Well, if you have a truck like ours, and it has a light bar or roll bar of some sort, you find there are not a ton of options for a locking truck bed cover. The roll up, fold up, or otherwise retractable kinds won't fit around the light bar brackets, which hang over the inside of the truck bed edges.
My 2021 Chevrolet ZR2 Bison has a factory light bar:
So, what is one to do if you want to over your cargo? It's nice to be able to lock stuff in the bed when on a trip and stopping along the way, and it is great to have your stuff covered and somewhat protected from the elements.
The solution I found for our 2021 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison Edition was the RealTruck Truxedo Lo Pro Soft Roll Up Truck Bed Tonneau cover, which was readily available from Amazon and arrived quickly, for just $499.
I figured I'd provide my installation experience, which was very much helped by the online YouTube videos that gave me great info.
The cover arrives with quite a bit of install hardware and relatively decent instructions, although the clamps that hold the side rails onto the truck bed rails too a bit of work to fully get correct.
Remove the Allen bolts which hold on the bracket for the rear part of the light bar.
The whole bracket holder slides down and out from behind the bracket lip.
Loosen but don't remove the Allen bolts holding down the front of the bar.
Cut and place a section of the included weatherstripping behind the bracket.
Cut and install another set of weatherstripping along the top edge of the truck bed rail from the bracket to the front rail and to the rear edge at the tailgate. At the front edge, push the strip tightly against the front bed wall to ensure a good water seal.
Cut and intall another strip along the bed rail behind the cab rear window.
Install the included corner seal blocks at the front edges of the bed corners near the rear cab window.
Reinstall and tighten the Allen bolts on the front and rear light bar brackets.
It's good to have some spring clamps at this point. I used then to clamp the side rails of the tonneau cover to the inside underneath lip of the truck bed rail. This allows you to use both hands to properly place and adjust and tighten the included clamps.
The rear clamps took me a minute to figure out. One part slips down inside the shaft/hole at the rear edge of the truck bed rail and you pop out the side hole plug to allow the included kit bolt to go through and connect to the back of the clamp you inserted down the upper opening. That's a terrible description so I hope the photos help.
This shows the rear clamp (you only see one side of it, the other is hidden down that hole), along with the other three clamps, two of which straddle a few inches on each side of the rear light bar bracket and the other which is about 6-8 inches back from the forward end of the bed rail.
With both side rails clamped in place, it's time to lay the rolled up cover onto the top of the rails at the forward edge of the bed.
Here are two sliding clamps that you push outward to secure the front rail of the rolling cover to the two side rails. It takes a bit of pressure, since the fit is properly tight. It wouldn't hurt to have someone else leaning on the top of the cover rail to take some pressure off as you slide the clamps sideways. I didn't have that help, so maybe my knuckles are a little worse for the wear now.
You can then unroll the cover toward the sea of the bed and find the rear slotted anchor into which the rear solid rail will clamp down.You place the hard edge under side rail open secure points and rotate down and toward the back. The tension increases and it ultimately clips down nice and snug. There are adjusting screws if the cover is a bit too tight or loose.
On the left side, there is a release lever. You push it forward and it releases the rear edge so you can roll up the cover. Because this is inside the truck tailgate, your cover remains locked if your tailgate is locked.
Straighten and push down to lock the hook n' loop fastening material along each side.
And there you have it! A lockable, weatherproof cover without giving up your light bar. I tested it with a heavy watering from a hose and it was watertight, although I'm not sure I'd trust it to be perfect in heavy weather. Looks pretty dang clean as well !
Good luck and happy motoring!
