Water leaks from bed rail caps.

[452Ranger]

I have a Lomax tonneau cover that works great but it doesn't fully cover the bed rails. I noticed leaks from the bed rail caps and the only fix I could think of was to seal around the caps with clear silicon. I think this would be the same with any tonneau cover that doesn't fully cover the bed rail caps.

Anyone else had this issue?

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[CACTUSGREYFX4]

That was the main reason I got a cover that sits on the rails. Cover doesn't leak it all the holes in the bed. Thank's Ford.

 

[oldskoolarcher]

Yes, same here. Poor design in my opinion. My Softopper meets the bed rails directly in the middle of the stake pockets, so any rain/water that runs off the topper flows directly to the pockets and into the bed.

I’ve been trying to buy replacement caps and then permanently sealing the holes in them from the bottom, but they’re backordered.

 

[craigc]

Yes, same here. Poor design in my opinion. My Softopper meets the bed rails directly in the middle of the stake pockets, so any rain/water that runs off the topper flows directly to the pockets and into the bed.

I’ve been trying to buy replacement caps and then permanently sealing the holes in them from the bottom, but they’re backordered.

One of my friends just showed me his new Colorado Trail Boss truck last night, and I noticed Chevy encased the channel under the bed cap holes in steel so that drains to the outside. However, I do think the bed was smaller. Definitely not 4ft between the wells, and overall that extra steel took up interior bed space too. So Ford's design I think is better, but just wish they had used a gasket on those plastic seals since I think it's safe to say the large majority of owners will not be removing them for a topper.

 

[ag02m5]

Amazingly poor design.

 

[patc890]

I have a Lomax tonneau cover that works great but it doesn't fully cover the bed rails. I noticed leaks from the bed rail caps and the only fix I could think of was to seal around the caps with clear silicon. I think this would be the same with any tonneau cover that doesn't fully cover the bed rail caps.

Anyone else had this issue?

Yes I had the same problem. I sealed around the caps with clear silicon. I don't intend to use them.

 

[Jeffola]

SO I had also been frustrated by the ingress of water into the bed. I went a bought a roll of Flexseal 4” in black. I cut six 2 1/4” X 4” rectangles and placed them over the pockets. It rained last night and one of the six had a raised corner and allowed water in. This weekend I will remove my Tonno cover, pull the bed rail caps off, and place a layer of Sign making vinyl (Orcal 651) under the entire cap, and put it all back together. This is a really horrid design.

 

[Harlequin_Forest]

SO I had also been frustrated by the ingress of water into the bed. I went a bought a roll of Flexseal 4” in black. I cut six 2 1/4” X 4” rectangles and placed them over the pockets. It rained last night and one of the six had a raised corner and allowed water in. This weekend I will remove my Tonno cover, pull the bed rail caps off, and place a layer of Sign making vinyl (Orcal 651) under the entire cap, and put it all back together. This is a really horrid design.

I was looking into removing the caps for some prep work and FYI these won't be easy to remove with the intent to reuse them. There are multiple clips that are inaccessible from the outside of the bed (between sheet metal through undercarriage). I removed the tail light to access the rear most clip but I gave up on the last 3-4 clips towards the front of the bed.

Keep this post updated on how that goes. I'll likely order some replacements just in case when I try to seal up for my cover as well.

The more I poke around the more I'm just baffled by the poorly thought out designs here

 

[Jeffola]

Had some time today. Took off the bed caps. It’s like friggin Swiss cheese under there. I cleaned up and dropped a layer of Orcal 651 (whatever color I wanted to get rid of). Popped holes in the vinyl for the caps to go back on. Later siliconed those penetrations from below. Then you can put your taillights back.

We she’ll see.

 

[1986YellowRanger]

What type of clips, and is there a part number or close-up picture? Also, does the cap pop off similar to a door panel where you just have to pull until you think you are going to break it? I'm going to do the same thing as others, but I'm thinking about laying a bead of clear calk under the outer lip and on the forward edge... Most of the water is coming in on the front corner of the bed where the wind pushes the water around the cab and under the rail cap.

 

[GLW]

Yes, same here. Poor design in my opinion. My Softopper meets the bed rails directly in the middle of the stake pockets, so any rain/water that runs off the topper flows directly to the pockets and into the bed.

I’ve been trying to buy replacement caps and then permanently sealing the holes in them from the bottom, but they’re backordered.

Same here. The retrax cover partially covers the stake pockets pretty much directing water to “enter here.”
I’ve spent a good amount of time trying to plug up every opening i could find to eliminate dust entering the bed and hopefully reduce water from entering the bed as well. This stake pocket issue was letting in an unacceptable amount of water into the bed.
So, I took a nylon pry tool and lifted up the pocket cover and squirted in a good amount of gorilla clear silicone under the pocket cover. Then I carefully caulked around the three visible edges of the cover (the retrax seal keeps water out of the 4th edge). Problem solved (well, so far)! It was incredibly easy and if I need to redo every couple of years so be it.
Gary

 

[MattZ]

I just put some black caulk around the caps and it seems to work pretty well.

 

[Ag3ntC00p3r]

Same here. The retrax cover partially covers the stake pockets pretty much directing water to “enter here.”
I’ve spent a good amount of time trying to plug up every opening i could find to eliminate dust entering the bed and hopefully reduce water from entering the bed as well. This stake pocket issue was letting in an unacceptable amount of water into the bed.
So, I took a nylon pry tool and lifted up the pocket cover and squirted in a good amount of gorilla clear silicone under the pocket cover. Then I carefully caulked around the three visible edges of the cover (the retrax seal keeps water out of the 4th edge). Problem solved (well, so far)! It was incredibly easy and if I need to redo every couple of years so be it.
Gary

I installed my Retrax last night. This is what I did for the stake pockets.

I removed the stake pocket covers.
Put some rubber grommets in the holes.
Put a bead of silicone on the rails that are under the covers.
Put the stake pocket covers back on.
Ran a bead of silicone around all four edges of the stake pockets.
Installed Retrax.

I have a tailgate seal kit coming next week. Hopefully all that will reduce water/dust intrusion as much as possible.

 

[Iconic_Ag_R-RAPTOR]

I installed my Retrax last night. This is what I did for the stake pockets.

I removed the stake pocket covers.
Put some rubber grommets in the holes.
Put a bead of silicone on the rails that are under the covers.
Put the stake pocket covers back on.
Ran a bead of silicone around all four edges of the stake pockets.
Installed Retrax.

I have a tailgate seal kit coming next week. Hopefully all that will reduce water/dust intrusion as much as possible.

Please provide link or part # to the seal kit you have ordered.

 

[Iconic_Ag_R-RAPTOR]

Please provide a link or part # to the seal kit you ordered

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