Tonneau Covers - Helpful Video Reviews and Installation How To Articles

Craftec Vinyl Tonneau Cover for Short-Bed Pickups Review - Video

Today we are going to install part number 352730SC from Craftec. What this is, is a vinyl tonneau cover, and we are going to install this on a 2007 Dodge Dakota short-bed pickup. There are a lot of components to this install, but it is not too bad if you break it down into simple little sub-assemblies, as the instructions describe. We will cover some of the parts first to give you an idea of what is going on. First off, we have got these corner pieces here. These corner pieces cover the actual metal corners on the tonneau cover frame itself. We have hardware that threads into the aluminum pieces that actually make their own threads as they go in. We have our latch assemblies right here these work inside the tonneau cover. When you close it and you twist it, it catches underneath the edge of the bed itself. A pull strap to pull it down when the cover is above your head. And these are the clamps that go into the frame and on the bed that your gas shocks mount into. And these are attaching points that go into the track into the frame. You have got the bows to go into that create the bow effect on your tonneau cover, and the the bows are located right here. These are the rails themselves. These are the parts that go longways on the truck, and this part and this part are the ones that go across the truck. Some bed lengths require an extension. In this situation, the bed is so short you do not even have to worry about that. These are the metal corner pieces right here that actually get the frame bolted together and locked into place. And these little angle brackets here will eventually hold the hinge part of the tonneau cover, and also one-half of that will get clamped into place onto the bed itself. Lastly, we have the tonneau cover itself. One good tip about this is if you keep it warm overnight so it stays nice and pliable, that makes it a lot easier to work with. more

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Posted: 3/23/2009 10:23:54 AM