King cab bed cover

[Ianos]

Hi all

First post on Ratsun! Just got myself a 2L KC 5speed... Beautiful all original truck. Was in Oregon for most of its life, then moved to Italy and now in Ireland with me... I'm in love. 

The issue is the rain here.. so I'm looking for a nice fitted cover for the rear.. if anyone has an suggestions do pass them on. 

Cheers!!

[Bleach]

The kingcab bed is the same bed found on the standard cab short bed. So, if you happen to find a vintage bed cover for the regular bed, it will fit.

 

For weather protection, I think a flat fiberglass cover is best. I don't think those were ever made back in the 1980s so you're not really going to find one except for a few custom made covers that are impossible to find these days. Make one yourself I guess :)

 

[]2eDeYe]

The 99ish Toyota Tacoma kingcab has a similar sized bed and you can use the newer style bed covers available for it with some mods.

 

Sorry I don't have more detail but I haven't bought one yet

[Ianos]

1 hour ago, ]2eDeYe said:

The 99ish Toyota Tacoma kingcab has a similar sized bed and you can use the newer style bed covers available for it with some mods.

 

Sorry I don't have more detail but I haven't bought one yet

What sort of mods are we talking about. . . ? Sounds like a good option ! 

[]2eDeYe]

something about making some angle pieces or modifying the mounts to fit the datsun rails. 

It was a couple fb post a long while back. 

[5t341tH]

Pre 2003 Tacoma bed tonneau cover works. I use it

[yenpit]

22 hours ago, Ianos said:

Hi all

First post on Ratsun! Just got myself a 2L KC 5speed... Beautiful all original truck. Was in Oregon for most of its life, then moved to Italy and now in Ireland with me... I'm in love. 

The issue is the rain here.. so I'm looking for a nice fitted cover for the rear.. if anyone has an suggestions do pass them on. 

Cheers!!

 

Ireland.....welcome!  You've got a few cars listed in your signature!  I was just reading that most "mini trucks" had very similar bed dimensions, but of course, short bed vs long bed.  I'm selling a 620 short bed "cap" to a buddy with a 521, dimensions were very close, so fingers crossed it fits!  I read that the biggest issue is later truck beds, is that they have different upper rails, so the later/newer the bed cover you look at, you will likely need to fab up some mounting brackets etc.  Good luck!

[klam07]

I actually had a similar dilemma a short while ago, that I still haven't solved. Here is the result of my research...! Lol

 

https://raybuck.com/pickup-truck-bed-size-dimensions/

 

This is a pretty great website and resource for finding out similar truck bed dimensions. The Datsun bed they have listed is a short bed, and measures up to ~76x60 inches outside dimensions. If I recall, the inside dimensions were about ~72x56"?

 

There are a lot of trucks with similar sized beds, since the length is considered a pretty standard 6' bed - but Ive found its the width thats always the problem.

This is a list of trucks with similar dimensions - that could work (all inches sorry). Only problem then would be, if they made them or an equivalent in your country so that you could find an aftermarket!

- 81-87 Isuzu Shortbed - 76x58.5 --- this might be one of your best options?

- Mitsu Triton/Raider if you have those

- 83-93 S10/Sonoma - 75x60
- 94-04 S10/Sonoma - 76x62
- 86-2011 Mazda Shortbox - 76x60, 75.5x61.5
- 83-97 Nissan Shortbed/Kingcab - 75-76 x 59.5
- 02-04 Frontier crewcab longbox - 76.25x59.5
- 98-04 Frontier Kingcab - 76.25x59.5
- 95-04 Tacoma Shortbed - 76.25x60.25

 

Another thing to consider is the bed rails. Most trucks have a 'channel' shape, which lets aftermarket covers use clamps to hold the frame for the covers. The 620 doesnt have this channel and instead has a slant making it impossible to clamp to from the inside. This is why most of what Ive seen on Facebook etc. have been this style bed cover that uses a snapping/button system, and often a frame that has to bolt onto the top of the bed rails. Theoretically, you could fasten a piece of steel or aluminum on the side of the 620 bed and make a similar channel to clamp to. I drew up some quick n dirty diagrams of this.

