Roll-N-Lock Bob, I'm just tempted to ask this question, of all the different trucks & styles that are available what was the deciding factors in your choosing a Dakota Quad I've always liked the size of the Dakota, but the REAL back seat was the clincher. The competitors are either way too big and hard to handle or the back seats are like the NHL penalty box
The Roll-n-Lock isn't something I've seen on any trucks, when did you first become aware of it? I originally saw an advertisement in Popular Mechanics. That took me to a Web Site. Bob, what was your personal needs for needing to cover the box of your Quad. We get a lot of rain up here in the Pacific Northwest and a cover lets me use the the bed instead of collecting a lot of junk in the back seat. Of all the choices for covering the box of a Quad what made you prefer the Roll-n-Lock over each that you knew about.(tonneau, lid, cap, other) I looked at a couple of other alternatives. The shell ("cap" or "canopy" up here) limits the utility of the bed and, in my opinion, doesn't look great on a Quad Cab. Cloth tonneaus are inexpensive and look good but can be a hassle to open and close. They don't offer much security. Fiberglas covers look great... better than the retractables. Great security, but have to be removed to carry stuff taller than the depth of the bed. I use the truck to take household rubbish to the local dump. The R&L lets me do that without using a trailer. In particular, why wouldn't a less expensive tonneau cover have met your needs in covering the box. It would have but the convenience of added security and ease of opening and closing it makes the bed almost like a very big trunk on a car.
I don't mean to be nosy, but what did the Roll-n-Lock cost? I paid $835 + $35 installation. I had a RhinoLiner sprayed in at the same time, so got a little break on cost. There's a place on the Web that offers them for about $700 mail order (plus shipping from Florida). The installation looked pretty easy (for some people). When comparing to the Pierce-Edwards Roll-Top product, remember the R&L comes with a tailgate lock built-in, an extra cost on the P-E cover. How much of an inconvenience was the installation, ( was the dealer far from your home, did you have to leave the truck overnight, was there any glitches in the installation)? The dealer is about 45 miles from where I live. Nothing is close when you live on an island. The installation took a little over an hour. I had a RhinoLiner sprayed in and the R&L installed and was out the door just after lunch. The guy had done this quite a few times, so he and an assistant (plus a kibitzer, me!) got the thing done pretty quickly. Bob, could you describe the construction of a Roll-n-Lock cover? The R&L cover is made of interlocking powder-coated aluminum slats about an inch wide, similar to roll-down security blinds used on stores in malls. The slats are covered with a heavy-weight vinyl material bonded on. The cover rolls up and is stored in a black steel powder-coated canister mounted on the front end of the bed. A spring system rolls the cover up when the cover is unlatched. The cover slides in tracks that are clamped to the bed rails. The only holes drilled in the truck are five in the inside face of the tailgate to hold the latch mechanism and a couple in the bed rail to secure the box. There are four stops on the rails so the cover can be latched in four intermediate positions as well as full open and full closed.
The Pierce-Edwards cover is of lighter construction and stores itself in a plastic box. The rails are screwed to the bed rails. The heavier construction makes the R&L worth the extra couple of hundred dollars, in my opinion. Bob, can you describe the steps in using the Roll-n-Lock cover? (how's it close and how' it open etc.) Unlock the cover, twist the handle to unlatch the cover and it will slide forward. Hold the restraining strap and the cover retracts into the box. To close it, pull the strap. The cover will latch at any of the four intermediate positions. Simple, one hand operation.
Does the Roll-n-Loc come with some type of lock? The latch has a covered key receptacle and can be locked. When fully closed, the tailgate is also automatically locked. Would you feel secure in leaving something of value in the box? Absolutely. It's as safe as the trunk on a car. The manufacturer says there may be some water intrusion in heavy rain. Bob, with my lid I'm limited to the size of something that will fit in the box with the lid closed, I knew that, what were some of your trade offs with the Roll-n-Loc? The trade-offs include a loss of about 9" of useable bed length because of the R&L box and the cost compared to some other solutions. Water tightness may be an issue. I washed the truck and the bed stayed dry but isn't guaranteed to be waterproof. If leakage does occur it will probably be at the tailgate. There are drains in the box to deal with water that collects on the lid that can get swept in while rolling up (opening) the cover. Now that you've had a some time to use the Roll-n-Loc cover what do you think about it and the choice you've made. So far (about a
week) it looks like a winner. Along with a sprayed in |
