Newbie Tonneau cover rail questions

[ICEforLIFE]

Hello all, New to the Ram truck world, traded in my ‘18 GMC Denali for a ‘26 Limited , Loving it.
First mod is a hard tonneau cover , Truck came with the soft cover with black rails. Looks like I have very little options with this set up.
Every tonneau cover I am liking requires the silver rails. Is it an easy swap out of the black rails to the silver rails using existing fastening points?
Looks like rails will cost an additional $400. A little disappointing that a $90k truck comes with such a cheap vinyl top and I have to spend more $ to modify to add a hard tonneau. Hope to hear about some good solutions.

 

[Tyee]

I went through the same thing, my last couple of trucks have had Bakflip covers. which I never had a problem with. I couldn't find the silver rails so I went with a Diamondback SE. It fit perfectly, my truck has ram boxes and a MFT. Going through a car wash the bed stays completely dry Though I had to add weatherstripping where the tailgate meets the rambox sill. In my opinion the Diamondback cover is much more robust than most flush covers...

 

[disarm]

The rail swap is very easy...remove bolts holding the black rails, take them off and mount the silver rails using the same bolts and holes. It's a direct part swap. The whole process should take less than ten minutes.

 

[ICEforLIFE]

I went through the same thing, my last couple of trucks have had Bakflip covers. which I never had a problem with. I couldn't find the silver rails so I went with a Diamondback SE. It fit perfectly, my truck has ram boxes and a MFT. Going through a car wash the bed stays completely dry Though I had to add weatherstripping where the tailgate meets the rambox sill. In my opinion the Diamondback cover is much more robust than most flush covers...

Thx for the intel, haven’t heard of diamondback and it looks like a really solid option. Did you remove the black rails to install?

 

[wegasque]

Thx for the intel, haven’t heard of diamondback and it looks like a really solid option. Did you remove the black rails to install?

The Diamondback doesn't use the rails so it's up to you if you want to keep the rails or not..

 

[ICEforLIFE]

The Diamondback doesn't use the rails so it's up to you if you want to keep the rails or not..

Thx, I think I may be ordering one of these in the HD version. However I’ll probably have it shipped with the clips loose and not installed. I prefer the smooth clean look without all the cleats. Looks like a boat dock lol, I’ll probably figure out a way to add the cleats and then take them off and plug the holes with rounded off head bolts and swap when cleats are needed.

 

[wegasque]

Thx, I think I may be ordering one of these in the HD version. However I’ll probably have it shipped with the clips loose and not installed. I prefer the smooth clean look without all the cleats. Looks like a boat dock lol, I’ll probably figure out a way to add the cleats and then take them off and plug the holes with rounded off head bolts and swap when cleats are needed.

I have the HD version and love it. I think you can just tell them to provide the cleats separately instead of pre-install them. They're pretty easy to work with. I have a toolbar installed on mine and found it laying in the bed one day. I called them and they shipped out new mounting hardware at no charge. So far, their customer service has been really good.

 

[ICEforLIFE]

I have the HD version and love it. I think you can just tell them to provide the cleats separately instead of pre-install them. They're pretty easy to work with. I have a toolbar installed on mine and found it laying in the bed one day. I called them and they shipped out new mounting hardware at no charge. So far, their customer service has been really good.

Called today and spoke with Josh, good guy, answered all my questions and placed order for the HD version today. Smooth finish and loose cleats.
Thx for the quick responses. Love the truck so far. It’s seriously close in drivability to my BMW X7 and M850i , The Hurricane HO is just sweet and the power to move this beast is effortless.

 

[gwilburn]

Look at the Bakflip F1. I've had it on my last two trucks. Great hard cover - everything is black.