Tonneau covers are a good investment for your pickup truck if you are interested protecting your valuables or improving your gas mileage. Not to mention, they just make your truck look better!
Truck bed covers come in hard or soft top, roll-ups, tilts, tool boxes, motorized, lockable, retractable, fiberglass… The options are endless, and installing a Tonneau cover on your truck bed is one of the best add ons you can do for your pickup truck.
The Best Tonneau Bed Covers in 2020
When selecting a Tonneau cover, one of the most important things to consider is if it will actually fit your truck. That’s why we put together guides for all of the most popular trucks on the market:
The addition of a truck bed cover has been proven to create a more aerodynamic profile. This improves your fuel economy and helps combat rising gas prices.
Valuables including tools, gear, and luggage or much less likely to “walk off” when secured underneath a bed cover. They’ll also be sheltered from the elements outside. Who wants wet groceries? With fiberglass, metal, and leather options, there’s a great looking Tonneau cover to fit your style.
What Does Tonneau Mean?
The term Tonneau came from a French word that means “rear seating compartment of a vehicle.” Although the truck bed is not usually a seating compartment, the term Tonneau is commonly used to refer to any bed cover for a pickup truck.
How Does a Bed Cover Improve Gas Mileage?
It is a scientific fact that bed covers help improve gas mileage. Closed air truck beds tend to lower air resistance which means less drag.
As any Nascar or NHRA racer knows, less air resistance will allow drivers to drive faster and to save on gas. How? The air that flows over the front end of the truck, swerve into the deep recess of the truck’s bed and produces an opposite force. This slows the truck down like a parachute!
When you cover your truck bed with a smooth Tonneau cover, it is like streamlining your truck (and in the process saves about 10% of gas). SEMA recently conducted a study regarding the effect that bed covers have on the aerodynamics of pickup trucks. The SEMA study confirmed that bed covers do reduce drag, and as long as the Tonneau cover does not add a significant amount of weight to the vehicle, it will help improve fuel economy.
What Size Bed Cover Does My Truck Need?
Great question. While some Tonneau covers are universal, every truck’s bed is shaped differently. Whether you have a Ford F-150 or a Toyota Tacoma, you’ll want to make sure the cover you buy is compatible with the bed of your truck. Head over to our Truck Measurements Guide to find right right fit for your truck.
Do I Really Need a Tonneau Cover?
Purchasing a truck bed cover is a great investment with countless benefits. They protect against theft, water damage, and other elements. At the end of the day, they just make owning a pickup truck a lot more enjoyable. In my opinion, all truck owners should have a Tonneau cover for their vehicle.