Rambo, did you decide on a tonneau cover? I owned a Diamondback cover on my Tacoma and loved it, however, I saw the Renegade cover and am thinking about getting it for several reasons.
1. The diamondback looked awesome and it was (I owned one for 3 years)...but the 2 key entries and hinges to open the cover always got in the way if I wanted to carry something large and flat...like plywood. You could mitigate that if you carried around 2x4's to elevate the platform but sometimes it's a pain to always have to plan for that contingency.
2. Had a love/hate relationship with the bi-fold design of the Diamondback cover. Loved that they had gas-spring assists to raise the cover up when opened and wouldn't slam down on you or your head. Hated that you were constantly restricted to 1/3 your bed for large items because the mid-bar couldn't be moved without removing the entire tonneau cover. It made moving furniture and larger awkward items a pain in the ***...or having to drive with the tailgate down...preventing you from carrying smaller household items that could roll around and fall out while driving. Also, because of the restrictive design, I could only load 2-rows of stacked 2x4's (in my Tacoma) before the bi-fold center bar got in the way, equating to 16 2x4's if I wanted to leave the tailgate up and locked.
3. Love/hate relationship with the anchor cleats on the diamondback. The hooks that are on most ratchet straps are usually covered with rubber/plastic. They were usually too wide to hook into the cleats so I often had to wrap the ratchet straps around the boat cleats to secure the load. I had the Diamondback SE so I only had cleats at each end but sometimes I needed them in different areas. That's what is so attractive about the concept of the Renegade tonneau cover and being able to place a tie down anchor point anywhere and large open D-rings that the strap hooks can attach to.
I did love that the cleats made the Diamondback tonneau cover look unique and functional but they needed a little more height for them to be truly functional IMO.
My only trepidation to getting the renegade cover are the reasons everyone else has. It's super expensive and the only reviews you can find online (other than 1 post I could fine) seem to company endorsed and linked to their website. So, if anyone out there has a renegade tonneau cover, please let us know how you like it. Thanks!
