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Special
Notice: Global Accessories, the
original manufacturer or Downey and
LeBra Tonneau Covers, has been
liquidated and it no longer sells
Tonneau Covers. We are working to
get a new Tonneau Cover Vendor online
and are looking at Lund, Extang, Truxedo,
and other brands to add to our
selection. We apologize for the
inconvenience in the meantime.
Soft Tonneau
Covers, (also spelled Tonno Covers )
are a popular way of securing cargo,
protecting it from the elements, and
saving on gasoline. Among the many
brands of coverings for pickup trucks,
Downey and Lebra are two of the pioneers
in the industry, having designed models
that require no drilling whenever
possible. By using aluminum frames and
specialized clamps, they have designed
system including the popular snap on,
channel lock, top mounted, lift (with
the same system found in car trunks) and
even glowing covers. On top of these,
the rolling (top spin) and tri-fold
(quick flip) covers make it possible to
choose how you want to cover your truck
bed. Some models allow you to mount the
frame and still use camper tops and
other hardware that mounts to the rails
of the truck. All of the tonneau covers
in our inventory are easy to install and
remove. We've even got glowing models
for truck enthusiasts who like to cruise
the town on Saturday nights.
How Does
the Tonno Cover Save Gas?
If you've watched the Mythbusters show
on cable television, you may remember
the show where a truck was driven with
the gate down while another was driven
with the gate up. It turned out that the
truck with the gate up got better
mileage because the scooping motion of
the truck created an air vortex that
channeled air over the pickup bed. Two
problems with this simulation are that
you probably want a tailgate on the back
of your truck and you're still creating
drag by scooping up all that air. A
better solution is to turn the truck bed
into a flat surface that does not scoop
up air and create any drag at all! Just
about any tonneau cover will do this for
you. The consensus among drivers is that
you can save from 7-11% on gas
consumption, but obviously this depends
on how far and how fast you drive. Many
of our customers are rural farm workers
and contractors, so they drive long
distances on a daily basis, because for
some reason the job is never next to
your home, and if it is then you need to
go and get something (animal feed,
anyone?) that isn't. Sure enough, you
don't want to leave your tools and
perishables in the rain, and even out in
the country there are lots of prying
eyes, so those expensive tools might be
better off out of sight. Even if you're
just driving in the city and do too much
stop-and-go to save gas, your tonneau
cover is still an insurance policy.
Even though the
price of gasoline has gone down over the
past couple of months, the Tonneau Cover
is still an economical idea, just as it
was before the gas crisis. Vinyl
tonneaus reduce the overall cost of gas
in addition to securing goods from theft
and loss. For those of you who have
loose trash in the back of your truck,
you know that you can sometimes buy 2
tonneau covers for the price of a single
littering ticket. You're also adding to
the overall value of your vehicle. You
can even buy tonneaus that protect
against heavy snow, and anyone who has
had to shovel out a truck bed will see
the value of the LeBra or Downey model
tonno cover.
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