Our first sponsor provided discount code! how cool is that!?!
15% off a platinum or limited HD cover if you use the Code THELOWERED15
Drumroll Please!
I’m incredibly stoked to announce my sponsorship with Paragon bed covers! It’s not easy to find companies that are MADE IN USA. Not only have I found one, they were able to solve an issue I’d been chasing for years now!
Long term followers will know one of the first mods I did to Trucky Verde, after lowering her of course. Was to do the old shave the tailgate handle and flip it to the inside of the bed move. It’s an old but a goody and a mod I’ve always liked. As soon as I had the keys to Trucky Verde it was one of the mods I knew I wanted on my own truck. In fact I was so focused on completing one of my favorite mods that I never considered what was coming next. A bed cover.
Road tripping with my family is one of my favorite things. Trucky Verde is my daily driver and if we are going somewhere as a family it’s the vehicle we take. Trucky Verde is roomy and comfortable but if your going somewhere with four people and their luggage? Well the luggage has to go in the bed. Which is fine unless its raining or you have to stop somewhere. Especially now days. With the amount of crime and homlessness up and down the west coast, leaving something in the open bed of your truck is a real gamble. The thought of losing all my families clothes and stuff is real. This leads to perpetually moving everything from the bed to the cab. Whenever you want to stop and check something out or even just get a burger. As you can imagine this gets old real quick.
So yeah, I'd kinda hosed myself. Finding a low profile bed cover that can be unlocked from the outside was a real pain. Yes there are a few out there. As great as some of them look, I knew I didn't want a one piece fiberglass cover. Why? Well I’m definitely the guy that will randomly drag something home. Be it automotive or a garage sale find and sometimes that thing might not fit under the cover. If you’re out and about when you discover the thing? Well then you’re stuck trying to tie things down. Hoping you dont crack, tweak or break said massive fiberglass cover. I also value rear visibility, some foldable covers go up and out of the bed which is nice that they dont take up bed space. In exchange for that in bed space, you cant see your load or anything else out the back window for that matter. Then theres the roll up ones, like little garage doors. They roll up in a box at the cab side of the bed. So you lose just under a foot of bed space. That might be cool for long bed folks but the bed on my 05 GMC is the shortest of shorties so I didn't want to give up the space. Couple that with my desire for that old school low profile look of a tonneau cover. You know the leather or vinyl ones your cool uncle probably had on his step side with the snaps? But without the snaps.
So to re cap, I was holding out for a low profile, foldable or roll up cover. One that didn't block visibility. most importantly one that could be locked/unlocked from the outside with the tailgate up. A list of requirements that took me years to finally fulfill.
Enter Peragon!
https://www.peragon.com
Not only is their bed cover low profile, lockable and water tight it's made from metal panels! So I don’t have to worry about someone cutting or breaking into it! So much more secure than those old school leather or vinyl ones. I can put my families luggage or whatever in the bed, close it up and lock it and know it’ll all be there when you get back. Even better I can slide it open and it’s only takes up a few inches at the cab side if I need to put something tall in there. Problem solved
Now you guys know I don’t sugar coat or hold back even with my own sponsors. You guys know I share the good and bad of every mod and sponsor part. I am never gonna put my own gain over honesty with you. This has certianly not always gone well for me but I wouldn't have it any other way. That said, I’d like to think we are all capable of understanding there are pros and cons to everything. No matter how great something is nothing is perfect, including myself.
So lets jump in
My cover came in two boxes. Those boxes arrived at my door looking battle worn. Like they'd been delivered having been passed between the three mouths of Cerberus. Obviously Peragon cant do anything about how shippers ship. Thankfully Peragons commitment to quality starts coming through in the care and thought they put in their packaging. Boy is their stuff protected! Looking at the boxes, I was worried the bed cover or its parts would be damaged. Or I'd have missing pieces at the very least. I needn’t have been concerned. The folks at Peragon know what they are up against shipping wise and package accordingly. The parts are packaged and protected nicely. All the parts came out of their packing material looking fresh and new as intended! Boy was I relieved!
