tonneau cover

BAK industries (www.bakliner.com) is working on a model for the Ridgeline right now. I spoke with them this week and they expect to have on in as little as two weeks. It looks great. It is a retractable / roll-up design that will allow the bed to be secure and weather tight. It looks A LOT EASIER to install than the Honda unit and you do not have to give up the front half of the bed. They have a great video that you can see on their web site. See other posts under "Accessories" for more info. I did a lot of research on the web and they are the only one so far that potentially has something for us. I expect to order one of the first units that they make for the Ridgeline. I will post comments and pictures (under the Accessories " heading). My dealer could not locate and dealer trade for the model the I want so it is on order. It is expected to be delivered in early May. In the meantime, if you search for "Tonneau" in Google, there are lots of tonneau coners out there. Before you order one, be aware of the limited clearance that the trunk lid has when it is open. It is only about 1/2 inch. Also, because the Ridgeline bed is different than a standard pickup truck bed the tonneau mounting methods will need to be creative.

4 section folding tonneau cover

http://www.aztrucks.com/category.asp?product=231

i would like to get the hard 4 section hard folding cover so that when all four sections are folded, i can use it as a table or seat.

I saw the cover on the chevy avalanche and I think it is great.

http://www.truck-bed-covers.com/folding_hard_tonneau_covers.htm

I e-mailed the company (advance cover) and they say they are considering the Ridgeline.

ridgeline 2 section cover will not let me load a pallet when I pick up stuff at home depot. One reason I got the truck is so I can load pallets directly from Home Depot so I don't have to manually load on the cart and then load on the truck.

I have the Honda cover, though I didn't really want it. I wouldn't have bought it had I known what I know now, but I got caught up in the moment. I did get a discount that was more than the list price of the cover, so arguably I got it for free, though a part of me feels like I got a discount off a higher amount. Anyway, I'm not going to let it ruin my life and despite it shortcomings the cover does have some uses.


I will say the design seems rushed (or Version 1.0), with several poor attributes. Not being able to fold it out of the way is the biggest one, followed by not being water tight. Frankly, it never even occurred to me it would have such problems, but it's my fault as I didn't check it out beforehand. I'm surprised Honda would make such compromised design.


Regarding removal, it's not that bad – despite the length of the following paragraph !...

There are 4 brackets under the fixed part of the cover that connect it to the rail system the cover lays on. Two brackets are under the hinge and easy to get to. A nut driver works best. However, the back two brackets require crawling under the cover. I recommend unscrewing the bolt from the cover to the bracket and just loosening the bolt from the rail to bracket. The latter will allow the brackets to slide. The front of the cover (next to the cab) catches on a lip of the front rail. To remove it, you must push the whole cover upwards from the bottom (I do so with my extended foot will sitting on the bed ), then slide the whole cover back an inch towards the tail gate until the front catch clears the lip. Slide the cover back on its rails a foot or two. The brackets must be loosened so they don't get in the way. The cover is liftable by one person but it us unwieldy, particularly if you want to avoid scratching the paint or the so-called "indestructible" (but easily scuffed) bed liner. Once you get it clear of the truck, it's not too bad to carry while folded. Two people would make this all a snap.

Then you have to find a place to put it. Currently I lean mine on a garage wall laying on its long side like a piece of plywood. Unfortunately, the sides are foam or rubber so I think letting it sit that way for long periods (weeks / months) will compress or damage the rubber.

Regarding the 4 bolts, the hard-to-reach front two seem redundant, so I've quit bolting them upon re-installation. The front lip catches the cover rather securely and the tie down brackets above the cover should prevent it lifting up. Security shouldn't be compromised much since the rear lock is so insubstantial and the weakest link by far. Suffice to say the cover shouldn't be used to protect anything valuable.

A few mods should make it better:

-- I plan to replace the rear bracket bolts with wing nuts or something to make tools unneeded.
-- The cover has several exposed bolts on the under side, and I think I'll cover them with duct tape or something to reduce scratching opportunities (both to the truck and hands).
-- I may put a handle or two on the underside so there's something to grab on to.
-- I hope to make some sort of wall bracket to hang the cover on so it doesn’t have to lay on its weather stripping.