Great job. Like everyone else, I think the PVC locking system is Brilliant. I really like the fact that your design requires no drilling into the vehicle itself. Thanks for sharing.
Here's a couple ideas for you - if the gorilla tape doesn't hold up.... for the edge covering, you can go to the nearest Sign supply place and buy trim cap or edge cap. It's a "U" shaped plastic and comes in 1/2" and 3/4" width by 8 ft, made precisely for that in sign use. Also, you could use garage door, rubber weather strip for the front flap and anywhere else, to help keep water out. Just my 2 cents..
I did make one for my truck. After 5 months the center started sagging. Got to the point I couldn't drop my tailgate. Had to drill off 1 bolt. Will need a 2x4 to support center by tailgate. Never the less I still like it very much and saved $$$.
Hey everyone, so I have an update! This tonneau covered lasted about a year before the veneer on the wood began to peel and the plywood would get wet. A thicker coating of bedliner would have probably stopped this from happening the way it did. I really do not recommend using the spray cans of bedliner. The roll-on style bedliner would probably be much more effective if you use plywood!
I would go with several layers of an epoxy based sealant also sealing the sides maybe with some silicone would be very important as that is going to be the most vulnerable to water damage. But really if you could just use melamine or some plastic sheeting you won't have any water damage issues. Great video love the idea and it looked great.
Wow, this whole design is genius man. Using the pvc to lock, brilliant. I have a 2017 F150 and work on commercial construction sites so plywood and whatnot is easy to grab, so I was looking into using some for a tonneau cover. I’ll have to look into this, thanks man!
Thank you, copied your idea and made it for our Isuzu Dmax. Used half inch marine plywood and covered it with maruyama tarpaulin. Attached it to the bed liner with carriage bolts and wing nuts. So far so good. Kudos.
The truck I bought already had a homemade bed cover, but a single piece though, so I thought I might as well keep it. I'm going to take some of your ideas to improve it. Thanks.
Thank you, I appreciate you sharing your idea, I think it turned out pretty good. My soft cover tore open from the side, so I was looking at inexpensive methods to repair, replace, or just diy it. I think I'm on my way. 😊 👍
I have been looking at several videos on this subject. By far, this is the best option. The only thing that I am not too keen on is the Gorilla Tape. And of course, the duct tape.
Great concept, yeah. The only disadvantage is that a tube touches the bed rail at a single point. That means all the force is applied at a point between the PVC pipe and the bed rail. Rather than using something circular, perhaps a flat piece of wood can be used such as a 2"x3"x5" piece. A flat piece touches the bed rail at a line so the force is applied along a line and thus distributed along that line versus a single point in the case of the pvc pipe.
That's fucking legit Austin!!! hahaha. The pvc locking thing is genius! I have an s10 and was thinking about making a bed cover for it. Thanks for sharing!
How about using thinner plywood and coating all sides with that rubber stuff in a can. Magic seal or something like that.. then make it open up hinged at the front only. Have a swing down leg held up by clips. Just another idea.
For being innovative enough to come up with such a brilliant cover, you don't know Righty-Tighty Lefty-Loosey? Great job, look forward to a (time-span) update.
Great!! Ok!so i bought a 89 Toyota pickup truck with a water tank and pressure washer and everythng for auto detailing business in December. The truck bed is similar style with wood. The wood is starting to Warp and crackand i sprayed it with bed liner but it mighta been too late. I can do all the stuff just like yours but i would love to see how you get it to stay on. Like the contraption to stick the wood to the truck.
Only thing i would say is depending on where you live, I would advise against duct tape. I live in Florida and that shit will melt and leave nasty glue everywhere over time. You def dont want that glue dripping down the side on your paint. Ive tried it on a boat and some outdoor all weather projects and it just didnt hold up well over time.
Hate to bother you again but I have a couple more questions if you don't mind. Did you use any primer on the wood before you coated it with the DIY bed liner and did you use any weather stripping along the outside edges of the cover. Also, I want to say what a great job you did, I never thought about using the bolts and PVC as a locking device. Very smart. Thanks
I did use primer on the wood before applying the bedliner. It's really important that you use primer! I tried it without and the bedliner definitely soaks in. I didn't need to use any weather stripping along the edges. If you were to pressure wash the truck from the side, water could possibly get in through the edges. I haven't found it to be a problem, and I don't find water getting in around the edges of the cover. I'm glad you've found my video useful! I hope you can improve on the design.
