RE: [A/S] on the eve of...

["Perry Joe Scudder" <perryjoe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Patti,
You say a "lockable tanneau" which can cover several ways to deliver that
criteria. I have owned two different types of "Lockable Tanneau" covers, and
for my needs it is the only way to go. I am not pushing either one of the
ones I have used, but again in the effort to give a better educated approach
to your choice. I had a apace - Edwards Roll top cover on my 2000 GMC Short
bed. I Had the optional electric Tail Gate lock that was integrated with the
electric door locks on the truck installed to work with the roll top cover
for easy access to the back end of the truck storage area. This part of the
setup worked outstanding, but the roll top cover did not hold up very well.
The sandwich of materials put together to form the rigid roll up top
delaminated, and would form big blisters when the truck was out in the sun.
The edges where the top slid open and closed also wore away to the metal and
made a terrible noise when the top was opening or closing. My truck was kept
in the garage when not out towing the trailer, but it did make a trip to
Alaska where all the mud and dust of some of the roads there may have caused
some of the ware on the track portion of the top. Based on the results I had
gotten with the Pace - Edwards top, I decided to try their competitor "Roll
- N - Lock on my 2004 truck. The first problem to surface was the fact that
the Electric tail gate lock would not work with this cover. The lock for the
tail gate is integrated into the lock on the roll top. It turns out I like
the ease of using the push button on the truck keys to unlock the tail gate
much better than messing with the roll top lock and top on this latest
setup. I have to rotate the lock cover out of the way, insert the key,
unlock the lock, unlatch the cover, slide the cover back about 15 inches,
relatch the cover and open the tailgate before I can get access to the row
of stuff I keep across the back end of the truck bed. I could go through the
same steps with the other cover if I wanted access to the stuff from the top
instead of through the tail gate. The next thing I found out about this
cover was the fact that on one makes a tailgate liner to protect the finish
on the tail gate from scratches as you slide stuff in and out. The
integration of the locking strip on the tail gate will not work with any of
the liners me or my installer could find - we looked everywhere for two
months. The cover looks good, and makes no noise as it slides back and forth
as of now. It is now one year old, and the other cover looked good until it
was about three years old. Time will tell. I would go back to the Pace -
Edwards and its faults in order to get the locking system I like much
better, if I had it to do over again. My installer stated he had had 5 of
the electric locks out of about 50 he installed that gave him problems. That
is a 10% failure rate, I did not have any problem at all with mine.

Joe Scudder
WBCCI 8624