Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Pick up truck advice

Sorry Joe and don't take this personally but I had to laugh out loud just a bit because you just reminded me so much of my wife. If given a tough purchase decision, she will poll all of her friends via phone, in person, facebook, emails etc. Then she promptly goes and buys whatever she was leaning towards in the first place.

I realize you are actually trying to put logic into the decision instead of emotion, but it still made me chuckle.

With a little luck and some good timing, I found a very clean 2007 Tacoma with 60K miles that had just been traded in by the original owner. I appreciate the suggestions, and think the Tacoma is the right choice. I'll pick it up in a couple of days, as soon as the dealer fixes the ding next to the rear wheel.

Now I need some opinions on a tonneau cover.

Nice truck Joe!

As far as covers go I personally have an Extang Trifecta that I like because I can take it off in a hurry if I'm hauling anything big in the bed and it keeps the bed nice and dry for everyday use...

http://4wheelonline.com/ExtangTrifectaSignatureTonneauCovers.64977

I know several folks who have Roll-N-Lock hard covers who keep valuables in the beds of their trucks, it gets high praise from those I know who have them...

http://www.tonneaucoversworld.com/roll-n-lock-tonneau-covers.aspx?gclid=CI_hoKXI060CFcac7QodujEdUQ

I have an Extang on my F150 and love the fact I can just roll it up when I need use of the bed and it doesn't take up any space inside the bed.

That's a very nice looking truck!!!

EDIT: I had the wrong model. Corrected.
I was primarily concerned with adding secure storage and being able to actually add a kayak rack that doesn't use the stake pockets, thus making a tonneau cover not fit. The Backflip CS (contractor series) solved both problems.

I am completely satisfied as it looks clean and it stays water tight in combo with the built in drain tubes for the gunnels where water would collect. It is very secure paired with a tailgate lock and it is strong enough (supports 300lbs) to walk on when closed to make it easy to secure stuff on my kayak rack if I need to do something unusual up there.

The way it is engineered with external gunnals where the rack arms slide into means that you don't have to choose between a secure cover and a full rack.

I couldn't find a picture of it closed with the rack but the cover closes perfectly with the rack in place as they are secured externally to the sides of the gunnels.

Advice on what not to buy...
Do not buy the Toyota model of 'Pop & Lock's' aftermarket tailgate lock. It is flimsy junk. Without much effort, you can actually just accidentally turn the key hard enough by hand to bend it's mechanisms and open the supposedly locked gate. Unless it has changed significantly, IT IS USELESS! Pay the extra for the stock Toyota item if you want security.

Last advice. If any hard cover I've seen is folded up into it's last, wide open position, it will block the rear window so you will need to be comfortable backing up using the side mirrors, which you probably are anyways lest we deduct a man point or two.

For my needs, I think the soft cover would be a better choice. I like that it rolls up out of the way. Thanks for the heads up about the tailgate lock. I was actually looking at the Pop & Lock and it seemed kind of flimsy. I'd rather pay extra for something that I only have to buy once.

I think my very first purchase will be a remote starter. I park outside, and my least favorite thing in the winter is scraping ice off the windshield at 5:30 in the morning.

Awesome truck, Joe!

I love to learn from you guys.

Indeed! That oughta fix your Metro problems right up. But "toneau" is French, so you're still on shaky ground a bit.


Toneau or not toneau, great luck with it, Joe and use it to do what it was made for Americans to do with it----buy BIG sh!t that won't' fit into an SUV!

After buying the truck and adding the French cover, rather than buying more big stuff, I'll have to find big stuff on the side of the road to put in it.

If I get a gun rack and a houndawg, can I work off a few more points?

So it's a done deal. Sweet!
60k is barely even broken in, in Tacoma years (like dog years but the opposite). You should get lots of life from this rig.