etrailer Soft Tonneau Cover - Roll-Up - Vinyl and Aluminum

Video Transcript for etrailer Soft Roll-Up Tonneau Cover Installation - 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500

Hi everyone, it's Evangeline right here at etrailer. Today we are going to take a look at and I'll also show you how to install the etrailer soft tonneau cover here on our 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500. Whenever any of my friends are looking into getting a tonneau cover, this is gonna be the first one that I would recommend just as an entry level starting point, because the first thing they want to do is just cover the interior of their bed. If you don't need to get too fancy, you want something that's solid, offers awesome protection, this is the way to go. It is gonna be a bit more affordable compared to other tonneau cover options, but just because it is affordable doesn't mean it lacks in features. The main part to a soft tonneau cover is that it won't take up much space on your truck bed.

Later in this video, I'll show you how it looks like when it's in its compact position. The way this protects the interior of your truck bed is it utilizes this black vinyl material, and this is gonna be UV resistant as well as fade resistant, that's combined with the aluminum rails, means it's designed to stay out in the elements for an extended period of time. Those rails will bow up towards the center so when rain does come down on them, it will guide the water down to the sides of your cover and away from your interior. This is going to sit an inch and a quarter above your truck bed, so it does sit pretty low profile. I like how it angles around itself because then this will help with wind drag and wind resistance.

Not too bulky on top of your bed. However, because it does sit on the rails and it covers stake pockets, this will not be compatible with truck racks or ladder racks that need those areas in order to install. If you're looking for an alternative, something like the Access Original would work well with the Adarac ladder rack, and that is gonna be a pricier tonneau cover though because it gives you that extra feature. Another feature the etrailer Soft Toner cover will not have is the ability to open up and lock when the tailgate is up. You need the tailgate in order to cover the end of the tonneau cover.

If you need to roll up your tonneau cover, it's simply a matter of lowering that tailgate. And then you have these two straps or two handles that you can utilize. So just pick one, you'll pull on that strap and then you can push up on that cover. So follow me as we roll this cover over. You'll notice the vinyl material easily rolls up and it's very compact.

You'll also know the hook and loop patches are what's keeping the sides of the cover down. And as you roll this up, those aluminum bows will keep everything organized 'til you come to the very end. And then you can use the buckle that is included with your cover and this is what you'll use to secure it in the rolled up position. The first perk I said about this cover is how compact and small it folds up to be and you can see it right here. At its highest point, it still sits below your window opening for the back of your cab. This will take a little bit of space back here, but you can still fit a lot of items underneath the cover. And your heavier items will push up anyways on that soft cover. So if you need to grab something real quick, load it up into your truck bed, you can just roll the cover up and not have to worry about a large canister or a hard cover taking up space. And if you need every single inch of your short truck bed, well it's simply a matter of removing the clamps and lifting the whole cover out. Very quick and simple process to do. And when your cargo is unloaded, this is what it looks like to bring our tonneau cover back into place. I just very quickly unroll that cover and I fit the ends into our tension blocks. Push down and watch it snap and give us a really clean look here on top of our truck. And it's simply a matter of closing our tailgate and that's how you use your tonneau cover. So a lot of that relies on a really good setup of the cover in the first place. There's a lot of adjustability to this cover because it can fit on some different trucks. So please make sure to use our fit guide here at etrailer. We have the best cover fit for very specific truck models. So put your year, make and model in our website and we'll find the etrailer soft tonneau cover that will fit you. So if you're just looking for a tonneau cover that will protect your gear and is easy to use and doesn't take up much space, the etrailer soft tonneau cover is a great option for you. It provides what you would look for in a tonneau cover without forcing you to spend extra for features you may not want or need. But if you do need extra features, I did mention the Access Original soft tonneau cover, a very similar look, very similar design, but that one installs inside the bed rails, giving you access to your stake pockets if you want to install a ladder rack. However, for a very similar tonneau cover, it does sit at a little higher price point. So it really depends on what are you looking for. Are you looking for compact, neat, and something that will protect your gear Well, you can find those right here at etrailer. Now let's get into the install so I can show you how easy this was to set up. Installing the tonneau cover is very simple. All you have are the bed clamps, you have the cover, you have a little Allen key, and you really don't need bring any more tools to the table. So the first thing you want to do is you want to grab your rail. You're then going to rest the rail onto the sides of your truck bed. Take a note at the labels. One's gonna say left for driver's side. The other will say right. Make sure that the latch is facing your tailgate. And also look for these colored indicators on the rails. These are not where your clamps go. So when you do install your clamps, you're gonna avoid those color indicators. Now, tips and tricks, if you are installing this by yourself, go ahead and attach at least one of the clamps and just loosely secure the rail just enough where you can still adjust the rail back and forth, but it will not fall off of your bed. Now get your soft tonneau cover. This is a lot lighter than the hard tonneau covers, so something that you and I can do by myself. Now I'm just gonna gently lay it onto our truck bed here and I'm gonna focus on getting this flap on over that bulkhead. It's just the rubber flap. Just make sure it sits over that bulkhead 'cause it will want to fold in itself. Then going to slide the cover into the rail. So this is why I leave that rail a bit loose because I just lift up on the cover and then I slide the rails through making sure that that nut isn't catching. Once that's in place, you can then tighten down that bolt over there and then you're going to use an Allen key to secure it. After you've done the same on the other side, now's when you put the rest of your clamps on. So these will fit into the top rail and the bottom piece will fit underneath your truck bed rail. Make sure you attach it where you are away from obstructions underneath, but also away from the colored indicators that are on your rails. Go ahead and tighten down with the large wing nut provided. As you tighten down your clamps, just make sure you don't shift the rails around. To double check if the rails are in the right spot, measure for if they are square. What I like to do is I measure from the end of the truck bed to the end of the rail and I try to keep that measurement the same on both sides. I also try to make sure that it sits on the rail and not in the truck bed. You want enough clearance for that cover to close. And speaking of that, you also have your tensioner. On our Silverado 1500, I found that if I move the tensioner to where a zero would be on it and I tighten it down there, that will give it some pretty good tension and I'm still be able to close the cover. Keeping those measurements in mind, and after you've secured all the clamps, it's time to see if you have everything installed properly. Unroll that cover. I don't worry too much about making sure it's stretched because when it fits into the tensioner, it will stretch itself. So let's see. Once we get that into place, we're gonna fit that into the bracket on both sides. Press down on our cover and it pulls the entire cover top. We're going to double check our fitment by closing our tailgate and that looks amazing. This fits over a little bit of our tailgate, making sure that everything is covered. Our tailgate is gonna provide as the lock for our tonneau cover. A nice finishing touch is gonna be to go around and just push down on the edges of the cover. There are hook and loop patches there, so you wanna make sure that sits nice and neat. But other than that, that's it for your setup of your tonneau cover. This right here was a look at the etrailer soft roll up tonneau cover on the 2023 Chevrolet Silverado 1500.