Arrives before Christmas To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
You can install this retractable, hard tonneau cover on your vehicle in about 10 minutes, and you can completely remove it just as quickly for full bed access. Aluminum and vinyl deck has strength of a hard cover and seamless look of a soft cover.
Features:
Specs:
The Switchblade retractable hard tonneau cover provides you with security and weather protection for your truck bed, easy accessibility to your cargo, and the flexibility to haul large items that require full bed capacity whenever needed. You can install the cover without assistance in approximately 10 minutes, and you can completely remove it from your vehicle's bed just as quickly. The tonneau deck is constructed of a vinyl fabric top sheet that is bonded to rigid aluminum panels, combining the seamless appearance of a soft cover with the security features of a hard cover.
Simple, 1-Person Installation
To install the cover, set the canister on the bulkhead of your truck. Make sure that it's square with your bed. Bolt the side rails to the tabs on the canister.
Secure the rails to your truck bed side rails using 2 clamps per side. Slide the clamp onto the rail, flip the pivot arm up so it is under the bed rail lip, and tighten the clamp in place with the twist knob. Shims are included for trucks with tapered beds.
Each clamp at the tailgate end of the rails has a supplemental kickstand to help level the rails and prevent overtightening during installation. To install the kickstand, simply slide it into the grip handle at the bottom of the clamp. Rotate the kickstand so the foot rests squarely against the side wall of the truck bed, and tighten in place.
Mount the top cover plate to the canister with the included hardware. Attach the drain tubes to the canister and route each tube out of the OEM drain holes in the floor of your bed.
To hold the pull strap off the floor of your truck bed, apply the adhesive hook-and-loop fastener strip onto the underside of a rail at your desired location.
Remove or Reinstall in 10 Minutes
After the initial installation, the tonneau cover can be completely removed or reinstalled in approximately 10 minutes. The Switchblade is great for whenever you need to haul large items that require full bed capacity from front to back and side to side. After your large haul is complete, you can easily reinstall the cover to protect your truck bed again.
To utilize your entire truck bed, detach the canister from the side rails by removing the bolts on either side with a wrench. Then take the side rails off your truck by removing the clamps with the same wrench. Wrap the pull-strap around the canister and use it to lift the canister off your vehicle.
Retractable Cover with Built-In Pull Strap
To retract the Switchblade, simply squeeze the pinch grips located underneath the cover near the center of the tailgate to activate a heavy-duty tension spring. The spring automatically retracts the cover into the canister at the bulkhead of your truck bed. This provides quicker, easier access to your truck bed when compared with manual retractable covers that have no spring-loaded assist.
A built-in pull strap helps you extend the cover over your bed. As you pull, the tonneau will glide smoothly along tracks in the side rails until it reaches the tailgate and secures in place. You can also use the rear plate of the tonneau cover to pull it closed.
Compact, Angled Canister
The cover retracts into a canister located at the front of your truck bed, giving you unrestricted visibility out of your rear window. The canister also protects the stored cover from the elements. And the compact, angled design allows for maximum clearance for your tools and cargo.
Water Management System
The Switchblade rails feature a water management system that channels excess water into the canister. This prevents water from getting into your bed or freezing in your tonneau cover rails during cold temperatures. Drain tubes attached to the bottom of the canister remove water through the OE drain holes in the floor of your truck bed.
Flush-Mount Design
The black powder-coated side rails sit 1/8" above your truck bed rails for a flush appearance. This low-profile design is aerodynamic to reduce wind drag, and it helps to improve gas mileage when the cover is closed.
Stylish and Heavy-Duty Construction
The Switchblade deck is constructed of a vinyl top layer bonded to heavy-duty aluminum slats. This ArmorTek deck looks like a soft tonneau cover with no visible seams, but has the strength and security of a hard tonneau cover. A large seal at the rear of the bed closes the gap between the cover and tailgate to create a barrier to prevent water from entering the truck bed.
