Two Types of Tonneau Covers and Their Comparison
For those considering purchasing a tonneau cover for their pickup truck, check out your choices first and decide which truck cover best fits your truck.
There are a lot of choices and price ranges, so it is necessary to find a tonneau cover that fits your needs while not going over your budget.
Whether you would like a simple soft truck bed cover that you can use regularly or a more original retractable cover for long term use, evaluate all the choices to see what works great for you.
There are two main types of tonneau covers..
..
hard and soft.
The first type, the soft type is set up on the cargo area of your truck.
They can be made of vinyl or canvas.
Their function is to keep wind, dust, dirt, sun as well rain or snow from entering the cargo area of your truck while driving or while parked.
Soft tonneaus come in a number of styles: snap, snap-less, roll-up, tri-folding and hinged.
The cheapest soft covers are the snap and snap-less tonneaus with a vinyl tarp.
These give an inexpensive resolution in nice or harsh weather conditions.
However, some of the snap-less covers have a J-lip style sealing system that is difficult to connect during icy or snowy weather.
Roll-up soft tonneaus are easier to set up and have a nice firm fit.
They also add protection because they can be sealed down keeping your valuables out of sight from thieves.
Tri-folding soft tonneau covers have segments that are connected and folded over in a tri-fold technique.
These are easy to set up and can be removed in seconds if there is a need to load a bulky piece of cargo.
A hinging soft tonneau works the same as with a car trunk in the sense that it elevates and settles on a hinge with shocks.
A drawback for this type is that a hinged cover restricts the amount of space in height when loading or unloading goods.
The second type of tonneau cover is kind of a more fixed type on a pickup truck.
This type of cover conceals the contents of the bed, as well as gives the truck a clean, glossy look and very good security.
This is what is referred to as a hard tonneau cover.
Hard covers usually give more security, but lack the adaptability of soft covers.
Hard tonneaus offer inflexibility and are usually made of aluminum, molded plastic or fiberglass.
These come in three main designs: folding, retractable and hinging tonneau covers.
Hard folding covers are normally made with a vinyl covering molded plastic material and are kept behind the cab when folded.
Folding covers can be tri-fold or have a number of panels.
Hinging hard tonneaus are usually made of molded plastic or fiberglass and work with a hinge the same as that of the hinged soft tonneau.
Hard retractable tonneau covers are normally made of solid aluminum, or in some cases, aluminum with vinyl cover.
They retract into a container that is mounted at the front area of the truck bed, leaving the whole bed open for loading and unloading goods.
These come in an array of styles.
Also, some feature a remote control with a security bolt.
Hard retractable tonneaus give the definitive security and protection from weather elements as well as theft while improving the look of your truck.
A lot of popular branded retractable tonneaus are surprisingly simple to set up.
In general, soft tonneaus are the more reasonably priced option if you have really strict funds, where a hard tonneau cover will add more security for your cargo.
There are a lot of choices and price ranges, so it is necessary to find a tonneau cover that fits your needs while not going over your budget.
Whether you would like a simple soft truck bed cover that you can use regularly or a more original retractable cover for long term use, evaluate all the choices to see what works great for you.
There are two main types of tonneau covers..
..
hard and soft.
The first type, the soft type is set up on the cargo area of your truck.
They can be made of vinyl or canvas.
Their function is to keep wind, dust, dirt, sun as well rain or snow from entering the cargo area of your truck while driving or while parked.
Soft tonneaus come in a number of styles: snap, snap-less, roll-up, tri-folding and hinged.
The cheapest soft covers are the snap and snap-less tonneaus with a vinyl tarp.
These give an inexpensive resolution in nice or harsh weather conditions.
However, some of the snap-less covers have a J-lip style sealing system that is difficult to connect during icy or snowy weather.
Roll-up soft tonneaus are easier to set up and have a nice firm fit.
They also add protection because they can be sealed down keeping your valuables out of sight from thieves.
Tri-folding soft tonneau covers have segments that are connected and folded over in a tri-fold technique.
These are easy to set up and can be removed in seconds if there is a need to load a bulky piece of cargo.
A hinging soft tonneau works the same as with a car trunk in the sense that it elevates and settles on a hinge with shocks.
A drawback for this type is that a hinged cover restricts the amount of space in height when loading or unloading goods.
The second type of tonneau cover is kind of a more fixed type on a pickup truck.
This type of cover conceals the contents of the bed, as well as gives the truck a clean, glossy look and very good security.
This is what is referred to as a hard tonneau cover.
Hard covers usually give more security, but lack the adaptability of soft covers.
Hard tonneaus offer inflexibility and are usually made of aluminum, molded plastic or fiberglass.
These come in three main designs: folding, retractable and hinging tonneau covers.
Hard folding covers are normally made with a vinyl covering molded plastic material and are kept behind the cab when folded.
Folding covers can be tri-fold or have a number of panels.
Hinging hard tonneaus are usually made of molded plastic or fiberglass and work with a hinge the same as that of the hinged soft tonneau.
Hard retractable tonneau covers are normally made of solid aluminum, or in some cases, aluminum with vinyl cover.
They retract into a container that is mounted at the front area of the truck bed, leaving the whole bed open for loading and unloading goods.
These come in an array of styles.
Also, some feature a remote control with a security bolt.
Hard retractable tonneaus give the definitive security and protection from weather elements as well as theft while improving the look of your truck.
A lot of popular branded retractable tonneaus are surprisingly simple to set up.
In general, soft tonneaus are the more reasonably priced option if you have really strict funds, where a hard tonneau cover will add more security for your cargo.
