Another DIY 2-Door Cargo/Tonneau Cover

I got tired of worrying about my golf clubs in the back of the Bronco while the top is off or having my suitcase rained on while the top is off over the summer. With no off the shelf options and a few photos/DIY accounts here, I decided to build my own cover.

I used 3/4" plywood, some foam boat flooring scraps and some vinyl to put it all together. All in I probably have 6-8 hours into the project. Maybe 2 hours to get the basic shape and the rest was sanding, finishing details (gotta match the angles on the roll cage right??) and then wrapping.

Started off making a template of the rear piece out of cardboard (not shown) then put that on a piece of plywood that was 63" x 48" to trace and cut.



Realized that there was some weatherstrip and such in the way so I cut two strips of 1/4 inch plywood to raise the cover above that. Also made it easy to locate the bolt holes on easy to manage small pieces.

The leftover piece was the rear of my cover, just had to cut out the pieces around the roll cage and a couple small relief cuts around the plastics behind the door.



Then I traced the body lines on the underside of the plywood using a miniature sharpie



Then cut it slightly large with a small circular saw and jigsaw then sanded down to my lines.

Because it was all cut out of the same piece, it fit together perfectly (a little too perfect, I ended up having to sand the cut edges a bit to make room for the fabric later)




Then I cut some small wedges to make the cover tighter to the roll cage and added a second layer of plywood under the rear curve (trimmed /sanded after it was glued instead of trying to cut that curve again) to fill the large gap there. Unfortunately I ended up sanding too much to get them to match and left a small gap. I got some leftover foam flooring from a boat project and stuck it over the rear curve. Worked great to cover the gap, give me a uniform curve, hide the seam between the plywood pieces and gave me a clean bevel.

Then just stapled some vinyl over the two pieces (j/k, I suck at upholstery, it was a way more of a pain than it sounds. So its not beautiful but it works. I may have it done by a pro next year)





Overall I'm happy with how it came out. I got some 2" bolts to secure it to the factory locations for the top (M8x1.25, 50mm I think). I got black and stainless, gotta decide which finish I like better.

The shape I used I chose to get 2 bolt holes in each piece and if I get a 1x12" board I can make a second piece to sit on top of the rear cover that will also fit when the back seats are up. That's for another day.

Took most of a 4x8 sheet of 3/4 inch plywood, about a 4' x 1' scrap of 1/4 inch plywood, some scrap foam and two sections of 54" x 72" vinyl. Tools were a circular saw, jig saw, drill, belt sander, palm sander and an electric stapler.

Total cost was around $200

Nice job!

I really like the creative solutions people come up with for storage and covers. Yours is the first I've seen of this style and I like it more than I thought I would.

Couple of questions -
It looks like it is all open underneath. You can reach back between the front seats to grab something or access by opening the tailgate, correct?

Did you consider a hinged/locking access port on top? If so, what made you decide to omit that?

I would probably add some tiedown hooks and a small cargo net to secure things on top, when needed, but that's just me thinking about how I'd use it.

Thanks for posting the details!

Yes you can access the cargo area with the tailgate open or between the front seats. With the back seats folded up, it restricts access a little from the front (which is good in my opinion).

I considered a hinge for the rear most piece but range of motion would be limited by the speaker pods, so not very much benefit for the complications. Plus then its no longer two pieces and it wouldn't clamshell around the roll cage anymore.

I do plan to add some small tie downs to the top of it at the bolt holes but its such a long span for plywood that itll sag with too much weight. For now I have thrown my tops up there in the bag and that works well. Next year I will probably add either angle iron or a vertical divider to provide support against sagging.

You think outside the box! I like your Bronco cargo cover and location of fishing rods on the garage door panels

That looks great, nice job. I tried to fabricate on myself, but my wood working skills with a Sawzall leave much to be desired!

What if you made a small hatch in the center between the pillars, kind of like a cutout of the rear piece, maybe slightly narrower than the tailgate? It should still clamshell around the rear pillars and not affect the overall structure...however, it would only really be usable if the tailgate was open anyway...Just thinking as I type I guess.

Still, looks good!

BroncoChallenger said:

What if you made a small hatch in the center between the pillars, kind of like a cutout of the rear piece, maybe slightly narrower than the tailgate? It should still clamshell around the rear pillars and not affect the overall structure...however, it would only really be usable if the tailgate was open anyway...Just thinking as I type I guess.

Still, looks good!

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Yeah I considered that too, but then the span wouldn't be continous and I would have to reinforce the area where the hinge was because it wouldn't be as strong. Definitely would sag.

I am mostly using this for golf clubs, Rubbermaid totes for camping and suitcases so reaching in to pull a bin out isnt a big deal, at least not enough for all that effort lol.

My biggest issue with it right now is trying to install it by myself without scratching anything, the rear section is unwieldy. Ideally this will only go on and off once a year but I'm already thinking about ways to make it lighter or cutting down to 3 pieces. Will wait and see the first time I have it in any type of rain how much dripping happens through the seam before I go making another.

The thought of an aluminum frame with LVP or tongue and groove boards on it for a retro look has crossed my mind for a future project..

vxEric said:

Yeah I considered that too, but then the span wouldn't be continous and I would have to reinforce the area where the hinge was because it wouldn't be as strong. Definitely would sag.

I am mostly using this for golf clubs, Rubbermaid totes for camping and suitcases so reaching in to pull a bin out isnt a big deal, at least not enough for all that effort lol.

My biggest issue with it right now is trying to install it by myself without scratching anything, the rear section is unwieldy. Ideally this will only go on and off once a year but I'm already thinking about ways to make it lighter or cutting down to 3 pieces. Will wait and see the first time I have it in any type of rain how much dripping happens through the seam before I go making another.

The thought of an aluminum frame with LVP or tongue and groove boards on it for a retro look has crossed my mind for a future project..

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Look into extruded aluminum if you're going to go that route, there's a lot of stuff to build frames out of. Only issue might be the corners are tough to make rounded.

Totally get the worry about sag, though - definitely something to be concerned about.

I really wish a company would make something like this to purchase.

This is kick ass, way better than the cover I bought from Ford.

Great job!

Now for a suggestion......
-Like mentioned above..... aluminum extrusion subframe.
-Side Access Hatches (lockable)- as in two fairly small openings (one on each side) that you access when standing beside the vehicle. That would allow for quicker access for smaller items.

Again, just a suggestion.
And again...... Great Job!!!

Looks great. 4 years in and still no one makes anything like that. I'd go with the top off more often if I had a hard cover for the rear.

murrman said:

I really wish a company would make something like this to purchase.

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I been waiting for some company to work on something like this, i would like to try and make one for myself but i dont have the tools or the experience to do this.