Soft tonneau covers are a good investment for your truck. What better way to ensure that it’s installed properly other than doing it yourself? It does involve some work but it’s pretty exciting and saves you the cost of hiring a mechanic to do it for you. For a simple guide and some tips in getting it installed, read on!

Buy a tonneau cover – well, you won’t have anything to install unless you buy one. Make sure you have the correct dimensions and you have decided on which type to get. Soft tonneau covers are relatively easier to install than the hard types. Call your dealer to know which type of tonneau cover best fits your truck or search online to order one.

Get a tonneau cover kit – there are some do-it-yourself kits for making or mounting your own tonneau cover. These are pretty handy and relatively easy to install as long as you follow the instructions, or if you buy a pre-built tonneau cover…

Clipping the bars together – the tonneau cover will come with two sets of two identically sized rail bars. This step is pretty simple; just connect the rail bars within the truck bed – short ones connect to the long ones, forming a square. The ends should slide into place within the truck bed.

Almost there – the bars should fit snuggly into the insides of the truck. Connect the latches onto the sides of the walls where you’ll find screw holes. Once everything fits perfectly, hold down the rail bar and fasten the screws tightly with the use of a screwdriver.

Completing the setup – depending on the tonneau cover, it will either snap into place onto the rail bars or lock into place on the black rail bar. Give it a good shake to ensure everything has been attached properly, watch out for loose screws and you’re good to go! Also, a few tips for newly installed truck bed covers:

• Some truck beds have different sizes so make sure you get the right set of tonneau covers based on your truck model. There are model-specific covers and usually fit best so see if those are available from the store (i.e. there are Dodge tonneau covers for Dodge Ram trucks)

• Doing these with another set of hands saves up a lot of time so get extra drinks to reward your installation buddy.

• Maintenance is easy – just dust or wipe with damp cloth to remove dirt. Hard and retractable tonneau covers generally require more work to last longer so just read the manual for instructions.

• Tonneau covers improve your truck’s appearance so go out for a drive and be proud of your new equipment!