Retrax Waterprofing (only)

[06RTLNAVBlue]

(Lets try to keep this thread for waterproof / dustproof issues only) This is what I have done / am still doing to make the Retrax as watertight as possible.
So far I am using only one small tube of black silicone from the auto parts store (a caulk gun for a large tube would be a mess). The silicone works good by "smoothing it into the gaps" with your fingertip and rubbing off the excess with Q-tips and papertowels).
Also keep in mind that most of this sealing may not be necessary to prevent rainfall from entering while driving. However, I do live in Florida (mega rainfall) and the truck sits in the driveway.
Furthermore, It was easy to locate these leaks by parking my truck uphill and then downhill as I strategically positioned the gardenhose on a low flow setting.

1. Prior to installing the Retrax (easier this way): Remove drain plugs, enlarge the drain holes in your bed panel with a drill bit, drill the holes in the plugs for the drain tubes slightly off center and superglue the drain tubes inside the plugs. I also considered permanently removing the bolt that is under the plug but I chose not to.

2. Prior to installing the Retrax: Buy the tailgate seal from Retrax and install. I put mine "under" the rails before installing the rails. Putting the seal under the rails seems to be the way to go...it seems to help seal this area and the bolt holes in the rails will still line up with the holes in the bed walls by pressing down on the rails.

3. When I had the front of the truck downhill water seemed to seep off the top of the tailgate and into the bed. Retrax protected this gap with a weathersrip on the underside of the rolling cover but it just doesn't seem to seal tight enough (I don't believe that my placing of the tailgate seal under the rails affected this seal). It seems like this could be helped with either a bead of silicone along the top of the tailgate or sticking another weather strip against the Retrax strip.

4. Silicone the entire length of the Right, Left and Front Retrax seals where they meet the bed panels. "Seat" them per instructions prior to doing this.

5. Silicone the large gaps at both front mounting brackets/tie down cleats. I have also siliconed the edges of the tiedown cleats and mounting brackets as it seemed water was leaking behind them. Hindsight: Probably easiest just to fill in this entire gap (around the cleats) in the truck bed with a large amount of silicone

6. The Ridgeline also leaks through and behind (and then runs onto the bed floor) the bed panel that is below the cabs rear window . I located five gaps that need silicone.
One is the entire length of this window from right to left where the top of the bed panel ends underneath the window sill.
Then four more gaps: Two on the right side of the bed (one is approx. 1" and one is approx. 1 1/2") and two on the left. One runs vertical and one runs horizontal on each side where the bed panel meets the black trim that goes upward along the rear window.

7. Silicone the right and left rail seals where they wrap around the front mounting bolt holes. I needed to do this as they were compromised when I needed to cut them (prior to install) so that the plastic caps on the bolts could be snapped shut. The factory did not cut the seals properly.

8. When water testing you may notice the gap where the top of the retrax cover enters the canister. This gap is greatly reduced when the cover is closed and probably needs no further waterproofing. However just a little water pressure when testing will cause the water to splatter against the rear bed panel and inside the bed. If you reach under the canister you can feel this void...probably to allow easy cleanout of pine needles and debris in the canister. Anyhow, one could epoxy/attach a strip of plexiglass/plastic to better enclose the canister if they really wanted to........but I don't think I will need to.

10. I also ran the silicone up the right and left sides of the rear window (the crack between the glass and the black plastic trim, it seemed water could possibly enter here and end up on the floor of the bed). A very thin line and then wiped it into the crack with finger. Water testing is coming soon...

11. Use silcone to "glue" the black bolt cover caps that are on the right and left bed panels and midway along the length of the rails. A small amount of water can leak into these caps above the retrax rails and then leak out under the rails and into the bed. Hindsight: Easier to do this while installing your cover.


*** I will re-post ref. any water in bed after I finish doing #6, water test, drive in lots of rain, car wash and go on vacation next month .
*** Please advise if anyone has found any further leaks or has any further suggestions ref. "Waterproofing"

[Ericc]

Damn man, why don't you just tell us where you DIDN'T put silicone!! It would be a lot faster!!

Anyway, I just installed the Retrax on Saturday, and it's raining out. It seems to be holding up okay so far. I installed the drain tubes by drilling through the two plastic caps just like the instructions from Retrax, but the bolt underneath looked like it was solid and didn't have the drains around them? Does anyone know if water will actually drain around those bolts??

[Teezer]

Regarding the drain tubes against the bolt head, I drilled the caps in the center and then notched the end of the tube to allow water to flow freely. Your comment about super-gluing them sounds like a good idea -- I was going to put a pin through the tube if it proved to be reluctant to staying in place. It hasn't had this problem yet, however.

[BostonRidgeline]

Does anyone have recommendations on a product to use as a sealant/weatherstrip for use with the Retrax? Appreciate any guidance that cann be offered.

[breakfastchef]

My RETRAX has some minor water infiltration. It isn't really a big deal. No top is waterproof. I would think it would be pretty difficult to remove any sealent from the bed of the truck, if need be.

[Truckin']

We just used a black silicone sealant. Nothing special.

[BostonRidgeline]

Truckin - can you comment how easy it would be to remove the sealant if I change my mind next year on the cover?