looking for a tonneau cover for my o5 ram 1500 anyone have any experience with the peel and seal covers? do they roll up easy especially in the winter.

 

Man, I had one of those on an old Chevy I had and it was okay. They shrink in the winter and are harder to really get on sometimes when it's really cold. My Dodge, I saved my pennies and got the painted fiberglass cover and never looked back. Best investment I ever made. Great for those occasions when friends want you to help them move - since you can't haul large appliances - get's me out of a lot of work. (I have a trailer I use that nobody knows about).

 

on my dodge i have the pace edwards electric tarp it rolls up into its own canister in the front of the bed you only lose 1 foot of space but it only goes down about 1/4 of the way so you can still haul a full sheet of plywood or more they also make a manule version they are metal and you can stand on them i like it because if i want to haul a large item i just roll it up and i am good to go don't have to remove anything they mount with clamps so no drilling i will never own another tarp again it is 100% water tight and comes with a lifetime warrenty and their customer support is excellent.

 

I have a tri-fold soft cover that just come off while I was driving. It was a good cover but I suspect the clamp to hold it to the side rail was too weak. The Pace Edwards full metal jacket is quite the cover but its quite expensive. The snap on covers are the least expensive. If you don't need to open them up much it probably a reasonable way to go. The tri-folds are quick to open to 1/3 of the bed and fairly easy to remove and re-install. The roll-up types give full access to the bed but are easier to open and close than the snap on types. The hard fiberglass looks really good but full access to the bed requires removal and they are heavier than the soft covers.

 

I have a Pace Edwards similar to the on theice has but its not electric, and its not a tarp but aluminum. Lose about a foot in front of the bed but that's no big deal to me as the tailgate does lower, anything bigger needs a trailer anyway.

 

Retrax for me, I got to keep my bed-rails, and one-hand operation from the handle on the side without any binding ever.

 

I have the Black Max snap down cover on mine. I love it. It's a bit hard to get the snaps done in the cold when the vinyl contracts, but that's about my only complaint. I put it on the day I bought the truck in '05, and have had it since. Never had any leakage or anything in storms. It was relatively cheap, too. I'd definitely get a new one if something happened to this one.

 

Chet do you know if the black max will work over the top of a drop in bedliner?

 

I have had a Tono Pro Tri-fold for about a year now and love it. Easy to install and I can just fold over if I need to.
http://www.tonneaucovers4less.com/do...eau-cover.html

 

I've had 2. One was made by checkerpro (I think) but is no longer available and I also now have a Tonno Pro tri-fold. The checkerpro one had an aluminum frame with vinyl that you streatched across it and it hinged at the front of the bed. It was nice that it was light enough for one person to put on and take off but I did not like the fact that no matter how much I tried I could not get the vinyl pulled tight enough so even with the ribs it still had water sit on it after a rain. I ended up using a foam swimming pool noodle, sliced long ways down the middle and wrapped it around the center rib. It worked to help with the water pooling up and flapping in the wind but looked like crap. Kind of defeated the 'low profile' look that was advertised on the cover.

I've only had the tri-fold tonno pro for 3 days but it seems that it will do the job and give me better features. BEST part of the tri-fold is if you are traveling and see something you want to pick up, you can fold up the cover and take it off and it will still fit longways in your bed. With the fiberglass ones or like my old one that just hinged at the front of the bed, I was screwed that I'd have to go home to take the cover off and go back and pick up what ever I wanted to buy.