The large parts are shipped suspended in big blocks of styrofoam. These blocks not only protect from their travels to your door. They also double as assembly and installation stands. So the whole thing gets put together off the truck and off the ground. Easy peasy no scratches no scrapes. I love it when a company takes the time to solve issues before they ship a thing out. Small parts, like nuts, bolts and small bits came in a separate box. Individual parts separated bagged and sealed together by step as you need them. It’s well thought out and confidence inspiring. Getting the pieces out of their packages I was stoked by how great the parts and panels looked. When you buy something online it's a leap of faith. Until it shows up at your door all you can do is cross your fingers and hope for the best. Peragons coated parts have a nicely textured feel. Kind of somewhere between a high end cerekoate rifle and higher end bed liner. It’s hard to explain but whatever it is it’s nice. In my less than humble opinion. I think it goes perfectly with the stock plastics that go around the top edge of the bed rails and tailgate.
More on the Bed rails and tailgate plastics later.
You may have heard that old saying, “If you want to make God, laugh tell him your plans.” Or the car guy version. “Direct fit or bolt on!” Well there’s an exception to every rule.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have never in my life purchased or installed a part with better printed directions. Seriously these guys deserve some kind of award for best written installation manual. As if the drawings and instructions weren’t already clear and amazingly easy to understand, it also included QR code. This Code leads to a You Tube video, a step by step walk through of the installation. I was blown away by how well done it was. And because of the clarity of instruction the bed cover went together pretty seamlessly.
I did run into an issue that wasn't covered in the manual or the video. As I mentioned the frame of the cover is assembled off the bed on the provided styrofoam blocks.
It takes two people to gently carry it over once assembled and that part went smooth as silk. Peragon sells direct to the customer only but I was lucky enough to have the help of Alex and Bill the guys at Ultra TruckWorks Elk Grove. So I this part was easy. Once the frame is loosely installed to the bed per instruction. You bring the actual bed cover panels over in one pre assembled chunk. I appreciated the recommendation both in the printed and video material to wrap the pull strap around the cover for this part of the assembly. Well played!
It was the insertion of the foldable bed cover into the frame that we per instructions had our one and only issue. One selling point for me on this cover is the ability to close the cover fully so that it's all bunched up at the cab. Then you can slide one side out diagonally to completely remove the cover from its track. This allows you to stow it leaving only the frame on the bed rails. This is a neat feature. For things like motorcycle loading or if you wanted to say put a load or gravel or bark or something in the bed. Unfortunately because of my bed being so short we initially couldn't get the cover past the inner wheel wells. This was the one step that wasn’t addressed in the manual or the video. Because this was the first time I or my buddies at @ultra truck works Elk Grove had installed this cover we were positive it was something we were doing wrong.
Bright side, the issue required me to contact Pergons tech line. Not only were they fast, Rebecca and Jacob were patient, kind and on their game. After a brief phone conversation and a few pics sent. We determined our best option was to lift the passenger side rail off the bed just high enough for the folded cover planks to clear the beds inner fender. So due to the extreme shortness of my bed I won’t have this key feature which is a bit of a bummer. The length of the individual panels when closed is just long/tall enough that when you try and install or remove it by sliding it diagonal in the track the wheel well in the bed just gets in the way. Kind of a bummer as I do put a Honda Rukus in the bed now and again. This is an easy enough thing to over come. But if I want to remove the cover part completely I’ll need to loosen the frame from the bed. Pick it up off the bed to allow the cover to clear the inner wheel well. It's not that hard to do and it’s not something I can't work around. I doubt it will even will even impact me more than lets say once or twice a year. Still, kind of a bummer, this was the one over site in the printed manual and the video instructions. That said if I am honest. at least for me, it's not that big a deal. I have to think it’s something they could solve with the next generation. Maybe with shorter panels or some modification to the rail if they so choose.
