Tonneau cover leaks

[ARMANDO PADILLA]

Can the tonneau cover be made waterproof? is the question I pose.
we just went through a rainstorm that was a few days long here in Los Angeles with reports of flooding in some parts
it even dropped a little hail and at some point, my backyard was under 2" of water
A lot of water came down so yesterday I'm doing some clean up.
open up my truck bed with my tools inside. and it's always fun to find your tools are under water and the toolbox is completely full of water. the moving blanket is also completely drenched. it was all dry when I put them in my truck under a cover.
I mean this kind of defeats the purpous right ?
is there a soulution?

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[Gixx1300R]

yes it can

 

[CyberGus]

The cover itself is quite resilient to water, as there is little to no penetration between the slats nor at the sides. There is a little intrusion at the tailgate seal, but the real culprit is the gap between the tonneau appliqué and the roof glass. When poorly sealed, you can gently pour a glass of water on the roof and watch most of it splash into the bed.

There are fixes that involve improving the seal on the appliqué, such as this one:



This worked for me.

 

[ARMANDO PADILLA]

The cover itself is quite resilient to water, as there is little to no penetration between the slats nor at the sides. There is a little intrusion at the tailgate seal, but the real culprit is the gap between the tonneau appliqué and the roof glass. When poorly sealed, you can gently pour a glass of water on the roof and watch most of it splash into the bed.

There are fixes that involve improving the seal on the appliqué, such as this one:



This worked for me.

No man it is not resilient to water at all ! did you not read my post everything in my bed was soaked not moist but drenched, water inside my tool box at least 2 gallons of water inside the box and the box has a lid and latched closed which means that for that amount of water to get inside the box there must have been 100 - 500 times that amount of water splashing down on it and it was tucked all the way up by the glass away from the tailgate. a moving blanket folded and packed near the center of the bed was completely saturated and dripping wet. I have never messed with the tonneau cover or the applique and no damage to any thing around the tonneau cover everything is as it was brand new. truck was parked in my driveway most of the time and no trees or buildings next to it just the water falling from the sky. so don't tell me its a small amount of water. you cant argue with facts.

 

[CyberGus]

ok good luck

 

[kpanda17]

Yes it can be the most water proof of any pickup bed made

but needs a little help and many posts and fix video links provided

front water entry point
U wrap weather stripping across the appliqué front edge against the roof glass

back water entry point
Insert 3/8 foam backer inside tailgate tube seal

Good luck

 

[Cybertruck2024]

It seems that some of them are waterproof and other ones are swimming pools. Luck of the draw, the people with waterproof tonneaus are oblivious to what others are experiencing. I too have a swimming pool.

If i bought another CT, I'd probably buy it used, and take it through a car wash on a test drive to make sure I didn't get another dud. The tolerance for errors with tonneau manufacturing is very high at Tesla, taking an order of a new truck is a very expensive coin toss.

 

[CT425]

OP, have you had your Tonneau cover installed with an additional tonneau slat to cover the exposed water management channel? The original design of the 2024 CT is missing it.

Mine stays drier after the fix and covered under warranty.

 

[kpanda17]

OP, have you had your Tonneau cover installed with an additional tonneau slat to cover the exposed water management channel? The original design of the 2024 CT is missing it.

Mine stays drier after the fix and covered under warranty.

my advice assumes the original and rare missing slat issue is fixed

 

[Cyber AI]

Can someone please post service perform installing another slat? I will be submitting service request for this issue, and it would be nice to give them reference point.

 

[EVnewbie]

I had the extra slat installed. Did not help the water leak one bit. As stated above, all the water comes in between the roof glass and the appliqué.

 

[EVnewbie]

No man it is not resilient to water at all ! did you not read my post everything in my bed was soaked not moist but drenched, water inside my tool box at least 2 gallons of water inside the box and the box has a lid and latched closed which means that for that amount of water to get inside the box there must have been 100 - 500 times that amount of water splashing down on it and it was tucked all the way up by the glass away from the tailgate. a moving blanket folded and packed near the center of the bed was completely saturated and dripping wet. I have never messed with the tonneau cover or the applique and no damage to any thing around the tonneau cover everything is as it was brand new. truck was parked in my driveway most of the time and no trees or buildings next to it just the water falling from the sky. so don't tell me its a small amount of water. you cant argue with facts.

If you had your toolbox up tucked all the way forward up against the front of the bed under the window, that’s literally where all the water pours in. Same thing happened to me. The only place that is even semi dry is right in the middle under the center of the tonneau cover.

 

[Patriot]

No man it is not resilient to water at all ! did you not read my post everything in my bed was soaked not moist but drenched, water inside my tool box at least 2 gallons of water inside the box and the box has a lid and latched closed which means that for that amount of water to get inside the box there must have been 100 - 500 times that amount of water splashing down on it and it was tucked all the way up by the glass away from the tailgate. a moving blanket folded and packed near the center of the bed was completely saturated and dripping wet. I have never messed with the tonneau cover or the applique and no damage to any thing around the tonneau cover everything is as it was brand new. truck was parked in my driveway most of the time and no trees or buildings next to it just the water falling from the sky. so don't tell me its a small amount of water. you cant argue with facts.

CyberGus wasn't saying you don't have water getting in your bed. He was trying to help you by explaining where most people see water intrusion. The cover itself is usually not the problem. The problem is normally the end by the back window and the end by the tailgate. The video he linked describes how to solve the main problem by the back window.

 

[⛽️?]

Tesla fix is to add another slat to the cover at the top, however I don’t think this is the issue and doesn’t fix the water intrusion. It’s not the roll up cover, it’s the seal where the glass and the plastic cover join together. It almost needs a z flashing to let the water go over the plastic trim and onto the roll up cover to drain off, or just a better rubber buffer like you see at the windshield and panel junctions.
Im my opinion it is where the glass meets the trim. Hopefully this is fixed soon because it’s another item that folks think of before buying or not buying these awesome vehicles.

if you keep it in a garage and don’t drive it in the rain, no issues with water

 

[Cybermo]

A lot of us have already fixed this issue, there have been extensive posts about it in past. The culprit is the seal between the glass roof and the applique. It took a few visits but they finally got it on the 3rd attempt. You really have to spell it out for them and even test it for them in person. I had GoPro video in the bed of my truck as I went through a car wash to show them how the leak was coming down and they addressed it with a new seal. Now my bed is dry.

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