Austin, do you get any water leaking in from anywhere? My main reason for building one of these would be to keep my gear safe, (when traveling, I don't want to have to unload everything to a motel room and then load up again, been there, done that) and to keep everything dry. Thanks
No leakage at all! I used a strip of weatherstripping at the hinge to create a waterproof seal. I had to leave a few mm of space between the two sheets at the hinge to allow for compression of the rubber weatherstripping. I built this to keep my music gear safe as well when playing a gig! It's funny, I work in real estate and have actually found it particularly useful as a mobile office as well. I cut a carpet remnant to fit the bed, and use milk crates to store paperwork, contracts, tools, etc. when I'm on the go. Everything stays dry and it frees up so much space in the truck cab.
I did the same with free plywood. The hinges cost $10. The flex seal spray and rubber tape cost $36. Black duck tape $5. Total of $51 bucks..it probably wont last. At least I have a Templet until I can find better free materials.
nice video. How's that spray on bedliner holding up for you? Would you do something different if you were to do this again? Getting ready to build my own cover. THX!
Nope! All you need is two sheets of plywood, bedliner coating, door hinges, gorilla tape, and bolts, washers, and nuts. I just used PVC as the "lock" because that's what I had laying around, but you could use anything you want that you can bore a hole through to go under the lip of the bed.
+Austin Cole Hi I was looking into doing something similar for my f150.. Im not sure if you have a garage or not (I don't) but I was wondering about snow load sitting on top of the cover and if this caused any bowing or warping of the wood from weight sitting on top.
I had the cover on the truck for an entire winter and never had in issue with the weight of snow or any serious bowing of the cover. The cover did bend slightly in the middle but not enough to cause any issues
Would heavy duty black tarp be a good substitute to roll-on bedliner paint? I saw another TH-cam video (DYI 2015 Toyota Tundra bedcover) that used tarp although the guy did not show how he did it. The tarp looked ok over his plywood bedcover.
Hey there, just found this and need to make a cover for our 2015 FX4. I really like the design. Love the PVC locks. I was curious how many cans of spray did you use for the wood? Thanks!
I would really recommend using roll-on style liner if you do decide to make one of these. The spray on liner was not thick enough and was not enough protection for the wood
Just curious why it was so expensive? Ply wood, Spray bed liner, pvc, tape, hardware, and ??? Am I missing anything? Not bashing, just wanted to make one myself and am pricing out materials. Thanks. BTW, the design looks good, following the bed and tailgate lines.
Oh yeah.... that Gorilla Tape is going to last a long time guaranteed nice try lol. Maybe if you used aluminum u bracket and painted it black it would hold up better
Dude that red truck is beautiful,,,,,!,,, how cheesy and frugal is that cover with door hinges! I counted three other cars to include a Cadillac! Toss that crap in the trash ! Get a roll on cover at least for about $129. Walmart.com
An easy way to do it is to lay the sheets of plywood on the truck bed and then simply trace an outline of the bed on the underside of the wood. Flip it over and use the truck bed as a horse....use a circular skill saw to follow your outline.
For $200 for this? I would just rather spend and extra 235 bucks to buy a hard tonneau cover that has a 2 years warranty. Not bashing. Just thought that it's kinda expensice for $200 and it only lasted for a year. And no warranty
If fishing from a jet ski I would have spent more on a boat because that makes it easier to fish from I’m not bashing I just like being able to move around a little bit more when I’m fishing!!
It still looks like the day I made it!! There are a couple mild bubbles in the veneer of the plywood where I didn't coat it thick enough with bedliner, but nothing that is a serious eyesore or would cause rotting of the wood. I'm really happy with this and so far it is surviving the Wisconsin winter here
+David Nguyen If I would change one thing I would use the roll on bedliner rather than spray on. The bedliner is nice and professional looking but I feel that the spray on kind is too thin. I used it to save money but if you can spare the extra dollars I would make sure you put a nice thick coating on there.
Great job. Like everyone else, I think the PVC locking system is Brilliant. I really like the fact that your design requires no drilling into the vehicle itself. Thanks for sharing.
