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Toyota Tacoma Undercover bed cover cracking
I'd like to post a heads up warning to any Undercover bed owners out there, or any prospective owners.
The Undercover bed cover on my 07 Tacoma was about 3 1/2 years old when it started cracking at the hinges. The cracking was so bad I was worried it would fly off on the freeway and kill somebody so it was removed for safety reasons.
Undercover was contacted and said since it was out of warranty they wouldn't do anything for me. Since the bed cover isn't exactly a wear item you'd think it would last longer than a belt or hose. Or maybe not. They claimed that it had been subjected to "extreme force" or that it was driven with the bed cover raised up. Neither is true, but it has been driven 9 miles a day on a sometimes rough gravel road since new. The truck held up fine, the bed cover didn't. Maybe they figured people with trucks would always drive on pavement?
Anyway, if you own one of these bed covers take a good look at the hinge area at the front of the bed, both top and bottom sides for fatigue cracks. Here's some pics that will show where my cover cracked. Not sure how to dispose of it now, maybe a bonfire or sawzall.
Right hinge top:
http://www.qsolv.com/images/RightHinge.JPG
Right hinge bottom:
http://www.qsolv.com/images/RightHingeUnderneath.JPG
Left hinge top:
http://www.qsolv.com/images/LeftHinge.JPG
Left hinge bottome:
http://www.qsolv.com/images/LeftHingeUnderneath.JPG
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Toyota Tacoma Undercover bed cover cracking
Undercover recommended a two part epoxy but that sounded nuts to me. Really, it's a flex fatigue problem and epoxy doesn't flex so why would that work?
Construction adhesive could work. I had an idea of fabricating some replacement metal hinges that could mount on top and bolt through the cover with big washers to spread the load. Maybe if they were made of stainless or chrome plated they wouldn't look too bad.
Or I could just junk it.
For a company that brags about the strength of their product I'm pretty surprised they wouldn't make any consumer concession for such an obvious problem.
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Toyota Tacoma Undercover bed cover cracking
I never tied the cover down open while driving. However, I have speculated that the problem may have occurred due to the two locks that hold it down. If they are not locked by key whenever the cover is down they work their way open and the cover may well bounce up and down a bit. It never flipped open but I can see it bouncing. The key locks are a PIA and I rarely locked them. Anyway, that is my first and last bed cover.
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