The Extang Fulltilt vinyl tonneau that is on my truck has been installed since 2002 when the truck was purchased by my dad.

It is extremely simple to install and remove and can be done with one person. Whenever I know I am going to carry something that will not fit with the tonneau on, I remove it and store the tonneau cover indoors in my basement.

About a week or so ago, I noticed a split developing on the rear seam above the tailgate, pictured here:


The above picture shows the split in it's current size and condition. The tonneau has not been abused or misused, it has simple been removed and reinstalled several times over the course of the last 2 weeks. It has been cold out, and has been stored indoors where it is warm, which is where I fear the splitting may have occured due to the drastic temperature difference causing the vinyl to expand and contract quicky, thus cracking at the seam.

The split however is only in this spot. The rest of the tonneau is in perfect shape.

I just checked Extang's site and they have a 10 year limited warranty on the tarp from defective material or workmanship. I don't know exactly what caused this, so do you think it would be worth it to call them up and see if I could get a warranty claim out of it?

Failing Extang helping me on the warranty side, how would you go about repairing it, other than using duct tape and making it look like crap? I do not have the money to buy a new or used tonneau cover and I do not have the money to spend having it "professionally repaired". I need some DIY suggestions.





Thanks

 

Ouch.. I had that very same cover, I liked it but will go with a low profile roll-up type next time around. I hated having to use pliers to pull it down to snap it on, pita if you want it to have a snug fit.

There are vinyl and leather mending kits out there that you might try, and/or you could sew it all the way across with heavy duty thread- however it will obviously not have the same strength as before. Good luck man.

 

I don't think it can be sewn. Look closely and see that where it is split is actually above the sewn seam. The split is right on the rail basically.

My dad got a nice Trifecta folding tonneau on his '08 which is pretty sweet.

 

Why wouldn't you just send them an email? You pretty much have exactly what you should say as your first post, just copy and paste it then maybe change it a little so it makes sense.

 

it's saturday and it usually takes a day minimum for a reply, so i would rather phone on monday and speak to someone in person. if i send an email today i wont get a reply til monday at the earliest anyways.

 

use mighty mend it. its from billy mase.. the guy the only yells.

 

then i can clean up the mess with some shamwows,right? lol

 

Yeah, but you can't show them pictures over the phone.

 

exactly!!!!

 

camera phone ftw!

If they ask for photos, then i can simply email them after speaking to someone directly.

I'm probably just going to go with black duct tape, but all the way across the back is beginning to split, but has not seperated yet like the centre has. It's only going to get worse from where it is now.

 

give em a call, if that cover is from 02 youre good till 2012

 

yup, but they require the original receipt, of which we haven't found yet. Plus if I have to ship it out,I have to pay shipping and then I am also without a tonneau cover for some amount of time. I love the tonneau in the winter time so that my bed doesn't fill up with snow and water.

 

cover has a 10 year warranty on defect frame is life time

 

I had the same issue several years ago with my tonneau (forgot the name, but it was top of the line back then).
It had a lifetime warranty, but when I called about repairing the cover they said the lifetime warranty ONLY covers the aluminum frame WTF?!?!

After half an hour of arguing with them I gave up & made a frame to fit inside the bed rails out of treated wood & stapled the cover to the wood frame.
It's been on the truck ever since then, I even had to cut it down when I put the toolbox on the truck.

I gave up trying to deal with warranty service on most products years ago. Most of them aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

 

ok figure out your company this is a worthless post it does not apply to extang they will cover there "tarp" as long as it isnt a "cut" by knife his is a seam brake i wouldnt see any problem that is a malfunction from the manufacture it wasnt stitch correctly...



extangs warrenty


WARRANTY DURATION:
Lifetime Frame: Extang offers a lifetime warranty against defective materials or workmanship on all tonno rails, aluminum components, clamps, bows, hardware.

10 Year Tarp: Extang offers a 10 year warranty against defective materials or workmanship on the vinyl covering.

 

Mine isn't splitting where it is sewn. It is splitting above where it is sewn,where the vinyl transitions from the flat top to the downward angle where the snaps are. Thew sew line is on the angle above the snaps, not on the flat top where the split it taking place.

I don't think I am going to deal with the warranty. Even if they do grant it, I have to pay shipping and be without a tonneau. I think some black duct tape will have to do the trick to prevent it from getting any worse.

The warranty also excludes it from regular wear and tear.

 

the cover(fabric part) is around $100 new from the factory Toreador4x4 had to buy one full tilt because it got cut by a punk kid...


to me i dont see a problem with them covering it i would email them with pics. who ****ing cares if you dont have a cover for a few days when you get a new one free...? i dont see the problem seems like a waste of trying and foolish IMO...

 

Exact same problem I had with my cover (doesn't matter which brand it is, BTW).
The vinyl began ripping apart about 1/16" to 1/8" above the sewn seams & looked almost identical to yours (crazymike), except mine was ripping on the sides & corners.

Luckily, mine only ripped around the edges so I could just cut off the seams & pull it around my new treated wood frame.

Redneckstone: Sorry, I didn't have the brand name of my cover nor the Extang warranty info prior to posting.
I was simply sharing the experience with my cover & my solution after my warranty was of no use.

As crazymike indicates, this isn't really a manufacturing defect (probably more of an inherent design defect) as it's been on the vehicle for several years without issue, thus it's unlikely they'll cover the damage under warranty.

Hopefully they'll step up & send crazymike a brand new cover free of charge.

 

My issue of having no cover, which will most likely be more than 2 weeks, will be that I have no cover. I use my tonneau cover to keep snow and water out of my bed and when I am not working (moving furniture), I carry all my tarps,covers,tie downs,rope and straps in the bed, so the tonneau prevents them from blowing away or being taken. I keep my toolboxes,emergency kits and tow ropes in the ext cab. The only time I do not have the tonneau on my truck is when I am carrying something too large for it to be used. I hate not having a cover, and I hate shells/caps.

Waiting up to several weeks to receive a "free" tonneau that I have to pay shipping on (send mine there and pay for the new one when it arrives) is not worth the aggrivation and inconvenience at a time of year when having my tonneau cover installed is important to covering my stuff from the elements.

I am almost completely ruling out the idea of going for a wrranty claim, I am looking more for good DIY ideas to repair it before it splits all the way across and I have a home made duct tape tonneau cover.

 

WOW whats the worst that will happen , there not goign to come through the phone and try to kill you for calling them , the worst is no we will not repair it . Furthermore if the fabric riped its there problem , Dont tell them anything other than its ripped and you warrenty states it will be fixed .

Next as far as you whining because you wont have your cover , your getting it fixed for free , be happy .

 

umm go on craigslist, find a toolbox, put all your **** in there while the cover is out being repaired, when you get the cover back sell the toolbox

 

Fact of the matter is that shipping stuff cross border is a pain in the ***. Can't use a tool box because I move furniture and stuff and the toolbox robs me of bed space. Can't fit a 7 and a half foot sofa in the back of the truck with a toolbox in it, but I can with no toolbox and the tailgate down. I keep all my tools in the cab, but like to keep the covers and tarps in the bed under the tonneau when not in use because they take up too much room in the cab.

So, I really won't be getting a free cover if I pay shipping charges, and sending stuff from the US to Canada screws us on the canadian side because we pay import and brokerage fees if it sent through a courier service like UPS.

I'm just sayin, I'm in a financial situation where if I don't need to spend money on stuff for the truck, I'm not going to. If it's something that can be fixed, great, I save a bunch of money. It's obvious that vinyl tonneaus dont last forever, so to get 6 years out of this one, it's getting on in age.