Putting a tonneau cover on your vehicle is one of the best upgrades you can add to your pickup. This informational guide explains the benefits that tonneau covers provide.

If you've got a truck, adding a tonneau cover to your bed is an absolute must. Not only are tonneaus useful in any situation, they provide loads of essential benefits, including:

• Organized storage for whatever you're hauling in your truck bed, plus the bonus of keeping a lid on loose items

• Coverage from potentially damaging weather conditions, like rain, snow and extreme sun

• Complete coverage of your payload that keeps your cargo out of sight from potential theft

• An immediate improvement in gas mileage with tight, aerodynamic materials covering your otherwise drag-prone open bed

• Sleek looks that range from smooth leather grain patterns to ultra-custom color matched style

Tonneau Cover Storage Basics

You haul everything from hardware to the occasional load of groceries in the back of your truck. A tonneau cover helps keep a lid on all of it, shielding your cargo from the blowing winds of freeway driving and all kinds of pounding wet weather. It's an easy way to make sure nothing disappears from your bed while you're driving or parked.

A guide to protecting your gear from the weather with a tonneau cover

Even simple cover over your gear can help prevent weather damage. Tonneau covers take protection a few steps further though, with some ingenious design features. For instance, most tonneau covers employ strategically-placed weather seals that channel water away from your cargo. And, many models use raised and arched support bows to encourage moisture runoff. While no bed cover is completely water-tight, most will do an outstanding job of keeping your gear high and dry in nasty weather.

Tonneau Security: A Quick Reference

When your cargo is out of sight, it's out of a would-be thief's mind. Tonneau covers make the contents of your truck bed a mystery, giving you confidence that your belongings will be right where you left them.

Beyond simple coverage, tonneau covers offer higher levels of security, depending on the model. Most hinged (lift-up) tonneau covers can be fully-secured using a locking tailgate. Hard top and retractable tonneaus generally have secure key locking systems that latch closed at the tailgate.

With a variety of security measures, a good tonneau cover makes your truck bed far more versatile than ever before — ideal for use as a hauler or hiding spot.

Gas Mileage and Tonneau Covers: The Basics

Trucks are getting taller, engines are bigger, payloads are getting deeper and the traffic is thicker than ever. You can probably hear big oil companies laughing with their fistfuls of cash every time the pump takes a big bite from your spending money. A tonneau cover helps you even the score in one of the only ways you can - by prolonging your next trip to the service station.

Open truck beds can be a huge drag on your gas mileage. As air flows over the aerodynamic front end of your vehicle, it can swirl into your bed and catch on your tailgate — stealing several miles off your latest tank.

Covering your truck bed with a tight tonneau cover — even a soft model — stops the tailgate drag. Air hits the taut surface of a hard or soft tonneau cover and continues past your vehicle with nothing to catch. And, it saves you mileage without crazy tailgate removal or potentially damaging open-gate driving.

How much savings? A 5% improvement in fuel economy is the industry-wide accepted number, though up to 10% is possible. Your vehicle could see bigger or smaller effects. Still, the idea is simple: a tonneau cover will save gas and eventually pay for itself.

Great tonneau cover looks: a quick guide

A smooth tonneau cover adds custom truck style to bland uncovered truck beds. Each tonneau cover we offer sports a custom fit to the dimensions of your specific year, make and model. The result is a special fit and exact appearance that was made for your truck.

Tonneau covers can add any level of extra smart appearance to your truck. Soft tonneau covers stretch tight, not just for improved mileage but also for style. With a variety of lid materials, retractable tonneau covers are the kings of the low-profile smooth factor. Hard top tonneau covers are the ultimate in custom looks: molded-over edges, seamless fitting and optional paint matching.

A Guide to the History of Tonneau Covers

Tonneau covers (also known as truck bed covers, bed lids or truck lids) have evolved from a number of versions designed for a variety of uses. Because many crude bed cover designs existed over the years, no one person or company can lay claim as the originator of the tonneau cover.

Soft covers gained prominence while playing an important roll on major speedways. Top-class sport truck racers used these flexible bed covers as a lightweight way to improve their aerodynamics and reduce drag. These racetrack tonneau covers sat flush with the top of the bed and employed the same heavy-duty materials used in today's soft covers.

Hard top tonneau covers grew in popularity as an alternative to full-size camper shells. These highly-customized truck bed lids, most commonly made from fiberglass, have evolved into tonneaus using a variety of materials and opening mechanisms.