 

Short answer is, older Tacoma/ Toyota Pickup tonneau/bed covers have been used with success, but to my knowledge only the button style - which to me has a lot of downfalls in terms of useability. I'd prefer the tri-fold and vinyl soft roll-up styles but they all need a channel to clamp to or lock against. I tried 2005+ Tacoma tri-fold cover and although it could have worked, it overhung 1" on each side so it looked silly. Length was good though. I have yet to find a Mazda, Nissan, or early GM cover to try, but they would all be promising alternatives.

My most recent plan was to take the rails/frame of an old beat up Tonneau and buy my own vinyl - so I could lengthen or make narrower as needed by cutting the frame parts down. But covid delayed my vinyl order for months so I put it on pause.

 

Hope this helps! Theres a good few options, but Im not sure about availability across the pond. But, good thing is its a pretty standard size for older trucks, so you may be able to take something similar and modify it fairly easily to suit your truck! Good luck, and if you find a good option Id love to know about it!

Edited September 3, 2020 by klam07

[AlexDeLarge]

On 9/3/2020 at 7:00 PM, klam07 said:

I actually had a similar dilemma a short while ago, that I still haven't solved. Here is the result of my research...! Lol

 

https://raybuck.com/pickup-truck-bed-size-dimensions/

 

This is a pretty great website and resource for finding out similar truck bed dimensions. The Datsun bed they have listed is a short bed, and measures up to ~76x60 inches outside dimensions. If I recall, the inside dimensions were about ~72x56"?

 

There are a lot of trucks with similar sized beds, since the length is considered a pretty standard 6' bed - but Ive found its the width thats always the problem.

This is a list of trucks with similar dimensions - that could work (all inches sorry). Only problem then would be, if they made them or an equivalent in your country so that you could find an aftermarket!

- 81-87 Isuzu Shortbed - 76x58.5 --- this might be one of your best options?

- Mitsu Triton/Raider if you have those

- 83-93 S10/Sonoma - 75x60
- 94-04 S10/Sonoma - 76x62
- 86-2011 Mazda Shortbox - 76x60, 75.5x61.5
- 83-97 Nissan Shortbed/Kingcab - 75-76 x 59.5
- 02-04 Frontier crewcab longbox - 76.25x59.5
- 98-04 Frontier Kingcab - 76.25x59.5
- 95-04 Tacoma Shortbed - 76.25x60.25

 

Another thing to consider is the bed rails. Most trucks have a 'channel' shape, which lets aftermarket covers use clamps to hold the frame for the covers. The 620 doesnt have this channel and instead has a slant making it impossible to clamp to from the inside. This is why most of what Ive seen on Facebook etc. have been this style bed cover that uses a snapping/button system, and often a frame that has to bolt onto the top of the bed rails. Theoretically, you could fasten a piece of steel or aluminum on the side of the 620 bed and make a similar channel to clamp to. I drew up some quick n dirty diagrams of this.

 

Short answer is, older Tacoma/ Toyota Pickup tonneau/bed covers have been used with success, but to my knowledge only the button style - which to me has a lot of downfalls in terms of useability. I'd prefer the tri-fold and vinyl soft roll-up styles but they all need a channel to clamp to or lock against. I tried 2005+ Tacoma tri-fold cover and although it could have worked, it overhung 1" on each side so it looked silly. Length was good though. I have yet to find a Mazda, Nissan, or early GM cover to try, but they would all be promising alternatives.

My most recent plan was to take the rails/frame of an old beat up Tonneau and buy my own vinyl - so I could lengthen or make narrower as needed by cutting the frame parts down. But covid delayed my vinyl order for months so I put it on pause.

 

Hope this helps! Theres a good few options, but Im not sure about availability across the pond. But, good thing is its a pretty standard size for older trucks, so you may be able to take something similar and modify it fairly easily to suit your truck! Good luck, and if you find a good option Id love to know about it!

