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Making Truck Bed Covers
Soft covers for a pickup bed or truck body can be a nice touch to any truck model. They can be made with materials that are inexpensive and available in the office supply sections of most stores.

Required Materials:
To make a cover for a truck bed you need materials to make the frame and the fabric for the cover. The frame can be made out of any thin metal rod. I have found that paper clips work well. For the fabric I used the vinyl cover from a three ring binder. These binders can be found in black, to use as a leather pickup bed cover, or different colors to use as a canvas color matched to a truck box.

Making the Frame:
The frame is made by bending the metal rod to make a frame around the top edge of the bed or truck box. Then make the desired number of bows to support the cover. Make sure the bows fit snuggly in the frame, but are not so long that they push your frame apart. Once they are all in place, glue them together.

To attach the cover frame to the truck, I glued to wood strips to the under side of the frame. Position the strips so that they fit tightly against the inside of the top of the truck bed. It is much easier to put these strips on now than it is after you have the cover on.


Putting on the Cover:
Cut a piece of the vinyl from the binder slightly larger than the frame. Place the vinyl on the frame and use a hair dryer or heat gun to warm the material up. Work the material with your fingers until drapes over bows. To complete your cover, glue the vinyl to the frame and trim the excess off of the edge.


copyright Copyright 2002 - Tallon Custom Collectableststar