Here's a couple ideas for you - if the gorilla tape doesn't hold up.... for the edge covering, you can go to the nearest Sign supply place and buy trim cap or edge cap. It's a "U" shaped plastic and comes in 1/2" and 3/4" width by 8 ft, made precisely for that in sign use. Also, you could use garage door, rubber weather strip for the front flap and anywhere else, to help keep water out. Just my 2 cents..
I had looked for rubber trim like that but couldn't find any! That's a great idea. Thanks for sharing!
Also, multiple ways to utilize bicycle inner tubes.
I did make one for my truck. After 5 months the center started sagging. Got to the point I couldn't drop my tailgate. Had to drill off 1 bolt. Will need a 2x4 to support center by tailgate. Never the less I still like it very much and saved $$$.
Hey everyone, so I have an update! This tonneau covered lasted about a year before the veneer on the wood began to peel and the plywood would get wet. A thicker coating of bedliner would have probably stopped this from happening the way it did. I really do not recommend using the spray cans of bedliner. The roll-on style bedliner would probably be much more effective if you use plywood!
My original idea was actually to use something flat, like a piece of steel or wood. PVC is just what I found laying around in the barn!
Nice video. I appreciate the update and recommendations as well!
I would go with several layers of an epoxy based sealant also sealing the sides maybe with some silicone would be very important as that is going to be the most vulnerable to water damage. But really if you could just use melamine or some plastic sheeting you won't have any water damage issues. Great video love the idea and it looked great.
Austin Cole birch ply is interior grade, use exterior grade plywood or better yet marine - the glue hold up better.
Wow, this whole design is genius man. Using the pvc to lock, brilliant. I have a 2017 F150 and work on commercial construction sites so plywood and whatnot is easy to grab, so I was looking into using some for a tonneau cover. I’ll have to look into this, thanks man!
Dude...great idea! I like the lock feature. Doesn't mess up truck. Cool
Thank you, copied your idea and made it for our Isuzu Dmax. Used half inch marine plywood and covered it with maruyama tarpaulin. Attached it to the bed liner with carriage bolts and wing nuts. So far so good. Kudos.
The truck I bought already had a homemade bed cover, but a single piece though, so I thought I might as well keep it. I'm going to take some of your ideas to improve it. Thanks.
Thank you, I appreciate you sharing your idea, I think it turned out pretty good. My soft cover tore open from the side, so I was looking at inexpensive methods to repair, replace, or just diy it. I think I'm on my way. 😊 👍
I have been looking at several videos on this subject. By far, this is the best option. The only thing that I am not too keen on is the Gorilla Tape. And of course, the duct tape.
Using wood and Gorilla tape really turned out nice and functional. Like the way you contoured the rear along tailgate.
Thanks Austin !!!!! Looks GREAT, very practical & ingenious !!!
Made It for my pickup following your work. Thankyou for sharing this idea. Have a Nice Life bro
Genius on the PVC locking mechanism!!
Looks nice!
This is great! Like the pvc mounts.
That PVC cover holder is slick. How long did you scratch your head to come up with that idea?? GREAT!
Great concept, yeah. The only disadvantage is that a tube touches the bed rail at a single point. That means all the force is applied at a point between the PVC pipe and the bed rail. Rather than using something circular, perhaps a flat piece of wood can be used such as a 2"x3"x5" piece. A flat piece touches the bed rail at a line so the force is applied along a line and thus distributed along that line versus a single point in the case of the pvc pipe.
When it detaches on highway, significant savings will fly with the plywood.
I feel like a small rubber coated hook on a much shorter bolt/lever would be better. Nice inspiration!
Two giant whistles... GREAT!.... really tho i agree with the guy with the rubber feet idea. Also coat the bottom
Awesome job. PVC for locks, brilliant !!!
Brilliant!
WoW...that took a lot of thought I'm sure. I like the PVC lock idea.
Thats freaking sweet nice job
really good
I like the pvc mounts
My two cents would be to paint both sides of the plywood. Great job btw.
Exactly what was thinking.
That's fucking legit Austin!!! hahaha. The pvc locking thing is genius! I have an s10 and was thinking about making a bed cover for it. Thanks for sharing!
clean nice build motivated me to build one for my ranger f100
Oh my! I must try this. Great tips. Thanks.
