If you are a truck owner, then chances are you are already familar with what a tonneau cover is. A tonneau cover is a vinyl cover that will cover the truck bed. These were commonly used on pickup trucks, El Camino's and Ranchero's for years now, and with there natural good looks and inexpensive price tags, they were a nice way to customize your vehicle. Times change and so have tonneau covers. In theory they are the same, but instead of drilling a series of holes in the bedsides and tailgate and installing snaps, the "rail system" was introduced several years ago. The rail system provides the cover attachment to the truck bed without drilling holes into it. In fact, the rail system has protective weatherstripping on the rails and even cushions on the clamps for the rails so that there is no part of the tonneau system that is metal-to-metal with the vehicle. This allows the tonneau cover to be removed (if so desired) and there will be no evidence that it was ever there. Also, anytime you have metal-to-metal contact there is a chance of rust forming from the damaged paint on the truck.

The rail system was unique with the rail attachment system, and you could unsnap the snaps to gain entry to the contents of the bed without crawling under the cover to retrieve anything that you may have stowed in the bed. You could even unsnap all of the bed side and tailgate snaps and roll the cover up to the back of the bed and secure it with the hook and loop straps that are placed under the front rail of the bed. Remove the bows and tailgate rail, and you have full access to the entire bed. A downside.. if any of you have ever tried to snap and unsnap the cover during cold weather, you would not be able to forget the fight that it gave you. And if you are frequently getting or putting items inside your bed, this can get to be a hassle. There are other types of covers beside the snap type, such as a "peel" type that has a rigid plastic edge that peels into and out of a track in the rail system. There are also the hook and loop (Velcro) style that take the place of the snap type. Persoanlly? I like the look of the snap style.. to me, this is the TRUE tonneau cover design.

Let's get back to that downside..having to unsnap the cover to access the contents.. I have been looking for a cover for my '06 Silverado.. this truck is my baby and I want to have a cover that looks good yet functions without alot of hassle. The use of the truck also played a part in my search..I will use it for EVERYTHING that I can..I want the good looks, yet if I want to haul a washer and drier, a 4 wheeler, I want to be able to do it without wondering what I am going to do with a hard cover that requires ANOTHER truck just to haul it.. some of you have been there, I know I have in the past (never again). Your at the store and you (or your spouse) sees something that you have to have, and hey, you have a truck. You buy it, drag it out to the truck and..bummer, the hard cover.. you don't want to risk damaging the cover by driving down the road with the cover open..it will come off, but how to haul it? So a hard cover was not even an option for my baby..I have used tonneau covers from a company called "extang" several times in the past on other trucks that I have owned and I really liked the design and the workmanship that goes into there products.. I went to extang's website and THERE IT WAS.. the extang FULLTILT tonneau cover. This is a "must see" product.. they take the same great looks that I have always looked for, the rail snap system, and added a unique twist.. the entire cover will TILT up just like a hard cover.. the cover is attached the full length of the front rail so it is like one long hinge area and there are two gas charged shocks that raise the cover and hold it there. They have two locking levers that lock under the bed rail so when it is latched, there is no chance that the cover is going to pop open. I have seen other brands that also offer a similar type design, the tilting soft cover, but the hinge design, the latch design is lacking and the estang quality is hard to match or beat.

So I ordered the cover and when it arrived..about twenty minutes later it is on and works flawlessly and looks FANTASTIC!! The price is very reasonable compared to other bed cover alternates..slightly more than a basic rail system. The features of the FULLTILT are amazing.. naturally you can unlatch both levers and raise the cover..you can unsnap the cover and roll it to the bed front, remove the bows and the tailgate rail like the non-tilt version. The entire cover can be removed still snapped to the rails with the track assembly still on the truck in a matter of minutes. The same goes for reinstallation due to the unique front hinge design. The front hinge is designed like a tongue and groove the rail on the front of the cover fit's securely in a groove on the front rail mounted on the truck, so to remove the entire cover you simply lift it forward, unclip the shocks and slide it off. You can unsnap and get into a portion of the sides or rear of the bed..and in cold weather? No problem as extang has two position snaps that can simply be turned around in cold weather if needed. The bows (on my shortbed there are three) are also two position..down for best performance (and fuel economy) or raised for a more aggressive look. The bows are spring loaded on one end and go into the rails with little effort and stay there. The frame is liftetime warranty and the cover (fabric) has a ten year warranty. The cover comes with a couple of extra snaps (just in case) and just like there other rail types, no part of the system is metal-to-metal to the truck bed. My Silverado has an "under-the-rail" bed liner and it worked perfectly without any modifications to the liner, as they advertise.

I would give this cover a 10 out of 10. The entire system is designed very well, the cover is made from a heavy vinyl and looks great! The shocks allow the cover to be lifted and lowered with no effort. The instructions are clearly written and easy to understand which is great if this is the first tonneau cover you have ever owned or installed.

Thanks for reading my review!! I also have several "laptop buying guides" that I have written if you are in the market for a laptop, please check them out in my other reviews and guides. Please take the time to rate my review.

All the best,

Bruce

cardoc101