Diamondback Tonneau Cover

I installed my DiamondBack SE when I got my truck at the end of May 2023. I ordered it with the 12 cleats and base tracks installed along with the Crossbin 8, which provides excellent storage. I installed the Yakima Skyline HD rack system and Yakima HighRoad bike racks, which are rock solid. Kudos to DiamondBack and Yakima for their excellent products.

 

Is it the camera angle or is your front cover considerably smaller than the rear one. Mine are the same size, I have 5.5' bed.
I ask because it doesn't look like your wheel is going to fit. I had to slide my front bar back a good distance as to not hit the cab.

 

It’s the camera angle. The front and rear panels are both 34.5”. With the 6.5’ bed, there’s plenty of clearance front and rear.

 

That camera angle really threw me off as I would prefer a smaller front access cover.
I just went on a trip with roughly the same set-up. I had a topper in the past so bike was always covered, but went 700 miles and 700 back with no issues. I had a lot of white dust on the tires from riding in Arkansas and we hit solid rain for a couple hours. The portion of the tires not facing forward still had dust on them, like it never got wet. I can't explain it as it rained hard enough to clear the windshield of bugs.

Anyways, nice set-up and nice looking truck.

 

Looks great! Very happy with mine also.

 

Looks great! I wish I had the justification to add these tracks because they look so good.

 

From those of you that have owned or seen both the Rugged black and Smooth black finishes in person, what one do you prefer and why?

From the photo's I've seen on here I am leaning towards the smooth black finish, but in another forum someone thought it looked cheap in person. I have only been able to see the rugged black in person so far.

 

I went smooth black for a few reasons.

1. looks OEM+ esp with the TRD side steps
2. Figure it would be hard enough to keep clean in spring with pollen without the diamond plate
3. If I have to repaint at some point in the future I figured it would be easier to prep a smooth surface for bedliner

so for those reasons I went smooth..... and yes I'm aware that I think way too much

 

I bought the smooth finish and there is nothing about it that looks cheap. Awesome cover.

 

I don't think you can go wrong either way. They didn't have the smooth finish back when I got mine. However even if they did I still would've went rugged. Reason being it looks rugged. Imo the diamond plate with the coating looks badass. Not to mention it hold up great to abuse and is a breeze to clean, simply spray with power washer.

 

Those are some nice looking covers… I’m more than a little jealous. How difficult are they to remove?

 

I had the checker plate on my first cover and went for the smooth finish on this cover. I like it!

 

I went for the rougher finish because I like the way it looks, matches the finish on my sliders, and it's quite grippy because I carry stuff on my cover pretty often and when I climb up there to clean the roof and rear window I don't slip off lol

 

Not difficult at all. After a few times, I can get it off in less than 10 minutes by myself. Getting back on is about 10 or 15 minutes by myself.

 

This^^^

 

Thanks for the replies above on finish. I just placed my order for a smooth black HD cover and can't wait for it to arrive and get it installed!

 

I installed mine this week and couldn’t be happier. Trying to locate a cross bin at the moment.

For those that have the racks installed, am I correct in assuming that you can’t open the cover when the rack is in use? I was thinking about getting some adjustable towers for bikes and kayaks but if I have to remove the rack every time I need to open the cover I am not sure I want them.

 

I have my Thule bolted on and I can open the cover all the time. If I have the kayaks onboard, I just release the lock and give the rear cover a little push up and open the tailgate. I will have a bit more work to open the tailgate once I add the lower crossbars for the bike carriers.

 

Glad you finally located one! Looks great! My plan was to get a rack for the rear panel and one for the cab. My logic was that I would still have access to the front of the bed and rear without taking everything off the racks.

 

build or buy a slider draw, then you don't even need to open the panels

 

what is a slider draw?

 

https://realtruck.com/p/bedslide-s-...9YcdpzWuj5NSVxubkgUaAibqEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Hey brotha,

I may be mistaken about the Gen3 Tundra, but your locking arms look to be upside-down and should be turned down 180 degrees. Months later, but I just got around to reading this thread.

 

This forum is great! Love all this feedback. Definitely will be going DiamondBack at some point. I put on a BakFlip F1 and cannot get it dry. We have had multiple crazy storms here and there will be 2" of standing water in the bed after. I haven't had this problem with BakFlip in the past. The gaps at the tailgate are just so big on this truck.

 

Got mine installed yesterday

 

Ordered my Diamondback SE in smooth finish last night. Got the 10% military discount...expecting delivery around the 31st. Will upload pics when installed.Took a while for me to decision which tonneau to purchase, but after tons of research and reading comments on this forum I decided on the DB. Thanks for your honest appraisals of your tops.

 

Installed the SE cover with Yakima HD bars yesterday.

 

Definitely hanging down.

 

Very cool