Overland to Arctic Ocean Ruined My Tonneau Cover (Due to Dust)

[kpanda17]

9,963 miles in 37 days. Charging costs came to $0.14/mile.

my bad, I meant the cleanup of the dust and any failures

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[Cybergirl]

mind me asking, what was the final total cost? how long to complete?

We'll see. My truck is still in the shop. They estimated $876 to repair, and said it'll be done today by 6pm.

 

[CT_AZ_4x4]

9,963 miles in 37 days. Charging costs came to $0.14/mile.
[/QUOT

We'll see. My truck is still in the shop. They estimated $876 to repair, and said it'll be done today by 6pm.

Here’s to hoping they clean out the rocks/pebbles and instead of charging you maybe offer it as goodwill.

 

[kpanda17]

We'll see. My truck is still in the shop. They estimated $876 to repair, and said it'll be done today by 6pm.

Seems to be a decent experience
I doubt any ICEv mechanic would even take on that task

thanks @Tsla

good luck

 

[Cybergirl]

My concern, looking forward, is how to clean out the tonneau tracks after driving a 100 miles on dusty off-road trails in the Arizona desert with Razors flying past at high speed. I'll need to do so before opening the tonneau to set up camp. Water will be in short supply. Compressed air is a possibility, but will consume precious battery or require a separate power source. I don't fully understand how dust and sand is getting into the tracks. Are there openings on the underside of the truck through which road dust and stones can get in? Is it possible to seal off these spaces?

 

[hemiarch]

9,963 miles in 37 days. Charging costs came to $0.14/mile.

That is a lot of miles

 

[CT_AZ_4x4]

My concern, looking forward, is how to clean out the tonneau tracks after driving a 100 miles on dusty off-road trails in the Arizona desert with Razors flying past at high speed. I'll need to do so before opening the tonneau to set up camp. Water will be in short supply. Compressed air is a possibility, but will consume precious battery or require a separate power source. I don't fully understand how dust and sand is getting into the tracks. Are there openings on the underside of the truck through which road dust and stones can get in? Is it possible to seal off these spaces?

If you have room on your rig for an air tank you could fill it with an onboard air compressor and then could airspray dust and pebbles away.

https://hornblasters.com/collections/air-tanks/products/5-gallon-stainless-steel-air-tank

This would also be potentially useful for a flat tire or for air mattresses, or for tents that need inflated.

 

[CT_AZ_4x4]

Are there openings on the underside of the truck through which road dust and stones can get in? Is it possible to seal off these spaces?

I don’t think anything is getting into that track from underneath. Ingress is likely from the track located along the top of the truck bed. Have you sealed your tailgate area where dust is known to enter?

 

[Cybergirl]

I don’t think anything is getting into that track from underneath. Ingress is likely from the track located along the top of the truck bed. Have you sealed your tailgate area where dust is known to enter?

Yes, but maybe inadequately. I found that dust entered the vault at the gate (despite sealing the large gap at the bottom of the gate), but I also found that dust entered the vault through the gap at the rear window. There's a rubber seal that's glued to the window that I think is meant to block dust intrusion into the vault there. This rubber seal detached somehow. But, even in place, this seal wouldn't prevent dust from entered the space below where the tonneau mechanism resides. I need to talk to Tesla about this. If the tonneau is fully opened while driving on a dusty road, can dust find its way into the tonneau compartment to contaminate the tonneau rollers? If so, just cleaning the sail tracks won't prevent tonneau failure from dust infiltration.

 

[CT_AZ_4x4]

If you have room on your rig for an air tank you could fill it with an onboard air compressor and then could airspray dust and pebbles away.

https://hornblasters.com/collections/air-tanks/products/5-gallon-stainless-steel-air-tank

This would also be potentially useful for a flat tire or for air mattresses, or for tents that need inflated.

Or maybe instead a vacuum would be best to clean the tracks?

I think I’m including my Milwaukee pack out vacuum in my travel gear just for this reason.

https://www.homedepot.com/pep/Milwa...-XC-Battery-Pack-0970-20-48-11-1850/326520830

Thank you for letting us know about this unexpected issue!

 

[HaulingAss]

I use a battery powered (but powerful) yard blower to blow all the dust out of the bed after I've been on dry, dusty roads. It blows out the tonneau tracks too. Big clouds of fine dust come out of the bed and tracks quickly (and then nothing). Takes about 10 seconds.

 

[Cybergirl]

Or maybe instead a vacuum would be best to clean the tracks?

I think I’m including my Milwaukee pack out vacuum in my travel gear just for this reason.

https://www.homedepot.com/pep/Milwa...-XC-Battery-Pack-0970-20-48-11-1850/326520830

Thank you for letting us know about this unexpected issue!

That's something to consider, but I wonder about its effectiveness. If you look at where dust accumulated with the sail top removed, I wonder if suction will enough to remove it.

I use a battery powered (but powerful) yard blower to blow all the dust out of the bed after I've been on dry, dusty roads. It blows out the tonneau tracks too. Big clouds of fine dust come out of the bed and tracks quickly (and then nothing). Takes about 10 seconds.

Where do you direct the blower's air stream to blow dust out of the tonneau cover tracks with the tonneau closed?

 

[RobertWarren]

And people wondered why I had a Yakima roof box for my luggage. Everything in the box was covered with thick dust but the Yakima was clean, dust free, and dry.

 

[mongo]

What's interesting is that the tonneau cover would open without issue, but closing was a problem. At Watson Lake, I was able to close the tonneau by pressing the close button multiple times. Each press closed the tonneau about one slat's width. When I got home, at tried opening the cover. It opened all the way with one press of the open button. Then, when I tried to close it, it would move about 6" and stop. It would go back down, but I couldn't get it to close more than 6". It seemed like something was blocking it. Tesla said they found small rocks in the tracks along with a lot of dust. I suspect that a small stone was caught in the track preventing the movement of the cover when attempting to close it. Tesla did say that several plastic wheels were worn. I don't know if that meant they were out of round, or the inner bearing surface was worn.

There a couple other possibilities too:
There is a force limit for anti-pinch when closing.
Opening puts the connections in tension so they straighten out. Closing puts them in compression so any resistance causes them to side load the track.

My original cover would bind on one side and prevent closing unless I pulled gently on that side. Otherwise, same incremental close with each press.

 

[Cybergirl]

There a couple other possibilities too:
There is a force limit for anti-pinch when closing.
Opening puts the connections in tension so they straighten out. Closing puts them in compression so any resistance causes them to side load the track.

My original cover would bind on one side and prevent closing unless I pulled gently on that side. Otherwise, same incremental close with each press.

That's good to know. I'll apply that reasoning next time the tonneau won't close.

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