Security
The Switchblade provides excellent protection for your cargo when used in conjunction with a closed and locked tailgate. Both the pinch grips and pull strap are located underneath the rear plate, which makes them inaccessible when your truck bed is closed. The heavy-gauge aluminum panels are better at preventing theft when compared with soft covers that can be cut or punctured with a knife. The panels are also more effective at preventing theft than tri-fold hard tonneau covers because the panels cannot be pried open at any point along the rails.
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Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
How's it going neighbors This is Ed here with etrailer.com and we're taking a look at the Switchblade on the back of our 2023 Toyota Tacoma. Let's check it out. As far as this type of cover, it is a very good option as far as increasing your fuel economy, adding a little bit of security to the bed of your truck. And in general, like I think it actually helps the appearance as well. It gives you a little bit of a aesthetic look to it. As far as the weight rating on there, there isn't a weight rating for this.
There is aluminum slats, but I wouldn't trust much more than a can of a beverage or a coffee mug to go on top of this type of cover. The Switchblade is a great option if you're wanting something to have the look of a soft cover with the stability of a hard cover. It gives you a lot of your bed as far as availability of space without blocking your back window in the retracted state, kind of like a tri fold will block everything essentially of obstructing your back mirror. In general, I would say that the materials is a lightweight aluminum that's gonna be corrosion resistant and it comes with a nice long strap that has hook and loop fasteners that are gonna allow you to attach it right here on the inside so you can have easy access. Again, with it being a temporary installation, that's something that would be for a more permanent setup, but it makes it so you can have your handle here for when you're wanting to access and close your tailgate and this guy just latches right in place and you'll be able to close and secure everything in your truck.
You can see that there's a nice rubber gasket that's gonna make contact with your tailgate to create a seal. However, it's not gonna be watertight, you know, barter's gonna go where it needs to, but they've done a lot as far as to try to mitigate how much moisture gets inside of the vehicle with the rubber, with the rubber weather stripping. Also, you'll notice underneath here on the cover for your canister, there's a lot of, there's bristles and that's gonna help reduce the dust that gets on the inside of the canister from the road. And even though the Switchblade is very compact, you are gonna sacrifice some of your capacity for your bed. So let's see here.
As far as the space, you're gonna be about 14 inches that you're gonna lose from the overall capacity of your bed. You do pick up a little space underneath here about 11 inches right here. So you know, you may be able to fit sleeping bags or something bulkier underneath into that space, but you're definitely losing that. And as far as what you're adding on from your, the side of your bed, you are adding about two inches I would say 'cause you got about an inch here, inch on the other side, so you're gonna lose that space as well. Again, but the trade off is having a nice solid cover on the back of your vehicle.
Another great feature with this is an easy take down once you do your initial setup and you have it fit to your truck bed, it'll take about 10 minutes or so with a socket wrench to get this guy taken out if you need to take advantage of the full space of your bed. A few things with our installation that the steps I skipped just because this is a demonstration, it's not gonna be a permanent installation on this Tacoma. The weather stripping that you would put along the canister where it makes contact with your bed, generally you're gonna wanna put that in, giving yourself a little bit of extra space to make room for it. But in this case, since we're just seeing if it fits, we don't necessarily need that. Another portion that we're gonna do that we're gonna exclude is the drain holes. The drain hole connects underneath the canister and it goes out through the existing drain hole in your bed. That will require you to enlarge in the hole in your bed. And because again, it's not a permanent installation, we're gonna skip that step. So now that we checked out some of the cool features on this guy, let's get it installed it on our truck. Alright, so let's take a look at our hardware. Generally with any installation, even in my personal life 'cause I'm more of a YouTube fix it, DIY type person, I take all my parts and I kind of just lay it out in front of me and I gather around everything I'm gonna need. So for this installation, you're gonna need a tape measure, you're gonna need a Phillips head screwdriver, three millimeter Allen key, and you're gonna need a 7/16 socket. I just, I'm using a quarter inch drive, but you know, whatever