Why would you need a truck bed cover?

The Top 5 Reasons to buy and install a tonneau cover:

1. Excellent Security
2. Protection against Water Damage from Snow, Rain, and Ice
3. Easy Storage on the Go
4. Shields Equipment and Truck Bed from Wind and Sun Damage
5. Better Fuel Economy

We’d like to share with you today, a real story from a valued customer who goes by the name of Pete. Here’s his insight on stopping being a skeptic and learning to love the tonneau:

The True Story of a Tonneau Cover Skeptic

I came to the light a few years back and ain’t never looked back. Yes, it is true, I used to belong to the dark side, so to speak, if you’re into Star Wars references! I… brace yourselves, didn’t always have a truck bed cover on my Ford F-150.

Shocking! Appalling! I know.

So here’s the deal. I grew up with the old school. A truck bed was for hauling dirt and rock and big equipment. I thought, who needs a truck  tonneau cover  anyway? Boy, was I wrong.

I guess I never realized how much I was missing out on and how much I was neglecting my truck bed. I never gave a thought in the world to the elements damaging my paint job or any of my equipment. Maybe it’s cause I was spoiled and have had a nice garage to park my truck in for the last few years. Nevertheless, I have learned my lesson now. Here’s my story.

Equipment Debacle: Tonneau Security

Before I had a tonneau bed cover installed, I had a pretty terrible thing happen to me. I guess I should have known better. I’m just too trusting at times.

So I come from a small town, and my family is mostly carpenters, at least historically. Most of us work day jobs during the week, but we spend lots of weekends, especially in the early summer and late fall up on roofs patching holes and out back behind houses building decks. I’ve been on ladders since I was four. Sometimes we are doing odd jobs on the side to make some spending money. Other times we’re just helping out friends and family for beers and pizza money. Regardless, I used to drive my F-150 around with a huge yellow Dewalt toolbox, a toolbelt, a portable compressor, and sometimes if we were working on a lot of decks at the time, a Miter saw.

Yeah, start the laugh track and name calling now–I was a real due-mass, back in the day.

Needless to say, I thought I lived in a pretty nice part of town, and we are talking small here–like less than 2,000 people. Anyway, one day we were building a deck for a friend of my dad’s in the next town over–4,000 population max, so still pretty podunk, right?

It got dark, but we’d pretty much finished up, and the guy who lives there starts throwing brats on the grill. He pulls out a cooler full of brewskis and asks us if we want to stay for dinner. I’m all in. I was young and single back then. If I went home, I’d probably just end up drinking more and eating less, so I thought, what the hell.

We’d already loaded up all our gear. My dad had a  hard tonneau cover, and if you locked his tailgate, there was no way to get into that bad boy. He had asked me if I wanted to throw the saw at least in his bed, but I already had it sitting on my tailgate, so I figured it would be fine.

The sun sank beyond the horizon, and I popped my second beer. We were sitting around a little campfire–he had one of those old tractor rims buried in the ground til it was almost level. It was a pretty sweet setup, especially with that new deck constructed. We heard a sound from out by the road. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but then my dad motioned that we should check it out.

As we came around the side of the building, I saw two guys trying to get the miter saw out of my truck’s bed. I called out after ‘em, and they jumped out, slammed the trunk of their old beater car, and hopped in.

I gave chase, but let’s face it–I was pretty exhausted. I didn’t even get a license plate. As I gimped back to my truck’s bed, my dad was already there. He helped me put the saw back in the truck bed. Luckily it didn’t have any serious damage on it. But still, if we hadn’t come around when we did, they might have made off with it. And this wasn’t no cheap-o saw either.

What they did manage to grab already though was my toolbox. It could have been way worse, but I learned a valuable lesson that day. Even in a small town in the middle of nowhere, people steal stuff all the time. I’d rather be overprotective than gullible.

While I didn’t have all my tools in that big Dewalt toolbox, I had enough. The cost of the lost equipment was nearly the same as the cost of my first truck bed cover–a hard tonneau cover made by BAK Industries. I should have been more diligent, but I guess I just thought that kinda thing would never happen to me.

Since I’ve installed my first tonneau, I’ve come to realize several great features of having a truck tonneau cover that I’d never really considered before.

Security & Peace of Mind

Now I know I’m not suffering from no PTSD or anything like that, but I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you that I got a little paranoid after that night. It wasn’t like I was having flashbacks or something like that, but everytime I put something in my truck bed, I always made sure I took it out every night when I got home. And consequently, sometimes I headed out to a job on the weekend, and I forgot something at home that I ended up needing.

That is, until I got my tonneau cover. My BAKflip G2 gave me the peace of mind I needed. Once I’d installed my hard tonneau cover, I instantly felt so much better about leaving equipment and expensive tools in my truck bed. I should have listened to my dad in the first place. He told me to check out some tonneau covers, but I didn’t listen. I guess I thought that I would be annoyed having to fold up or roll up the truck bed cover all the time.

But here’s the thing I didn’t realize. Most of these truck tonneau covers are really easy to roll up or fold up, in the case of my G2, so you can have full access to your truck bed. And after I had it installed a few months, I started to realize just how few times I really needed full bed access. Yeah, if we need the really big air compressor for a job, I had to fold up my G2. But it really wasn’t that big of a deal. And honestly, we just started using the portable compressor a bit more often unless we were doing some job that required multiple airguns, like a serious roofing gig.

