If I have a tonneau cover, can I take road trips with luggage and not worry about theft/water leakage?

[jastevenson]

I plan to take a few long road trips in the coming year, and have never had a pickup.

If I install a bed cover, can I store the luggage in the bed and not have to worry about it getting stolen or rained on? The gas mileage isn't great on these Rams, but otherwise they seem like great road trip vehicles.

Thanks!

 

[PorBoy]

It all comes to one if the thief really wants to get in there, they will. As far as leaks sadly they all leak it just comes down to varying degrees of leakage. I’m not saying it will be a flood, but you’ll have some water come into it.

 

[z0n3]

You’ll want a hard cover obviously, and you can always water test it and add weather stripping where needed. I’ve seen most leaks occurring at the tailgate.

 

[E.Hands]

I've got the relatively cheap, soft, factory, tri-fold cover. I load the back full of stuff and drive 850 miles every two weeks. Through all kinds of weather. I haven't had a problem yet. I really like the way the tail gate and Ram boxes lock with the push of the button when I lock the rest of the truck.
Not my truck. Mine looks even better!

 

[MJP]

I plan to take a few long road trips in the coming year, and have never had a pickup.

If I install a bed cover, can I store the luggage in the bed and not have to worry about it getting stolen or rained on? The gas mileage isn't great on these Rams, but otherwise they seem like great road trip vehicles.

Thanks!

I have the soft Mopar that came with my truck and it doesn’t leak at all. Obviously, if someone wants to get in it’s a simple slash with a knife. I put it back on my truck after returning the Mopar hard cover that leaked so badly I had standing water in numerous areas. I didn’t want to waste my time trying to figure out where all the leaks originated and weatherstrip it so I returned it. Piece of crap for over $1000. At least my soft cover is weatherproof.

 

[green68mustang_2002]

I plan to take a few long road trips in the coming year, and have never had a pickup.

If I install a bed cover, can I store the luggage in the bed and not have to worry about it getting stolen or rained on? The gas mileage isn't great on these Rams, but otherwise they seem like great road trip vehicles.

Thanks!

Depends on what you get. While majority of covers can be easily gotten in to, its kinda a out of sight out of mind thing to me. My roll n lock cover is in shipment right now. I had the same cover on my last truck and went on many trips with luggage in the back and have never had issues. All covers are going to have some amount of water leakage too. Again, another reason i went with the roll n lock because it let in only a very very small amount of water, and that was driving through hard rains and car washes.

 

[_StangPGH]

As others have said you may get a little water and it can get dusty back there even with a cover. When I travel with luggage I have 3 or 4 of those XL black storage totes with yellow lids from Home Depot. I can fit 2 smaller bags or one large plus misc items in each tote and seal with a lid. When not in use the totes stack together and the lids all stack on top so it doesn't take up much room. They're strong and relatively inexpensive.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[SpeedyV]

As others have said you may get a little water and it can get dusty back there even with a cover. When I travel with luggage I have 3 or 4 of those XL black storage totes with yellow lids from Home Depot. I can fit 2 smaller bags or one large plus misc items in each tote and seal with a lid. When not in use the totes stack together and the lids all stack on top so it doesn't take up much room. They're strong and relatively inexpensive.

Not a bad idea. I go the cheap route and just use contractor bags for the same purpose!

 

[Scott_65]

Might want to give one of the Diamondback covers a look, had my SE since September and we get torrential rains here and I’ve had zero issues with leaking. Also I think with the locking mechanism it should keep your stuff safe, although I’d never risk leaving my golf clubs in there.

 

[jkm312]

What StangPGH said, plus, a load lock bar to stretch between the bed sides to keep the totes in place and not have them sliding all over. This had worked well for us many times.

 

[Ellisstrong]

I just throw mine back there and roll and have never had an issue.

 

[BaseballDad]

It does seems like most bed covers leak to some degree. Have a hard bakflip on my Silverado and the soft factory tri-fold on my Ram. For any trips, I use a large tarp and wrap everything inside it. If we stop overnight, anything valuable or important (like baseball gear for a tournament) is brought into the room. That's worked great for us for over 10 years.

