Rifle,
So far the Retrax cover has been fairly watertight. I've only had my new one installed for about 3 weeks now. We get a lot of rain this time of year in Seattle, so if it leaked bad, I'd know!! I'll admit, I've been lazy and had not installed the drain tubes yet so I'm not too sure how they will work in the bed. I haven't looked too close, but I think there may already be two drain holes in the bed. I have a rubber mat so will probably have to cut a hole in that.
I really like my new Tacoma, but must admit that there are some design issues with the box that are kind of rediculous. You wouldn't notice until you install something like a cover. Why are the front bed rails and the tailgate lower than the sides of the bed?? Retrax supplied an extra thick piece of weatherstripping to increase the height of the front rail so that it became watertight when the cover is installed. Also, the cover itself has an extra large piece of rubber seal so that when the cover is closed it seals against the tailgate. (This is the area that I could possibly see some water getting in, but so far it has done the trick).
The canister would normally only take up about 12" of space, but because of the design of the Tacoma, it has to take up 18". This applies to the short box - I'm not sure about the long box. If you look in the bed of your truck, you'll notice that the wheel wells extend all the way to the front of the box. I know it's only a 5' bed, but I don't think they would to have extended them all the way to the front. About 6 inches from the front of the box, the wheel wells are "notched" out a little. This is where the canister must sit so that it can get low enough. This same "notched" out are could have been done at the front of the box instead!! The top cover that Retrax sends is a little larger than most that they supply for most trucks to take up some of the "wasted" space. My brother-in-law bought one at the same time for his Dodge Dakota and it fit perfectly at the very front of the bed. I was a little dissapointed when I installed the cover because of this, but when it was on, it sure looked good and I won't dwell on it. I have a feeling that all manufacturers of rolltop covers had to deal with this situation, but I'm not sure how they handled it.
Other than that it's a great cover. Much better than the one for my Dodge Ram. The current versions are flat from the front to back (including the cover on top of the canister). My old one had a cover that sat up about a inch or so right behind the cab. Much more sleek looking.
Anyway, any other questions, just let me know.
Scott
