One of the most frustrating times for a truck owner is when you need to park in a less than secure place and you have precious cargo stowed in the bed. There are two choices in this situation: drive all the way back home to unload the contents of the bed or throw caution to the wind and cross your fingers that no one rips off your cargo.
Neither of these choices is a good one, so we chose door number three, a Downey Products LTD (lift top design) soft tonneau cover. With the tonneau in place, no one can see what we are smuggling in the bed of our mini. Out of sight, out of mind, so to speak. The Downy cover has many benefits, including a quick installation, light weight, and ease of removal should you need to haul oversize cargo.
As an added benefit, having a tonneau cover will improve the truck's fuel economy by increasing the aerodynamics and decreasing wind resistance. To see how quick this tonneau could be installed, we took a trip to Devious Customs and made like flies on the wall as the company performed this install on a Toyota mini.
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 This tonneau install requires...  This tonneau install requires no drilling of or damage to the bed of your truck. The frame of the cover has a insulating gasket that mates to the bedrails of the truck, preventing rain from entering the bed and preventing scratches to the surface of the bedrails. |
 The frame snaps together with...  The frame snaps together with the pivoting portion of the cover joining the rest of the frame 2/3 of the way to the front of the bed. |
 The plastic ribbon clamps...  The plastic ribbon clamps slide into the frame of the tonneau cover. These clamps will support the crossbraces of the tonneau cover. |
 Here, Jeff installs the three...  Here, Jeff installs the three crossbraces into the clamps. The last brace that Jeff installs contains the latching mechanism for the cover. |
 These trick aluminum brackets...  These trick aluminum brackets not only secure the frame to the bedrails, they also provide a mounting location for the gas struts that lift the cover. |
 After the frame is secured,...  After the frame is secured, the struts are installed onto the mounting brackets and the last brace that contains the latching mechanism. |
 The vinyl material used for...  The vinyl material used for the tonneau cover is weatherproof and securely fastens to the perimeter of the tonneau cover with snaps. |
 When the tonneau cover is...  When the tonneau cover is closed, our cargo is hidden; we'll even get better fuel economy by improving the aerodynamics of the truck. |