Nice Job MacGyver you thought of everything. I like your attention to detail...when are u going to move forward with mass production?lol
Some good ideas there. I'm in the same spot with the truck I just bought. My truck box isn't big enough and it's beginning to fall apart as well.
Thought you bought it already made till you said you made sooo i think you did i good job
you do not wear a pair of payless shoes with a $$1000 suit.. however your ingenuity is appreciated..
Ray Ramon Ramon man come on thats how people stay rich
However, one can do just that and likely nobody will ever know the difference, depending on the style of the shoes.
You should have got him that 700 dollar tonneau cover
sweet! im going to do this on my truck
How about using thinner plywood and coating all sides with that rubber stuff in a can. Magic seal or something like that.. then make it open up hinged at the front only. Have a swing down leg held up by clips. Just another idea.
For being innovative enough to come up with such a brilliant cover, you don't know Righty-Tighty Lefty-Loosey? Great job, look forward to a (time-span) update.
Joseph Templeton He had to think because it was upside down. But yeah, a bit odd.
Really nice job!
PS. If they unscrew your screws on the hinges, they can break in. Maybe if you put bolts with no screw slot on the head?
ReCycle Spinning Restroom bolts😋👍
Good idea
Great!!
Ok!so i bought a 89 Toyota pickup truck with a water tank and pressure washer and everythng for auto detailing business in December.
The truck bed is similar style with wood.
The wood is starting to
Warp and crackand i sprayed it with bed liner but it mighta been too late.
I can do all the stuff just like yours but i would love to see how you get it to stay on. Like the contraption to stick the wood to the truck.
I love it bro. Awesome job
Good job bro...only thing I would do diff is use frp then spray bed liner on top..but sweet lookin stuff man..👍
Only thing i would say is depending on where you live, I would advise against duct tape. I live in Florida and that shit will melt and leave nasty glue everywhere over time. You def dont want that glue dripping down the side on your paint. Ive tried it on a boat and some outdoor all weather projects and it just didnt hold up well over time.
Sure would be cool to have an update video
Hate to bother you again but I have a couple more questions if you don't mind. Did you use any primer on the wood before you coated it with the DIY bed liner and did you use any weather stripping along the outside edges of the cover. Also, I want to say what a great job you did, I never thought about using the bolts and PVC as a locking device. Very smart. Thanks
I did use primer on the wood before applying the bedliner. It's really important that you use primer! I tried it without and the bedliner definitely soaks in. I didn't need to use any weather stripping along the edges. If you were to pressure wash the truck from the side, water could possibly get in through the edges. I haven't found it to be a problem, and I don't find water getting in around the edges of the cover. I'm glad you've found my video useful! I hope you can improve on the design.
Great job!
Nice job, thanks for sharing, thumbs up! Best Wishes & Blessings. Keith Noneya
Wondering if you mixed acetone and polyester resin as a first coat if it would last longer than primer.
Lol thats nice i like that it looks clean 👌
remember lefty loosie righty thighty
nice work!!!!
Great video...
Please. A tutorial on a double stack sandwich...
awesome buddy
excellent!
Austin, do you get any water leaking in from anywhere? My main reason for building one of these would be to keep my gear safe, (when traveling, I don't want to have to unload everything to a motel room and then load up again, been there, done that) and to keep everything dry. Thanks
No leakage at all! I used a strip of weatherstripping at the hinge to create a waterproof seal. I had to leave a few mm of space between the two sheets at the hinge to allow for compression of the rubber weatherstripping. I built this to keep my music gear safe as well when playing a gig! It's funny, I work in real estate and have actually found it particularly useful as a mobile office as well. I cut a carpet remnant to fit the bed, and use milk crates to store paperwork, contracts, tools, etc. when I'm on the go. Everything stays dry and it frees up so much space in the truck cab.
Slick! How well did the bed liner hold up on the bb plywood?
I did the same with free plywood. The hinges cost $10. The flex seal spray and rubber tape cost $36. Black duck tape $5. Total of $51 bucks..it probably wont last. At least I have a Templet until I can find better free materials.
nice video. How's that spray on bedliner holding up for you? Would you do something different if you were to do this again? Getting ready to build my own cover. THX!
just read the comment below. haha, never mind. thx
So…. How long has it lasted
Hey, pretty much exactly I was looking for. Were there any parts you used that weren't mentioned in the video? Thanks!
