really heavy rain or strong winds. I suspect that the issue isn't the tonneau drains, but the rubber seal at the top of the bed walls. Toyota has traction texture on the top of the bed walls, which create small gaps under the tonneau side seals for water to travel if driven by wind or if parked on a slant. I suspect that this could be completely resolved by putting RTV or other sealant under the tonneau side rails, but I'd rather live with some minor drips after a hard rain and keep things in plastic bins rather than putting sealant directly on my bed wall caps.
5) Downsides - First, the tonneau cartridge takes up the front ~12" of my (already short) bed, to a depth of about 9". I slid a large hard sided tool box under the tonneau for all the basic necessities (jumper cables, tools, tow straps, chains, etc.) which has marginalized the impact for me. Second, the drains, especially the front drains are at risk of being knocked loose by cargo. Orientation of the side drains makes them pretty robust, but the front ones are exposed. I will be building a framework to hold my toolbox in the center of the bed and provide protection for the drain tubes. Finally, I suspect that no amount of effort will make a this retractable tonneau completely water tight, so I plan to store things accordingly rather than fight inevitable leakage.
Overall a good bed cover and despite my initial misgivings, I'm now a fan.
1) I purchased from E-Trailer and the unit delivered (311-KMTA10A38) didn't fit the truck. It was for 3G Taco. The difference is that the 4G bed has tapers at the front corners of the bed that block the tonneau cartridge from mating up to the front of the bed at the cab. The 4G unit merely has an extra piece that fills that gap. E-trailer was no help and wanted me to return the unit. Instead I contacted Pace Edwards directly and they expedited me the missing piece free of charge. After that the install was easy. It clamps to the bed track system in the truck on the sides, which is a more robust connection that some cantilevered clamp systems I've seen on-line. One downside is that it blocks the bed track front and back, so you have to get whatever accessories (I have a modified OEM bed divider installed) onto the track before installing the tonneau. See photo.
2) Drain System Tubing- This tonneau has gutters that collect water from the sides and front and direct it to drain tubes that need to be routed out of the bed. I drilled holes in the sides at the rear and front of the bed at the front to route water out of the bed. See photos. The rear drain worked perfectly after initial install with no issues. The routing of the front tube put some pre-load on the somewhat rigid tubing leading to canting the flange where the drain tube met the cartridge. This leaked significantly after the first test drive. I ultimately added silicone sealant around where the flange meets the cartridge and the leakage stopped. See photo. Maybe a bit over the top, but I also ran the Pace Edwards tubing through the side wall, then fitted it to 3/4" tygon tubing which I tie-wrapped to truck frame down below the bottom of the body just to make sure I didn't introduce water to any place that wasn't normal for the truck. Each one is a little different, but I added a photo of the drivers rear side wall drain for example.
3) Bed Front Corner Leakage - At the front corners of the bed, there is a small gap where the front panel meets the side wall caps. The tonneau does nothing to address this gap, which falls right where wind driven rain will go when driving. I've read online about filling this with RTV, but the photos looked a bit messy due to it being in a hard to access location. Before committing to an effort like that I decided to test with some picture hanging putty I had on-hand. I installed it as shown in the photo. The putty is light blue. This appears to have completely resolved leakage from that point, so if my putty starts to break down, I know where to put some more permanent sealant.
4) Ultimate Leak Tightness - I have experienced some minor water intrusion at the sides of the tonneau after really heavy rain or strong winds. I suspect that the issue isn't the tonneau drains, but the rubber seal at the top of the bed walls. Toyota has traction texture on the top of the bed walls, which create small gaps under the tonneau side seals for water to travel if driven by wind or if parked on a slant. I suspect that this could be completely resolved by putting RTV or other sealant under the tonneau side rails, but I'd rather live with some minor drips after a hard rain and keep things in plastic bins rather than putting sealant directly on my bed wall caps.
5) Downsides - First, the tonneau cartridge takes up the front ~12" of my (already short) bed, to a depth of about 9". I slid a large hard sided tool box under the tonneau for all the basic necessities (jumper cables, tools, tow straps, chains, etc.) which has marginalized the impact for me. Second, the drains, especially the front drains are at risk of being knocked loose by cargo. Orientation of the side drains makes them pretty robust, but the front ones are exposed. I will be building a framework to hold my toolbox in the center of the bed and provide protection for the drain tubes. Finally, I suspect that no amount of effort will make a this retractable tonneau completely water tight, so I plan to store things accordingly rather than fight inevitable leakage.
Overall a good bed cover and despite my initial misgivings, I'm now a fan.
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