Roller Bed Cover Might Be Leaving

[pagesix1536]

My concern with the new footage/bed is how they moved rear crossbar at the back of the cab back. I can only speculate but it looks like there is now an overhang over the front of the bed so its no longer a flush flat surface to stack, strap, or make full use of the entire bed with.

I'll bet they moved the roll-up spool for the cover to right under there to allow for this "passthru" everyone's all freaking out over.

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[Hunter]

I think the best option, is options, plural. Different guys need different solutions.

Roll cover is only one solution for one set of customers. Other guys like me might like a lumber rack. Or others still might want an camper shell.

The point is that this needs to be a truck API rather than a fixed app sitting in the back of your CT.

 

[Deleted member 12457]

I am playing the devils' advocate for Firsttruck.
1.) Yes everything possible with a ton of careful engineering and extra parts and higher tolerances to solve problems, which adds money and more potential for problems.
2.) Pushing the cover UP through an acute angle is very different than a gravity coil door or a horizontal transition. I bet the additional lip was installed to help ease that transition. Just a little gritty sand could foul the track and put binding pressure on the coil. The competition gets pulled into position which will tend to relieve the binding. The CT will push through almost the entire cycle until gravity starts to take over when almost closed. The return cycle is better but would probably be better to have some friction at the very end to keep things tight but this friction would need to be removed on the open cycle.
3.) The coil needs to stay tight and compact or it won't fit. The drive mechanism appears to be the coil itself. A little friction and it will tend to bunch up adding up at all the hinge points. It is sort of like a tape measure that gets dirty. Get it a little muddy and then you have to try to push it to retract. At that point you might as well toss it.
4.) I don't see an air blade cleaning system. I think we will get a stern warning in the owner's manual never to roll up a muddy tonneau cover and a big fat bill if we expect the dealer to clean out the chamber. We might get a 1/4" coil hose with a blow gun as an accessory to blow off the tracks.(and top off a tire). Yes I think they will make the chamber accessible for cleaning.
5.) The narrow slats are dependent on their neighbors. If Elon stepped parallels to the slats the pressure is vastly different than perpendicular. If you ever deform a single slat it is going to be a problem.
6.) I think everybody is assuming this is water resistant. So either they have carefully shaped hinges or a fabric backing. I should probably study some of the existing products before I spout off #6.

The idea of the tonneau is great and sexy when clean.

I agree with everything you’ve said and don’t believe you’re playing devils advocate. My previous comment was less technical but said many of the same things. I saw Munro with his Plaid and his assistant had to touch the door handle twice to get it to pop out. Every mechanical item is subject to failure which is why I like to reduce unnecessarily complex parts if a vehicle, especially a truck that’s going off road.

Tesla has great engineers and can get help from SpaceX but I worry about the fancy garage door opener, which I really think is cool but like the rotating headlights ended up being a problem as they got older. I don’t want a cheap fabric tonneau cover and my Diamondback HD cost me $2000 for a very sturdy cover. I’m hoping those rectangles on the bed frame are attachment points for a cargo rack otherwise I’ll need a solid tonneau cover to attach to. (Does anyone have actual knowledge of these? No speculation, I want patent application drawings at the least. ) as for the CT bed cover, I’m thinking its manufacturing cost has to be in the $4-$5K range since it requires additional electronics and a lot of potential manual assembly. I’d love to be proved wrong but high end roll up doors are not cheap, especially stainless steel ones.

 

[BrianStanfill]

I'm sure they won't drop the retractable cover. If anything, I hope they add a solar panel to it. That would be a big selling point.

As far as a "technology bandwagon" goes, I hope we get those blade solor panels integrated into the vault cover. I'm going to use my truck for overlanding and camping multiple days. Small charging along the way will make my trips easier, simple, more confident. I'll know I'll at least trickle charging all day keeping my frig and other camp related equipment from being any significant drag on my range at all. Also, should I get into a really bad situation, I know a day of charge may very well be enough to get me a few miles to that supercharger located just outside of that National Forest I might be playing on. This truck will be used by so many people in sooooo many different ways. I'm cheering for the ridiculous edge case capabilities. Also, I'm getting my checkbook ready to have a very tough day when I pay for this monster Cheers all.

