Your pick-up truck has a bed that is used to transport items. These beds are usually exposed to the weather. Tonneau covers provide shelter for the items stored in your truck bed. They turn your truck bed into a sheltered compartment. They are different, however, from camper shells that turn the truck bed into a camp-like compartment.
2. History of Tonneau Covers
Tonneau covers are also known as truck bed covers. They have evolved from a number of versions that have been designed for different uses, and because of this, no one person can claim to have invented the tonneau cover. Soft covers gained became popular on major speedways. Sport truck racers used soft tonneau covesr to improve aerodynamics and reduce drag. Hard top tonneau covers rose in prominence as an alternative to camper shells. These highly-customized truck bed lids evolved to suit the various needs of truck drivers.
3. Tone - what?
The name tonneau comes from the French word that means rear seating compartment of a vehicle. While your truck bed isn't a seating compartment, the term is still appropriate. Sometimes tonneau is spelled tonno. Even though this is the case, tonneau is still the best known variation of the cover's name.
4. Tonneau Cover Storage Basics
When you need to transport items ranging from groceries, to heavy furniture, the tonneau cover does the trick. The cover shield your items from view, from the weather and from damage. Even simple covers can sufficiently protect your stuff. In some instances, tonneau covers employ strategically-placed weather seals that channel the moisture away from the covers. With such equipment, truck owners have a greater peace of mind when transporting items sensitive to such.
5. Added Security
If you can't see it, you can't steal it. Since tonneau covers hide your items from sight, thieves would most likely pass over your truck when considering which to victimize. Some models of the tonneau provide added security: locks, alarms, and designs that make stealing from them hard.
Believe it or not, tonneau covers save gas! Closed air truck beds lower air resistance (this is why they are in high demand in racecars). Less drag means you will be driving a faster, more energy efficient truck! As air flows over the front end of your vehicle, it careens into the hollow bowl of your bed and produces opposite force to your truck. This could easily provide you with several miles of additional gas every single trip! Using a well-designed tonneau cover could extend gas mileage by about 10%. In essence, purchasing a tonneau cover today would be a great investment since these covers pays for themselves in the long run.
The pain at the gas pump these days is palpable - particularly if you own a light truck. What used to be a $40 fill up can now run you more than $100. Ouch! Any steps you can take to improve fuel efficiency will help alleviate that pain, and will have the added benefit of reducing your greenhouse gas emissions and your carbon footprint.
Tonne: Often Overlooked
One of the most overlooked methods of increasing fuel efficiency for light trucks are retractable tonneau covers. A truck tonneau - also referred to as tonno or tonne - covers the bed of the pickup. A retractable tonneau cover protects the items you're carrying in the truck bed when closed, but then pulls back into a canister to give you access to the items.
Fuel Savings Supported by Research
The best news? Tonneau covers save fuel. The Specialty Equipment Market Association conducted a study in which they tested light pickups in a wind tunnel. The researchers first tested for a baseline coefficient of drag without a tonneau. They then put a truck tonneau on each of the test pickups (two Ford F-150s with varying bed lengths, a Dodge Ram 1500, and a GMC Sierra) and re-tested the drag. The researchers found that any tonneau cover will reduce drag by 5.73 percent, and that retractable tonneau covers performed best, with a drag reduction of as much as 7.5 percent. Less drag means greater aerodynamic performance, which in turns mean increased fuel efficiency.
What to Look For
You have many options when it comes to buying a retractable tonneau cover, including (in increasing cost) the Roll-Top, the JackRabbit, the Full-Metal, and the Bedlocker. The Roll-Top is considered the original retractable truck cover, while the JackRabbit combines aluminum panels with vinyl to combine strength and style. As its name implies, the Full-Metal is one step above, featuring tough, powder coated interlocking aluminum panels. The Bedlocker adds the option of a remote, which allow you to remotely open and close the cover.
Where to Buy
There are many sources for retractable tonneau covers, but you can often find the best deals online. Be aware, though, that some online dealers only sell part of the cover. Instead, look for a reputable online source that will deliver the cover, the rails, and all of the hardware you need in order to install your cover. They should also have readily available, downloadable installation instructions for virtually every kind of pickup, and the experience to answer any questions you might have. In other words, installing a tonno should be easy; in fact, you should be able to do it in as little as 15 minutes.
The bottom line is that a retractable tonneau cover should improve your mileage between seven percent and ten percent on the highway. An addition of one or two miles per gallon may not seem like much, but it starts to add up when you start getting between 70 and 100 miles "free" for every 1,000 miles you drive. That will certainly lessen the sting at the pump.