How much force can a weight-bearing tonneau cover? It is one of the questions that many drivers care about, especially truck owners, on recent automotive forums.
As you know, the tonneau cover is one of the devices that many drivers have installed in the trunk of their trucks to protect their goods when moving. It brings many benefits to the driver such as ensuring the goods do not fall out of the trunk when the vehicle is moving fast or on difficult roads. In addition, the tonneau cover also helps protect the goods from the negative effects of the weather such as rain, snow, mud, or sharp objects that damage the goods inside.
However, in addition to its use to protect the goods inside the trunk, many drivers also want to take advantage of its surface to place goods on top. Therefore, they often wonder about how much weight the tonneau cover can withstand. What force limit is safe for each type of tonneau cover? To answer all these questions, let’s find out the details in the article below.
How Many Types Of Tonneau Covers Are There?
Before we can figure out how much weight a tonneau cover can handle, we need to learn about lid types. From there, we can understand the purpose of use, and the mechanism of action and choose the type of tonneau cover that suits your needs related to weight. Currently, you can find several types of tonneau covers as follows:
One-Piece Crate Lids
These are usually manufactured in plastic, sometimes fiberglass, the lid opens and closes just like a truck lid and uses hydraulic struts. The advantage of this type of lid is its beautiful shape, good coverage, and almost absolute tightness. So it can resist the weather effects and protect the goods from theft.
Retractable Barrel Lid
This type is manufactured from a variety of materials to be folded or rolled up after use. The advantage of this type of lid is that you can easily fold it and save space as well as remove them when not in use.
Soft Tonneau Covers
Manufacturers often use vinyl or fabric material to design this type of cover. Besides, they also use aluminum frame to support the cover plate. These coatings are suitable for protecting goods from the negative effects of the weather but the security is very low due to the soft material.
Hard Tonneau Covers
Made of materials such as aluminum, fiberglass, and polypropylene. This type of box cover has very safe security and ensures absolute safety for the goods on the truck. In particular, if you fix this type of box cover with a locked rear door, the ability to prevent theft is almost absolute.
Roll-Up Tonneau Covers Aka Soft Flaps
Made from materials like vinyl and fixed to the truck’s trunk with velcro straps or button fasteners. They are lightweight and thin, so it is like a curtain covering the cargo to avoid the basic effects of weather such as wind, sun, dust, or rain.
Hard-Folding Tonneau Covers
The manufacturer has used an aluminum frame to increase rigidity and security for this type of lid. You can stack them in 3 or 4 pieces. Although the rigid folding cover cannot fold as easily as the roll type, it can carry some extra cargo on top such as ATVs, dirt bikes, and kayaks. The rigid cover is therefore ideal for off-road trucks to carry extra gear on top.
How Much Force Can A Weight-Bearing Tonneau Cover?
The weight that each tonneau cover can withstand will depend on the type of truck and its size. The material of the cover is also a factor that you need to consider in terms of the weight that the cover can withstand.
On average, a cover can withstand 15 to 2000 pounds when cargo is placed on top of it. However, cheap and soft covers can only withstand 15 to 30 pounds of gravity. With these covers, you should not put valuable goods on top of them.
Fiberglass covers can usually withstand a weight of 80 to 110 pounds. However, these types of covers only have a maximum bearing capacity of about 110 pounds. So, they can’t guarantee the absolute safety of the cargo above. Especially, if it is subjected to a little extra weight from weather such as snow or rain.
If you’re looking for a cover that can handle the weight well, you can look into heavy-duty rigid lids like the Renegade. This type of barrel lid can withstand weight up to 2000 lbs. It’s a special design to keep the cargo in your truck while it’s moving. In addition, the manufacturer designs a smooth surface for the covers so that the goods can easily slide up or move the goods faster.
This type of crate lid will be suitable for adventures as you can use the lid to sit back or enjoy the view. In addition, you can also carry more bicycles, boats, or ski equipment on top of the cover. Therefore, you should consider and learn carefully about the intended use to choose the right type of cover for your truck. However, you should note that the coating has good bearing capacity, its weight will also be heavier than that of conventional coatings.
As a result, your truck will also suffer extra weight while traveling and may consume more fuel. In particular, covers that can withstand heavy weight will not be easy to fold or reduce their maximum area on the truck body.
Is A Tonneau Cover Really Necessary For A Truck Box?
Tonneau covers have many benefits to truck box and their different uses. The cover can protect the goods on the trunk to prevent them from falling out when the vehicle is moving fast or on difficult roads. In addition, the cover on the truck also helps to protect the trunk from the negative effects of the weather such as rain, snow, and dirt that can rust or corrode the trunk.
In addition, hardcovers with aluminum or iron frames as brackets provide complete security with the rear door lock. Your goods will always be protected from movement and dust during transit. However, the cover can also bring some inconvenience as your trunk will be limited in space. In particular, framed covers will limit the height and space inside your truck. Therefore, you may have difficulty arranging the goods on top.
Covers of good material that can withstand high weight are usually heavy and sturdy to install. Therefore, you will find it difficult to change the covers often and consume more fuel when the truck has to bear an additional fixed weight on the vehicle.
However, you can also consider using sheets that can be folded or rolled. Because you can easily replace or change the height of the trunk when there are different types of goods. You just need to use enough length and cover the top of the truck.
Summary
Tonneau covers come in many different types on the market today. Each type of cover plate is designed with different materials from plastic, aluminum, glass, or more advanced materials. The purpose of these covers is to protect the goods from thieves or adverse weather effects such as rain, snow, mud, ice, etc.
With each different type of coating, their weight-bearing capacity is also different due to different manufacturing materials. Coating panels can withstand an average weight of 15 to 2000 pounds depending on their stiffness. Therefore, you need to determine the purpose of use to choose the right type of cover with criteria such as price, weight, ease of use, or fuel economy.