I read on another website that this cover works for the 620. Here is a quote from a user on the datsunmimitruckin site, "this is an Extang rail system tonneau cover off a hardbody. dimensions are perfect on the rails and the cover for a datsun bed. the only mod i did was to bend the clamps slightly to clamp on the inside of the datsun bed. u also have the option to add hinges and a couple strongarms so that the cover can lift open from the rear." I assume this is what he is referring to: https://www.autoanything.com/tonneau-covers/60A1074A0A0.aspx

 

(sorry for the photofucket )

[5t341tH]

Mine is made for a 94-2004 Tacoma. They come with rails that attach to the bed with clamps but with our old style beds, the clamps wont work. I had holes drilled into my bed already so I just drilled into the rails provided. Then the tonneau cover just snaps into place with clips

here's an example

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tonneau-Cover-Hidden-Snap-for-Toyota-Tacoma-Pickup-Truck-6ft-Short-Bed/371503558389?epid=4021385570&hash=item567f566ef5:g:xXcAAOSw~G1fc4lA

[EDM620]

I will be looking into that when my truck gets closer to completion. I have a 1 piece hard tonneau on my F150 to keep weather outta the box, my only complaint about it is that fully open is still quite limiting on what I can carry inside. I had put one of those roller-type retractable covers on my daughters Ridgeline and that worked good except for the loss of say 8" of bed length due to the assembly. What I've seen of the vinyl covers is that the material shrinks from UV & weather and eventually can't be closed off again.

 

If I were to go with a vinyl cover, instead of snaps I'd prefer to use the hook & rail method that Bestop uses on the Jeep Supertop - I had that on my CJ5 and the fit was nice and snug plus no worries about snaps tearing out of the material. I figure I'd get the cover made locally and make up the rail to fit on top of the bedrail just over the outside edge. A couple of hardwood bows like those on the front bow area on a boat or even fiberglass tent poles and should be good to go.

[Julian Leonardo]

I have a 620 long bed and was looking for the snap style tonneau cover. Does anyone know of a good lead for that size?

[Preacher]

16 hours ago, Julian Leonardo said:

I have a 620 long bed and was looking for the snap style tonneau cover. Does anyone know of a good lead for that size?

Go to your local upholstery shop, they can make you a custom one. You can either get it done in vinyl or convertible top material. The convertible top material is the more expensive option, however, it’s the better of the two and will last longer. You can choose between black or chrome snaps. The black snaps look the best, in my opinion. 

[stingraylx1]

I used Berlin Boat Covers for my 85 720, good service. I just bought a 620 and will Berlin for the 620 in future. I pasted my email from 2015 for the 720 cover, still in good shape at 6 years
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Bowman <jeff@berlinboatcovers.com>
To: mseve
Cc: jeff <jeff@berlinboatcovers.com>
Sent: Tue, Jan 27, 2015 9:01 am
Subject: Re: Berlin Boat Covers: Tonneau Truck cover
 

 

 

[stingraylx1]

 

 

 

[Gery]

I have a rollbar in the bed, so I needed one to fit around that.  Frustrated with searching, I decided to make one....a soft tonneau.  Using a large single piece of marine vinyl fabric, I cur to size.  I DID NOT do this with measurements, but by clipping onto the bed and cutting.  I then sewers 1.5” poly webbing on the top perimeter.  Next I installed stainless snap bases ar regular intervals around the bed edge. Only then, did I start installing the snap covers through the webbing and vinyl fabric.  This allowed me to achieve adequate tautness across the bed.  Because there was still some unavoidable sag in the tonneau that would only get worse in the rain, I fashioned two cross members out of aluminum rectangular tubing.  I left a flange on each end to sit upon the bed rail and used industrial Velcro at the points of contact to hold the rails in place, but also make them easily removable.  The whole deal was less than $100 and I get people asking about it and asking me to make them one. It has been in place for 6 months and nary a problem.

[klam07]

@Gery Do you have any pictures of it by chance? I wanted to do something similar but use the tonneau rails/ends from a different truck and cut them to fit - then cut my own vinyl to match. I eventually gave up as my vinyl order got delayed for months when the lockdown kicked in.