as long as you got the right size nut and you're gonna need scissors also. So as far as your weather stripping that comes in, that's gonna be where you would can create a seal right at the end of your bed. You're gonna have fasteners, you're gonna have your brackets for your rail kit, your drain hoses, and the pink package here, it's gonna be your hardware for the cover that goes over the canister at the end of the installation. So we're gonna have our cover right here. We're gonna have our tracks and of course the Switchblade system itself. What I found is gonna be a lot easier to preassemble your brackets for your rails. So I'm gonna grab my bracket with the threaded ends, I'm gonna put those guys together and I'm gonna take a washer, a lock washer and a nut and we're gonna just kind of fasten it all together and preassemble, 'cause it makes it a lot easier down the road. Your future self is going to thank you. And we're gonna do the same with the bracket for your track. So as far as the differences with these guys, you're gonna have your front, they're gonna be closest to the front of the vehicle and your rear. The track is gonna feed through the back end of these guys, but the rear has a space for a set screw. You're gonna use one of these two set screws to lock it in place and that makes it easier for disassembly in the future if you ever need to take it out to get more use out of your bed. So I'm gonna grab one of these rears and we're just gonna start that along the thread in this back bracket. And I'm gonna do the same with these other three to make my setup a lot easier before I get to the rails. We're gonna just bring it all the way up to the bulkhead at the end of our bed and just slide it into position. We're gonna install the brackets for our rails. So on our tie down rail in our Tacoma bed, we're gonna push and pull out the retainer cap here. I'm just gonna sit that to the side. I'm gonna take both of the threaded brackets and slide 'em in along the track. We're just gonna position them about where we're gonna need 'em to be 'cause ultimately we're gonna have to get a measurement from the canister for the front one and a measurement from the back of the track for this guy. I'm gonna grab the front bracket here and I'm gonna just kind of mock it up here and prop it up. I'm gonna grab my hardware, which is the washer, lock washer and nut, and install it over the threads to kind of hold it in place for you. There we go. Now I'm not gonna fasten it all the way down 'cause I'm gonna still need to reposition it to get my measurement, but just enough to kind of secure it, but enough for it to still move, you know. And I'm gonna do the same on the other three bolts here. Now that we have our brackets positioned, we're gonna get a measurement from the canister and a measurement from the end of our rail here to see where we need to fasten our rail clamps. The one from the front position should be right at six inches. So I'm gonna position it on center to the center of your bracket here at six inches. And then for your rear track, it should be four inches from the rear. I'm gonna slide this in position as well. There we go. Alright, and now I'm gonna fasten down my nuts and I'll do the same on the passenger side. So your rails, they will be labeled from the manufacturer left and right. Left is gonna be your driver's side. All the positions are gonna be in relation to the driver's seat. So now you're gonna take this part of your rail and you're gonna slide it along the groove that I pointed out earlier on your brackets. Again, remembering that the rear bracket is the one that's a little bit different with the space for your set screw. I leave it a little, the nut on here a little bit loose so I can have room for adjusting for positioning. And once I get the rails on, I'll fasten everything in position. Now we're gonna put our cover on. We're gonna observe the label that points out the direction for the orientation of it. So the cab side is gonna be the side with the rubber strip. The roller side is gonna be the furry fuzzy dust cover side. So we're gonna just flip this guy into position and align it with the two screw holes on the base of the canister. And we're gonna use our Phillips head screwdriver to secure our coverage of the canister. And finally, we're gonna install our set screw to help keep everything in position. And you're just gonna tighten that down. And essentially what that's gonna do is bite down onto the track to keep it in place for, you know, the keep the bracket from sliding so it just sets it in position. I'm gonna do the same thing on the other side now. Now we're just gonna use our strap here and pull this guy open and just locks into position. And once you close your tailgate and lock it, essentially your cover is gonna be locked. You know this, I wouldn't say it's Fort Knox secure, but if your tailgate's locked, you wouldn't be able to access the latch to open your bed. So this has been a look at the Switchblade on the back of the 2023 Toyota Tacoma. This has been Ed with etrailer, have a great day.
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