Having the added security of a tonneau cover has really helped me a lot. Now I know that if you really wanted to break into my truck bed, you probably could. I realize that my BAKFlip isn’t impenetrable or anything like that. But the fact of the matter is it will take some low life way longer to try to get into my bed now that it did back then. And I’m ready now for ‘em. Got my concealed carry and everything. Bring it on, scumbags! Haha!

But security was kind of a no brainer. What I didn’t realize was the amount of damage I had caused to my truck bed and equipment due to exposure to the elements.

Protection against Rain and Shine

Before I installed my first Bedrug–another great item, by the way–I had a good hard look at my truck bed. There was a little rust here and there from a place I’d scraped up the paint with some heavy tool or equipment. And there was some sun damage around the spot where I always stored my toolbox. I didn’t even know that kind of thing still happened. Go figure.

Once I got my tonneau installed, I didn’t have to worry about that kind of thing anymore. On top of that, I didn’t have to worry about my tools being out in the rain. This was a great bonus feature I hadn’t really considered. Not only did my cover prevent anyone walking by from seeing what was in my truck bed, but it also kept any water out and away from my expensive tools and toolboxes. Talk about a great investment.

Grocery Shopping in the Truck

Back when I was single, this really wasn’t that big of an issue. When I went shopping, I could fit pretty much anything into my F-150’s extended cab. But now that I’ve got a wife and kid, hitting up a shop while we are out and about would be a total pain without my hard tonneau cover.

I’ve got one of those bed extenders installed now too. It creates a nice little pocket at the end of my truck bed. So if we are out and about, we can still swing in and buy all the groceries we need. We fold up the first panel on my tonneau cover, set the bags inside that bed extender, and we are good to go. The tonneau keeps the wind and elements out, preventing anything from flying out the back of my truck, and that bed extender separates my tools from any purchases. Pretty smart design, if I do say so myself.

Again, these are things I didn’t realize I needed until I did. I really can’t stress that enough. Now that I have my tonneau cover, I can’t imagine driving around my truck without it.

Improved Fuel Economy

Now I’m not exactly what you would call “green.” I certainly didn’t install my truck tonneau cover with the idea of saving the planet or anything like that. But I have to tell you, I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed my MPG’s improve by almost 2 miles per gallon over the next few months. At first, I just thought that stupid gauge wasn’t working right. Ha!

So I reset the darn thing and then I started to do some research. It turns out that installing a tonneau cover, whether its a soft roll up bed cover or a hard tonneau cover like mine, can actually improve your fuel economy. I was kinda flabbergasted. Who knew?!

Now buying my tonneau cover hasn’t exactly improved my MPG’s so much that I’m not going to the pump as often, but this is a fun little fact I can share, say, with my wife, when I’m thinking about upgrading or when I get a new truck. If the security and protection from the elements isn’t enough to convince say someone like your wife that you need a tonneau cover, the added fuel economy bonus might help. Technically, if I keep my cover long enough, it will probably pay for itself. Nice!

Shopping for your First Tonneau Cover

Another major reservation I had about buying a truck bed cover was where to get one. I had asked around and looked at a few websites, but most of them didn’t have really good information about fitment or features. I wasn’t sure if I wanted a truck bed lid or a soft roll up cover at first. Then I found Midwest Aftermarket.

First, they had several detailed articles on the different kinds of tonneau covers on the market. They even had expert reviews. I know that most websites these days have reviews from customers, and heck, I guess I’m kind of writing one now myself, but the thing is–no offense guys–but we don’t always know what we are talking about. I mean, I take my buddy Bob’s advice about a lot of things, but he doesn’t know that much about truck bed covers.

The guys writing expert reviews over at Midwest Aftermarket, especially that Parts Professor guy, seem like they really know what’s what. And they aren’t just pushing the most expensive product either. After I read a couple articles and did some research, I called them up on their 800 number (1-800-951-3955). And let me tell you, the guy I talked too, I think his name was Scott, he knew his stuff. He helped explain to me the benefits of going with a hard folding tonneau vs a truck bed lid. And I ended up getting a tonneau that custom fit my bed, was exactly what I needed, and I did a little shopping around–the price I got over the phone from Midwest Aftermarket was over a hundred dollars less than the other guys. I got a deal! They shipped my tonneau to me for free. There was a simple guide on their YouTube channel that helped walk me through the install. They really made it all easy and painless.

I don’t always recommend stuff so highly, but I wanted to share my experience with the world. And I was so impressed with the customer service and the research elements on their website, that I thought I’d throw it out there just in case it would help somebody else out. If you are looking at tonneau covers, or if you are just curious about ‘em or doing research, check these guys out at Midwest Aftermarket. Tell ‘em Pete sent you.

Pete,

Parts Professor here. We just wanted to say thank you for the great review/email and for allowing us to share this with the world. We are so very pleased that we helped you protect your tools and get a pretty sweet tonneau as well. We have no doubt that your clever insight will most likely help others not make the same mistakes.

Thanks again for recommending and shopping at Midwest Aftermarket.

Your humble Parts Professor