I also like the storage tote idea too. Hadn't thought of that.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

The gaps along the sides of the tailgate aren't sealed and will let some water in. I've had hard folding tonneaus for years and made plenty of trips from Florida to Michigan and back. I've never had luggage get wet. I have a Bedrug and it keeps what ever water that might trickle in away from it. What little water does get in in just runs to the front of the bed and drains. It stays in the channels. I don't wrap the stuff up. It's not necessary.

By the way, the Mopar hard folding tonneau doesn't leak as long as it is properly installed.

 

[MJP]

The gaps along the sides of the tailgate aren't sealed and will let some water in. I've had hard folding tonneaus for years and made plenty of trips from Florida to Michigan and back. I've never had luggage get wet. I have a Bedrug and it keeps what ever water that might trickle in away from it. What little water does get in in just runs to the front of the bed and drains. It stays in the channels. I don't wrap the stuff up. It's not necessary.

By the way, the Mopar hard folding tonneau doesn't leak as long as it is properly installed.

Wish I could have found someone who could install the Mopar properly. My dealer installed two of them and they both leaked like crazy. It’s a great dealership but maybe they don’t know how to properly install the covers. Anyway, I returned it.

 

[Billy James]

I road trip all the time with my bed loaded up and covered up by a tonneau cover. You just have to understand that if someone wants to get into your bed; they will. I do leave stuff in the bed overnight and haven't had a problem yet. I normally choose to park somewhere well lit and well traveled by people and cars. I have a Gator Hybrid and my bed stays completely dry.

 

[Jus Cruisin]

Wish I could have found someone who could install the Mopar properly. My dealer installed two of them and they both leaked like crazy. It’s a great dealership but maybe they don’t know how to properly install the covers. Anyway, I returned it.

The flange that the side rails attach to was probably not vertical. I took about a half hour straightening mine. It's an area of the truck that doesn't need any sort of consistency. The metal on these trucks doesn't take much to bend. Anyway, if it wasn't vertical, the side rails wouldn't sit flush on the bed rail resulting in leaks. You also need to make sure the seal you installed along the front of the bed actually sealed to the tonneau. Same with the tailgate seal. The dealers probably have one of the porters install the tonneaus and I'm sure they just take them out of the box and clamp it on and ship it.

I know, too late now.....

 

[Gen3CoupeTX]

I have the Lomax tri-fold on my '19 Ram. In a really hard rain, it will leak a bit around the sides of the tailgate. I've not messed with any weatherstripping, as what tiny amount gets in just flows down the channels and exits. But if I had my wife's luggage in it, I would do something to provide it extra protection from wetness. Murphy's Law would say mine would come out bone dry, but hers would get wet somehow. As far as thieves ... If they want something badly enough, they'll get it. But 'out of sight, out of mind' plus any obstacle to an easy theft is reasonably effective. Safe travels!

 

[rlc2020]

I have had an under $200 soft cover on all my trucks, never had an issue with theft and never had any major water leaks. Anything of extreme value or that absolutely cannot get moisture on it should be kept in the cab, but 99% of the time you'll be fine with any cover that keeps prying eyes out.

 

[Big Red Rebel]

Might want to give one of the Diamondback covers a look, had my SE since September and we get torrential rains here and I’ve had zero issues with leaking. Also I think with the locking mechanism it should keep your stuff safe, although I’d never risk leaving my golf clubs in there.

I've been looking at the Diamondback SE for a little while now. how does it look and fit? do you mind taking some pics?? did you buy the cover online or at a local dealer?

 

[MJP]

The flange that the side rails attach to was probably not vertical. I took about a half hour straightening mine. It's an area of the truck that doesn't need any sort of consistency. The metal on these trucks doesn't take much to bend. Anyway, if it wasn't vertical, the side rails wouldn't sit flush on the bed rail resulting in leaks. You also need to make sure the seal you installed along the front of the bed actually sealed to the tonneau. Same with the tailgate seal. The dealers probably have one of the porters install the tonneaus and I'm sure they just take them out of the box and clamp it on and ship it.

I know, too late now.....

Thanks for the input. You are most certainly right about the installer. I don’t think it was one of the mechanics. The reason they installed a second one was they thought maybe something was bent on the first cover. The second leaked worse than the first so obviously they were wrong. Anyway, I’ll ride out my soft cover. I did really like the functionality and low profile of the hard cover.