Nope! All you need is two sheets of plywood, bedliner coating, door hinges, gorilla tape, and bolts, washers, and nuts. I just used PVC as the "lock" because that's what I had laying around, but you could use anything you want that you can bore a hole through to go under the lip of the bed.
Sounds good man, many thanks!
+Austin Cole Hi I was looking into doing something similar for my f150.. Im not sure if you have a garage or not (I don't) but I was wondering about snow load sitting on top of the cover and if this caused any bowing or warping of the wood from weight sitting on top.
I had the cover on the truck for an entire winter and never had in issue with the weight of snow or any serious bowing of the cover. The cover did bend slightly in the middle but not enough to cause any issues
Would heavy duty black tarp be a good substitute to roll-on bedliner paint? I saw another TH-cam video (DYI 2015 Toyota Tundra bedcover) that used tarp although the guy did not show how he did it. The tarp looked ok over his plywood bedcover.
I love it. However, it shouldnt have cost you over $200 to make.
How has your DIY tonneau cover been working out for you?
For 220 you can get a trifolding tonneau cover
nice truck, which engine does it have?
Hey there, just found this and need to make a cover for our 2015 FX4. I really like the design. Love the PVC locks. I was curious how many cans of spray did you use for the wood? Thanks!
I would really recommend using roll-on style liner if you do decide to make one of these. The spray on liner was not thick enough and was not enough protection for the wood
Thanks, I think I might wrap it in marine vinyl. I am just worrying about cutting the wood to shape :)
Just curious why it was so expensive? Ply wood, Spray bed liner, pvc, tape, hardware, and ??? Am I missing anything? Not bashing, just wanted to make one myself and am pricing out materials.
Thanks.
BTW, the design looks good, following the bed and tailgate lines.
It's because of the birch plywood, that stuff is about $60 a sheet.
Kerry Clark eBay covers going for $100 to $300
i mean its ghetto, but functional and it doesnt look bad, for now. good mickey mousery.
How did it hold up?
how much weight could you put on it? does it hold your body weight standing in the middle?
raekwonMACguy I wouldn't recommend it. This design would not be good if you plan on putting weight on top of it or standing on it
10-4 thanks
Some company is gonna steal your idea!! Watch out!!$$
Lol.. Righty tighty lefty loosey! 🤔
Excellent work however the price concerns me $200 you could have just bought one 🤷♂️
@Jeffro Lans I just bought a trifold $149 eBay 🤷♂️
Oh yeah.... that Gorilla Tape is going to last a long time guaranteed nice try lol. Maybe if you used aluminum u bracket and painted it black it would hold up better
Duct tape?
The price of all this is nowhere near $200 lmao it’s like $65
Dude that red truck is beautiful,,,,,!,,, how cheesy and frugal is that cover with door hinges! I counted three other cars to include a Cadillac! Toss that crap in the trash ! Get a roll on cover at least for about $129. Walmart.com
how did you shape the wood
An easy way to do it is to lay the sheets of plywood on the truck bed and then simply trace an outline of the bed on the underside of the wood. Flip it over and use the truck bed as a horse....use a circular skill saw to follow your outline.
+Austin Cole thanks buddy
For $200 for this? I would just rather spend and extra 235 bucks to buy a hard tonneau cover that has a 2 years warranty.
Not bashing. Just thought that it's kinda expensice for $200 and it only lasted for a year. And no warranty
If fishing from a jet ski I would have spent more on a boat because that makes it easier to fish from I’m not bashing I just like being able to move around a little bit more when I’m fishing!!
is the cover still working?
It still looks like the day I made it!! There are a couple mild bubbles in the veneer of the plywood where I didn't coat it thick enough with bedliner, but nothing that is a serious eyesore or would cause rotting of the wood. I'm really happy with this and so far it is surviving the Wisconsin winter here
+Austin Cole sweet man. I'm thinking of making it for my chevy Silverado 1500 2003
+David Nguyen If I would change one thing I would use the roll on bedliner rather than spray on. The bedliner is nice and professional looking but I feel that the spray on kind is too thin. I used it to save money but if you can spare the extra dollars I would make sure you put a nice thick coating on there.
+Austin Cole I think I would do that if it would last longer.
+Austin Cole hey quick question you used two plywood correct? or one single one?
what kind of fuckery is this? should have bought a 2008 ford and did this.