 

[earthman]

I have had one of these covers for years. They have been available for at least a decade and are not something new. Mine does not have problems and works great. If they get rid of the cover it won’t be because it doesn’t function properly.

what about debris? how do you manage the particulate that accumulates from the air and trees around? Do you clean it frequently? and how? I have a tonnn of debris that accumulates on my back deck. mainly from pine trees, but there's a ton of other types of debris besides the pine tree debris, I could go on.

would appreciate your input on this. I've had this question since the beginning but never asked.

 

[Cyberjunkie]

I started thinking about how many comments regarding the new footage of the Cybertruck on the test track have been about the change of looks, front-end, lights, curved glass etc. For me, I don't care about the looks. It's function over form. It is still, and will always be ugly. On that note, I am afraid that the Tesla team has become aware of the functional limitations of the roller bed cover. Hence the changes to the rear part of the roof. I am trying to fathom how the cover could deal with a covering of road grit, sand, silt and ice and still maintain functionality. At the least, I think the cover will need a very good power wash before being rolled up after being driven in a northern winter, on a dirt road or even left sitting at a job site or on a farm. I do like the idea of the cover, but I think there might be a reason why trucks haven't come with one before. It won't be that functional outside the city. A post-apocalyptic machine can't need car washes! I would love to hear good reasons why I'm wrong.

There have been many roll up covers on the market prior to the vault cover. I can haul my quad on mine if my bed is full. Non issue!

 

[Cyberjunkie]

I started thinking about how many comments regarding the new footage of the Cybertruck on the test track have been about the change of looks, front-end, lights, curved glass etc. For me, I don't care about the looks. It's function over form. It is still, and will always be ugly. On that note, I am afraid that the Tesla team has become aware of the functional limitations of the roller bed cover. Hence the changes to the rear part of the roof. I am trying to fathom how the cover could deal with a covering of road grit, sand, silt and ice and still maintain functionality. At the least, I think the cover will need a very good power wash before being rolled up after being driven in a northern winter, on a dirt road or even left sitting at a job site or on a farm. I do like the idea of the cover, but I think there might be a reason why trucks haven't come with one before. It won't be that functional outside the city. A post-apocalyptic machine can't need car washes! I would love to hear good reasons why I'm wrong.

Tesla overcame motor, battery, pressing a single mono hull body, casting frames among a thousand other barriers. I think they can do a bed cover, come on!

 

[Ogre]

I think the best option, is options, plural. Different guys need different solutions. Roll cover is only one solution for one set of customers. Other guys like me might rather like a lumber rack. Or others still might want an camper shell. The point is that this needs to be a truck API rather than a fixed app sitting in the back of your CT.

The way it is currently designed, you can use a lumber rack with the vault cover. The way it is so out-of-the-way is one of the nice features of it.

 

[Ogre]

I'll bet they moved the roll-up spool for the cover to right under there to allow for this "passthru" everyone's all freaking out over.

This would significantly block the already narrow rear window, sort of defeating the point of the pass through.

 

[Tinker71]

As far as a "technology bandwagon" goes, I hope we get those blade solor panels integrated into the vault cover. I'm going to use my truck for overlanding and camping multiple days. Small charging along the way will make my trips easier, simple, more confident. I'll know I'll at least trickle charging all day keeping my frig and other camp related equipment from being any significant drag on my range at all. Also, should I get into a really bad situation, I know a day of charge may very well be enough to get me a few miles to that supercharger located just outside of that National Forest I might be playing on. This truck will be used by so many people in sooooo many different ways. I'm cheering for the ridiculous edge case capabilities. Also, I'm getting my checkbook ready to have a very tough day when I pay for this monster Cheers all.

I am going to keep shamelessly promoting ROCC until I find a partner to build it. The ROCC could easily have 800 watts of cells for significant power at camp and gaining a few miles of range to boot. It will always be exposed unless you are carrying something on roof racks. It should be an overlanders dream.

The tonneau cover would be mostly wasted with this design. The 5 CF of coil space would make a great fresh water tanks spot.

