Comments on: Product Review: Extang Solid Fold Tonneau Cover

By: admin (Jason)

admin (Jason) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:19:40 +0000

Tammy – Got it – good to know. Did you contact Extang with this info? They should be very grateful.

By: Tammy Gullifer

Tammy Gullifer — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:26:59 +0000

The installation instructions as shown on Extang’s web site are incorrent. They indicate the rail bracket should be installed in the down position. (See http://www.extang.com/pdf/inst.....-Suppl.pdf for bracket installation instrucations) When you look at the INSTALLATION for TRIFECTA TONNO (which the manufacurer said is the same for the Solid-Fold), you will see the diagram shows the bracket in the down position – notice the groove in the interface bracket is below the truck rail. The distributor who installed my Extang Tonneau, installed it per these instructions.

The installation information contained on this website actually shows the
brackets installed in the upward postion with the groove in the bracket aligned with the groove in the bed rail. This way, with the bracket already in the upward position, if the fasteners loosen, the bracket cannot move upward anymore to release the hold down tension. CAUTION: IF ANYONE ALREADY HAS AN EXTANG SOLID FOLD TONNEAU, INSPECT THE INSTALLATION TO MAKE SURE THE BRACKETS ARE IN THE UPWARD POSITION WITH THE GROOVE IN THE BRACKET ALIGNED WITH THE TRUCK RAIL.

By: admin (Jason)

admin (Jason) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:53:15 +0000

Tammy – Thanks for the heads up. Any chance the install wasn’t done correctly?

By: Mickey

Mickey — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:22:28 +0000

Wow…Thanks Tammy for the info. Let us know what the dealer thinks or does. I’ve always used a soft cover from Extang. Black Max to be exact.

By: Tammy Gullifer

Tammy Gullifer — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 18:21:57 +0000

This letter is to document that the Extang Solid Fold Tonneau installed on a Toyota Tacoma or Tundra Truck may come loose and fly off of the vehicle creating a Highway hazard and may even cause an accident resulting in injury or death. The design of the front attach point should be investigated. I believe the attach point design, which incorporates a slotted screw hole (slotted in direction of load), allowed the attachment bracket to travel which released the hold down tension and resulted in failure of the attachment.
In March of 2009, I purchased an Extang Solid Fold Tonneau (P/N 56905) for a 2007 Toyota Tacoma Truck (short bed) and had the distributor (TopperTown, Cocoa, Florida) install it. The Extang Solid Fold tonneau is constructed of 3 panels of aluminum honeycomb, hinged together, creating a tri-fold (see Figure 1). The Extang Solid Fold tonneau weighs about 50 pounds.
On August 6, 2009, I was traveling approximately 55 mph on North Courtenay Parkway (Route 3) on North Merritt Island, Florida when the tonneau came loose and flew off of the truck. Luckily there was no vehicle immediately behind me as this would have caused a horrible accident. The tonneau landed in the middle of the right lane and after waving off oncoming traffic, I was able to retrieve the tonneau and put it in the back of the truck.
I called the distributor (TopperTown, Cocoa, Florida) to inform them of the incident. They stated they had never experienced this type of problem and requested that I bring the vehicle in so that they could take a look at it. I then proceeded to TopperTown.

While waiting for the installer to take a look, I did a little troubleshooting of my own and uncovered what I believe is a serious design flaw in the attach point design.

There are four attach points that are used to secure the tonneau to the truck bed, two front (near the cab) and two rear (near the tailgate). The two front attach points are always supposed to be engaged. The rear attach points may or may not be engaged depending on the configuration of the tonneau. When the tonneau is in the unfolded configuration (and covers the full bed) all four attach points are engaged. When the tonneau is in the folded (or stowed) configuration it is secured to itself by straps and only the front attach points are engaged.

For the Tacoma truck, the attach point design consists of a bracket secured to the truck bed rail and an interface clamp installed on the tonneau. The bracket that attaches to the truck bed rail is designed with slotted screw holes and is attached to a threaded nut plate by two screws (see Figure 2).

At the front attach point the clamp on the tonneau is secured against the truck bed bracket by a wingnut (see Figure 3). As stated previously, the front attach points are always supposed to be engaged. For the rear attach point, the clamp on the tonneau is designed with a spring loaded handle so that it may be secured or unsecured as required by configuration (see Figure 4).

Therefore, the cause of the failure was the fact that the front truck bed brackets had loosened allowing them to travel upward toward the tonneau. The amount of travel (3/8�) resulted in there being no contact between the tonneau bracket and the truck bed bracket, and thus no hold down capability. Therefore, the tonneau was no longer being secured at the front attach points. This allowed the tonneau to lift, letting wind under the tonneau which ripped it from the rear attach points.
I strongly recommend that the design of the attach points be investigated and re-engineered before someone gets hurt.

By: admin (Jason)

admin (Jason) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 03:11:00 +0000

JimK – Thanks man, always glad to help.

By: JimK

JimK — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:40:28 +0000

Great review, since I am seriously considering this product for my F-150. Thanks for the pictures.

By: Ingle

Ingle — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:18:40 +0000

ahhhh, a solid counterpart of their trifecta model. Coolio

By: Ryan Rusher

Ryan Rusher — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:52:05 +0000

Just a note the Solid Fold is made completely of Aluminum.