Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock.

Posted By: Mud Pig

Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/06/13 09:49 PM

I just got off the phone with Summit Racing in a last ditch effort to see if some manufacturer makes a tonneau cover for the short bed stepside dodges of the late 70's. The guy helping me tried everything he could to see if someone makes one, with no luck. I know I've seen some guys with tonneau covers on that truck bed before.

Any help would be appreciate, especially if you have a part number.

Posted By: V10nacuda

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/06/13 11:26 PM

Good luck...... Not sure if you live in an area with Amish.... I have seen alot of them make similar specialty covers...

Posted By: Daty Rogers

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/06/13 11:33 PM

If you're looking for a soft cover buy a standard cover, cut the frame down, then take it to a local upholstry shop to get it covered.

-Daty

Posted By: NITROUSN

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/07/13 12:03 AM

Truxedo will custom make one. We just did one for a 77 chev stepside.

Posted By: scratchnfotraction

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/07/13 12:40 AM

another member here on moparts with a green stepside used a hardshell top from a Dakota.

it fit good and was ez to fab a hinge/supports for it.IIRC

sure looks good and I have been waiting to find a good one for my 85 stepside.

Posted By: 11secdart

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/07/13 01:11 AM

Just have one custom made by an upholstery shop. I had one custom made for my D150 20 years ago and its still in great shape and the cost wasn`t much more than a store bought one.

Attached picture 7578074-IMG_0174.JPG

Posted By: Mud Pig

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/07/13 04:35 AM

Quote:

Just have one custom made by an upholstery shop. I had one custom made for my D150 20 years ago and its still in great shape and the cost wasn`t much more than a store bought one.

Interesting, were the receiving buttons welded onto the truck or are there rails under the cover?

Thanks for the pointers everyone.

Posted By: BulletBob

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/07/13 08:07 AM

Quote:

Just have one custom made by an upholstery shop. I had one custom made for my D150 20 years ago and its still in great shape and the cost wasn`t much more than a store bought one.

I've had a few made over the years because the aftermarket industry has totally overlooked our trucks

Posted By: redraptor

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/07/13 12:00 PM

Quote:

Interesting, were the receiving buttons welded onto the truck or are there rails under the cover?

No, they're screwed on. Similar to how my truck was done when I bought it.

I found someone locally who made custom frame tonno covers and had one done. He's since gone out of business i think.

Posted By: Golden-Arm

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/07/13 06:14 PM

truxedo, and no holes to drill in the rails of your bed. snaps eventually stop snapping, and thats a lot of holes to drill, and possibly start rusting, down the road.

Posted By: 11secdart

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/08/13 12:40 AM

Pop rivets hold the snaps in place, a little note on why the snaps are so far from the top of the body. I took it to a friends upholstery shop originally to have it done , well he didn`t custom make it he bought it from a catalog and put it on and put the snaps were they are now " TOO LOW". I took it to another shop a few months later and he custom made the one on there now. The one on my Hemi Q.C. has the rails that attach to the top of the bed, I bought it from Summit, I think its an Extang and haven`t had any problems except when its cold its hard to pull the cover to snap all the snaps.

Attached picture 7579346-IMG_0173.JPG

Posted By: NITROUSN

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/08/13 12:48 AM

Quote:

Quote:

Just have one custom made by an upholstery shop. I had one custom made for my D150 20 years ago and its still in great shape and the cost wasn`t much more than a store bought one.

Interesting, were the receiving buttons welded onto the truck or are there rails under the cover?

Thanks for the pointers everyone.

The rails attach to the inside of the bed. The cover rolls out and attaches to the rails with a special velcro. No snaps or plastic tabs to mess with. They show pics on the web site.

Posted By: 340SHORTY

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/08/13 07:10 AM

How do the rails attach to the bed ??

Posted By: NITROUSN

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/09/13 04:05 AM

Quote:

How do the rails attach to the bed ??

Self taping screws or grip zerks.

Posted By: 85_Ram_4speed

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/09/13 01:41 PM

Quote:

another member here on moparts with a green stepside used a hardshell top from a Dakota.

it fit good and was ez to fab a hinge/supports for it.IIRC

sure looks good and I have been waiting to find a good one for my 85 stepside.

Thanks for the props Scratchy.

Yes, It was pointed out to me several years ago when I was looking that a Dakota would fit the stepside--as far as overall dimensions. I came across a hard cover from a Moparts member at that time for $100. Up until that point, I was going to buy a Extang full tilt model as that is what is on my Dakota and wifre '95 Ram and I love those covers.

I did have to drill holes into the top of my rails to attach the covers rails and I had to remove the hydraulic props and latching hardware because of interference issues and will have to modify these later (6 years later I still haven't got to it although it should be a pretty simple project from what I can see). The issue was a regular pickup bed has a under rail area for things to mount and hide without drilling, a step side does not have that as the under rail part is on the outside of the bed. If you use the right length screws you will not see anything from the outside. You really have to bend way down and under my truck to see the bolts going through. Only down side is if I ever remove it I will have holes in the rails that would have to be welded back shut--but I don't ever intend to do that.

But the best part was I was able to paint it to color coordinate it to the truck.

Posted By: redraptor

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/10/13 01:16 PM

Quote:

I did have to drill holes into the top of my rails to attach the covers rails The issue was a regular pickup bed has a under rail area for things to mount and hide without drilling, a step side does not have that as the under rail part is on the outside of the bed.

That IS an issue. Fortuneatly I found a bedrail clamp that I could modify to use the sideboard screws on my LRE and didn't have to drill the top rail. Not a fix for a regular utiline though.

Posted By: 77ProStreet

Re: Can't seem to find a tonneau cover for my 76 Warlock. - 02/10/13 04:28 PM

Kind of a side question.

Has anyone used a hard shell(fiberglass) tonneau cover for their regular bed trucks 72-93?