 

[jhogan2424]

what about debris? how do you manage the particulate that accumulates from the air and trees around? Do you clean it frequently? and how? I have a tonnn of debris that accumulates on my back deck. mainly from pine trees, but there's a ton of other types of debris besides the pine tree debris, I could go on.

would appreciate your input on this. I've had this question since the beginning but never asked.

I never do anything to it. It gets washed along with the rest of the truck a couple times a year but I do not have to pay particular attention to it. I live under many hundreds if not thousands of pine trees and they have never caused a problem. Any dust or pine needles that might accumulate is simply blown off when you drive down the road. The cover has never been stopped up or gotten anything pulled inside that shouldn’t be. As far as water, the aluminum slats ride inside a slot and this slot is naturally drained toward the cab due to the stance of the truck. At the cab these slots are drained by a small rubber hose on each side of the bed that runs through the bed, behind the cab, and drips onto the ground between the bed and cab. I have never had any problem with drainage or debris in the 210,000 miles I have put on this truck. Trust me, this is not a problem in the least bit. Everyone that ends up with one of these covers will wonder how they ever lived without one.

 

[Ogre]

I never do anything to it. It gets washed along with the rest of the truck a couple times a year but I do not have to pay particular attention to it. I live under many hundreds if not thousands of pine trees and they have never caused a problem. Any dust or pine needles that might accumulate is simply blown off when you drive down the road. The cover has never been stopped up or gotten anything pulled inside that shouldn’t be. As far as water, the aluminum slats ride inside a slot and this slot is naturally drained toward the cab due to the stance of the truck. At the cab these slots are drained by a small rubber hose on each side of the bed that runs through the bed, behind the cab, and drips onto the ground between the bed and cab. I have never had any problem with drainage or debris in the 210,000 miles I have put on this truck. Trust me, this is not a problem in the least bit. Everyone that ends up with one of these covers will wonder how they ever lived without one.

I think the lip of the bed will keep larger debris from coming in but there is some inevitable dust and dirt that will end up accumulating in the chamber below the rollers.

I wonder if there will be an easy clean out or if they will just rely on the design of the lip to push anything big enough to cause issues.

 

[jhogan2424]

I think the lip of the bed will keep larger debris from coming in but there is some inevitable dust and dirt that will end up accumulating in the chamber below the rollers.

I wonder if there will be an easy clean out or if they will just rely on the design of the lip to push anything big enough to cause issues.

I don’t remember if they recommended for me to clean it out periodically or not but I never have. To be honest I have never really thought about how to open it up. I believe they rely on the design like you said to keep debris out. I know it seems like debris and dirt would be a problem and I’m sure if I didn’t already have one I would be skeptical too but the thing just works. I don’t know how but it just does and I’m sure the Tesla version will be even more refined. I do wish mine had a push button on the bed to open and close but I only have the key fob. It came with two fobs but one has been lost over time. Also, mine has a light that turns on when you open/close it or it can be turned on manually with another button on the fob.

 

[jhogan2424]

I‘m not sure the rules on posting links but this is a link to the covers, hopefully it’s ok… I think they have a downloadable manual if one wanted to study on them. I see the brand new ones have an emergency release of some type inside the bed but mine is several years old and is not equipped with such a release. I will also add that mine is a bit louder than you would think. It kind of reminds me of dozer tracks when it is operating. Not a problem but it is not a buttery smooth sound when opening or closing.

https://rollnlock.com/e-series

 

[Ogre]

I‘m not sure the rules on posting links but this is a link to the covers, hopefully it’s ok… I think they have a downloadable manual if one wanted to study on them. I see the brand new ones have an emergency release of some type inside the bed but mine is several years old and is not equipped with such a release. I will also add that mine is a bit louder than you would think. It kind of reminds me of dozer tracks when it is operating. Not a problem but it is not a buttery smooth sound when opening or closing.

https://rollnlock.com/e-series

How big is that box at the front of the truck bed? Maybe they could put it above the vault under the lip. I’d be willing to sacrifice a chunk of the rear window view for a pass thru plus under bed storage.

I think the window is less than 12” tall already, so not a ton of room to play with here.

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