Man sliding the Paragon cover closed for the first time I was almost giddy. I had pictured this for so long and it was finally real. I couldn't have been happier with how low profile the cover is when closed. it really has the old school Tonneau cover vibe I was shooting for. Upon installation the lock mechanism was a little tight. This is to be expected and is outlined in both the manual and the video. As they both state leaving the cover closed and in the sun for 48 hours compressed the seals. That time and with me showing it off to buddies and folks at the last cars and coffee. It's apparent that it's operation gets smoother with each use. Since it's not raining here in California I decided to test the water tightness by running Trucky Verde through my local car wash. Several times, back to back. Yes I got some sides looks as I was looping the building. Going through the wash again and again but you guys are worth it. I am happy to say the bed remained bone dry after several trips through a high pressure and sloppy bristle type car wash. SO whatever I end up locking in there will be safe and dry!
As I write this I have had the Peragon bed cover on now for a bit over a week. I gotta say I am in love. Its gotten me one major step closer to the look I had in my mind when I originally purchased Trucky Verde. I also have the piece of mind that I can leave stuff in the bed of my truck and it will be there when I get back. With the amount of crime and the homeless situation in the surrounding cities were I live this is a big deal. I couldn’t be more stoked or proud to show off a product that works so well and best of all is made right here in the USA!! If you need a cover for your truck and want to be able to lock and unlock without dropping the tailgate I cant recommend this one enough!
Hit up Peragon and get 15% off a cover for your truck with the code THELOWERED15
James
The Lowered HMFIC
The extended cut.
What took me so long to post this new awesomeness?
So before I go more in depth to how I cant help but make my own life harder. I want to say I did this next part to myself and Peragon was in no way part or parcel to my idiocy.
It seems I just cant do anything the easy way. Since I was installing the new bedcover I figured I’d better replace all original sun beat GM bed rail and tail gate plastics. They were holding up ok for being original stuff but years of being parked outside in the California sun had taken it’s tole. Greyed and splotchy instead of black and a bit warped.
I figured with Peragon being cool enough to sponsor me I wanted to make sure I was doing right by them. It wouldn't make sense to expect a bed cover to be water proof if the plastics I was mounting it on were old and warped right? Again this was all me not something Peraon recommended or had anything to do with. I am sure had I just left things alone and installed the cover it would have been perfectly fine.
Me being me, I called up the local GMC dealer and ordered all new GM factory stuff. Boy was it pricey! The bed rail covers came off easy. When we started taking the tail gate edge cover off the lower edge being held on by double sided tape. Tape that happened to pass over where some of the body work was done to shave the tailgate originally. Wouldn't you know it? Popped a big piece of body filler off right in the upper middle of the tailgate! SONOFABITCH! I felt terrible. The guys at Ultra truck works and I just stood there looking at the damage like a bunch of teenagers that had been horsing around and knocked grandmothers Urn off the fireplace mantle. We all stood there. Eyes going back and forth between the chunk of filler and paint stuck to the plastic guard and the hole on the tailgate… damnit!
When I started The Lowered I never thought It'd go this far. I certainly never thought it wouild become a community. Let alone the people or expeiances it would allow and inspire me to have. So I feel a deep responsibility to you guys, without your allowing me in your feeds. None of this would be possible. So when a company like Peragon sends me their product. While I am incrediobly honored and greatful I want to do it justice not only to them but to all of you.
I couldn’t shoot pics of their new cover on my truck with a huge chunk of missing paint! Thankfully the body shop that did the work originally was able to take the tail gate and get it redone within a week. Now the tailgate is the nicest body panel on the truck. What can you do? Yes, I am still glad that I shaved the tailgate handle. Stylistically, I think it looks night and day better. It’s also one of those mods most people recognize something is different but dont register it fully. When it comes to mods, subtle is kinda my jam. That said I cant think of any mod I’ve done thats caused me more issues. As my dad was so fond of saying, "cool costs money."
More pics to come! Thanks again to the folks at Peragon for not only believing in me and The Lowered enough to sponsor me but to offer the redemption code that saves all of you 15% off a platinum or limited HD cover if you use the Code THELOWERED15. How cool is that?!
I can't get over how low profile Peragons cover is! So bad ass!
James
The Lowered HMFIC
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