Half Tonneau cover

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 3:11 pm

HenryJ wrote:I used 1/2" CPVC pipe to form a frame and crossmembers. The frame is 55 1/2" wide to the front tapering to 55 1/8" at the back and only needed to be 32" long from the tool box to the tailgate. I cut the crossmembers a little long so that they would bow upward offering some strength, and allowing the water to run off. I decided to offer a little more rigidity, so I drilled small holes on center and inserted a 3/16" rod to steady the crossmembers, and help to resist compression at the center of the frame. For the cover I picked up some marine vinyl. Cut it 4" larger than the frame to allow stitching a 1/4" rope around the perimeter.
This is a cinch fit cover. I placed it over the frame and pulled the rope to tighten it over the frame. Then I notched the vinyl to add one piece of rope to cinch the center

The tailgate protector has a nice lip that matches, so the cover is supported across the tailgate. My tool box is recessed just below the rail. This allows me to slip it under that lip an inch or so, securing the front of the cover. I used some of the ball and elastic tarp ties to secure the back to the stock tiedown loops.

Now I have to open the spare tire carrier and tailgate to access that cargo space. When I disconnect the two rear tiedowns it hinges nicely on the front cleats.

I haven't driven it yet, so I don't know how it will perform. It is easily removable and light weight. Total cost came to $20 and two thirds of that was for the vinyl.

This may give someone a good idea. I don't know if it would be worthwhile for a full cover. You would need $20 worth of CPVC , and $26 in the vinyl , now add the price of cleats $30, and the elastic tiedowns $10, that puts it very close to the cost of an ebay tonneau. In my case I needed a small cover, and really didn't want to cut down a fullsize one.

This one works pretty well for a summer cover, but did not hold the weight of the snow. It did not break, but folded down under the weight of the snow.
I recently picked up a couple used covers to adapt. I could not justify paying for a new cover only to cut it down to fit behind my toolbox. I kind of messed up as I was dealing on three covers at the same time and ended up having two shipped.

They are different and I'll see which I prefer.
The first cover arrived yesterday. It is an Extang cover for a full sized S-series. It had been off for a long time and had shrunk really bad. That is OK since I had to cut it down anyway. It showed a couple holes starting where the cover meets the bows. One bow was missing a retention spring, but as I said , I am cutting it down, so two is all that will be needed and the bad spots will be eliminated.
I cut the width at the tailgate down by 3/8" and at the front by a little over 1". The side bars were cut down to 28" and new holes squared for the corners to attach to all that were cut down.
I removed the stitching from the front half of the cover and cut the back half to fit the new frame size.
All that is left is to stitch the front edge retention piece and welt on the edge.
My old sewing machine is not heavy enough to handle this job, so I will have to stop by the upholstery shop Monday and finish the job.

It looks good so far. I'll post a picture when it is done.

bwenny247 · Post by **bwenny247** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 4:27 am

Man's got the skills to save on the bills

always on the "cutting" edge (no-pun intended) can't wait to see

Post by **HenryJ** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:03 pm

It worked out pretty good from what little I can see. (dark outside)

It cost $10 to have the front part of the cover stitched up. The corners and the plastic attachment strip as well as the edge trim and corner reinforcements.

It will not be water tight at this point. I will need to add a platform for the front to rest on to accomplish that. I may do that at some point.
I held the rear forward slightly to accommodate the
tailgate protector. It does seal to it ok.

We will se how it works out

Steve2003 · Post by **Steve2003** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 6:42 pm

It looks good Hj!

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:09 pm

HenryJ wrote:It worked out pretty good from what little I can see. (dark outside)

It cost $10 to have the front part of the cover stitched up..........

You didn't sew this one yourself? Machine failure or just too time consuming?

Steve2003 · Post by **Steve2003** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:16 pm

f9k9 wrote:
HenryJ wrote:It worked out pretty good from what little I can see. (dark outside)

It cost $10 to have the front part of the cover stitched up..........
You didn't sew this one yourself? Machine failure or just too time consuming?

no wonder I thought it looked good!

Post by **HenryJ** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 7:30 pm

f9k9 wrote:You didn't sew this one yourself? Machine failure or just too time consuming?

My machine is a little too light to stitch through the plastic piece that holds the front. To tell the truth I didn't even try. I did not want to hurt my machine. I really do need to get a good upholstery machine, but they run $1200-up for a decent used one. Some day.

I just about asked to stitch it myself, but was pressed for time , and Richard really does a pretty good job. I stayed until he had everything in place where I wanted it. He finished it off a bit later as he had an appointment.

If you happen to find a good deal on a Juki or better yet long neck Chandler , let me know

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:00 pm

Next time I come across a good deal, I'll just snatch it up for ya

Post by **HenryJ** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:14 pm

Do I smell some work that would need to be done? (j/k)
They really are lots of fun

You might enjoy it.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:30 pm

Don't tell anyone but, I took sewing in grade school and made a shop apron in blue denim with my name embroidered on it

Steve2003 · Post by **Steve2003** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:40 pm

And in junior high school I had home economics and had to sew a pillow

I got an A. but what the teacher didn't know is that my Mom sewed the pillow for me.

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:53 pm

Steve2003 wrote:And in junior high school I had home economics and had to sew a pillow I got an A. but what the teacher didn't know is that my Mom sewed the pillow for me.

It would have been home economics, I remember now. There was a section on cooking too now that I think about it. The school system changed the yr I left grade school. Grade school was K thru 8 and High School was 9 thru 12. I must have been in 6th or 7th grade.

Geoff · Post by **Geoff** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 8:10 pm

Henry...do you by chance have any under bed shots of that cover? im thinking about cutting up my cover from my SFA truck and fitting it to my short bed with tool box. im just not 100% sure how you sinched it around the pvc or how you have that positioned

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:25 am

Don't get confused here. This is the bottom side of the Extang cover I am currently using. The one I cut down from a fullsize S-10 cover-

I used the aluminum frame and all the included hardware for the latest cover.

This is the bottom side of the CPVC cover-

In the picture above I got the angle right for the tees. They need to be angled up from horizontal about 10 degrees.
You can also see the metal rod. I drilled all the way through the two center supports and drilled just the inside of the two outer rails. Later I added that cord you see to tighten the cover in the center fore and aft.

In the picture below you can see that I did not angle the tees upward enough. They do not match the otherside. It doesn't look terrible, but annoys me.

This is the drawstring that tightens the cover-

I just cut the vinyl about four inches larger than the frame and stitched a drawstring around it. It takes some working and pulling, but it tightens up nicely.
If you plan to do something like this , do not waste your time using salvaged, or used material. It will not be flexible or pliable enough to work properly. It just will not stretch over the framework.
Marine vinyl is not terribly expensive and is available at most good sized fabric stores.

If you have a cover to cut down, I would use the framework and its cover. The framework is easily cut down for length. If the cover has shrunk, and most do, you can cut down the width a little to relieve the stress.
Mine is still very tight to the sides. Almost too tight. Warm weather should relieve that.
Cutting the cover for length is not hard. The idea is to copy the original front to a new location further back. A slightly dulled pen knife works great for removing stitching. Salvage all the parts to be attached to the shortened cover. Then take both pieces to your local upholstery shop and show them what needs to be stitched up and where.
If you don't think you can get the cut made in the right place, take the whole cover to them and let them cut it down for you.
Some may refuse, or push for building you a whole new cover. That may or may not be the way to go. Trying to use a salvaged cover has risk. The cover may be stiff and not fit properly, or hard and tear.
Use your best judgement.

Geoff · Post by **Geoff** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:43 am

yeah i know it has risks. how hard was it to find a used/salvage cover? i dont think they would be too common around here.

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 7:13 am

I waited quite a while to find a cover. Watching the s-series classifieds for someone selling a truck or with one in their garage.

How long does your cover need to be?

The reason I ask is that I bought a cover from a member here. It has not been shipped yet.
It is a crew cab cover and has a tear. I imagine that the material is hard and worn at the bows where it tore.
The framework would work. I have no doubt that it could be adapted.

Here is the thread- Access top needs repaired
For a longer bed you would not shorten it enough to eliminate that tear. You could make a new cover for it though. That might get fairly expensive, but then again, they do not make a cover for what you want to do here.

2kwik4u still plans to ship it to me. If it has not yet been shipped and you want it , I will gladly step aside.

Geoff · Post by **Geoff** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 9:59 am

My cover needs to be from 52.5-53.5" long. i think the CC bed is 54", so in theory i should be able to use a regular CC cover with my truck.

i have a modded cover from my olf truck, but it has snaps that drill intot he bedsides and the bed of my ZR2 is larger in all dimensions then the bed of my 1st gen. On the first gen i had a cut cover to fit with the tool box, since i retired it to trail rig, i removed the box and cover. the box is now in my zr2 and the vinyl is just siting around. that is why i thought of the CPVC cover, i could make that work REALLY easy and it wouldnt cost me much at all.

another thing is thoug..once you have that top made...what supports it in the bed? just pressure of it being squeezed between the rails?

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 10:21 am

Geoff wrote:My cover needs to be from 52.5-53.5" long. i think the CC bed is 54", so in theory i should be able to use a regular CC cover with my truck.

Sure sounds like it might work.

i have a modded cover from my olf truck, but it has snaps that drill intot he bedsides and the bed of my ZR2 is larger in all dimensions then the bed of my 1st gen. On the first gen i had a cut cover to fit with the tool box, since i retired it to trail rig, i removed the box and cover. the box is now in my zr2 and the vinyl is just siting around. that is why i thought of the CPVC cover, i could make that work REALLY easy and it wouldnt cost me much at all.

another thing is thoug..once you have that top made...what supports it in the bed? just pressure of it being squeezed between the rails?

I see a couple ways to go here.
One would be to use your cover, if it is big enough and adapt it to work on the framework of the crew cab access cover. Maybe drill the cover for snaps and attach the snaps to the framework for that cover. That way it would clamp down for a no drill installation and be easily removable.

The next idea would be to use the cover over a CPVC frame. You might even be able to drill the CPVC to attach the snaps? That might work.

The framework sits on nylon cleats attached to the bed rails. The whole story of that cover is chronicled here: Tie downs and small tonneau cover