Ice Shack Tonneau Cover Mods

Hey everyone,

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I had a thought strike me the other day as I was contemplating how to be more efficient with my space in my truck for ice fishing with my big clam pop.

Have you seen any modifications that allow one to strap a pop up shack on top of the tonneau cover?

I have a hard sided tri fold tonneau, and I think if I can mount a bracket of sorts beneath the bed of the truck and the tonneau cover I could just affix my lengthy pop up to the bracket and save all that bed space for the sleds and other ice fishing gear. It is a huge pain in the neck as many of you know to get all the gear and the shack wedged perfectly inside the truck bed.

My initial thoughts were to purchase a large L bracket, drill a hole in the bottom of the L, bend said L downward so it kind of cradles the truck bed, then open the tonneau and just “pinch” the bracket between the bed and the cover. Then somehow ratchet strap the shack to the bracket. Thinking perhaps one on each side of the truck (opposing corners) to allow the shack to sit diagonally across the bed.

Anybody have any ideas, or seen anything that you are willing to share that might be easier or more efficient?

Thanks in advance!

Eye bolts if you don’t mind drilling 4 1/4 inch holes

They do make racks for other things that would work for this. But they are not cheap. Google mountain bike tonneau top or truckboss deck or truck bed hauler.

Rodwork wrote:

They do make racks for other things that would work for this. But they are not cheap. Google mountain bike tonneau top or truckboss deck or truck bed hauler.

I assume he’s just looking to add hook points to his existing set up so the shack can get strapped down when he throws it on his already existing tri fold cover. Pretty easy and cheap thing to do. Just depends on how he wants to mount.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-Chrome-Tie-Down-Anchor-Point-2-Pack-55648/206967300

Depending on make and model of your vehicle, get something similar to this that just pops into the top holes on the side walls of the bed of your truck.

This was early 80s, but my dad had something that expanded as you twisted the eye bolt that secured it into place. No idea what it would be called though.

Alex Fox wrote:

Depending on make and model of your vehicle, get something similar to this that just pops into the top holes on the side walls of the bed of your truck.

This was early 80s, but my dad had something that expanded as you twisted the eye bolt that secured it into place. No idea what it would be called though.

This is exactly what I would recommend. No need to drill any holes.

Mount it sideways behind the cab windshield, resting on top of the cover and ratchet strap each end by connecting the ratchet strap hooks to the front end of the box between the box and back of cab.

Can’t be too wide to fit it cross ways where it would stick out too far on each end would it?

Depending on make and model of your vehicle, get something similar to this that just pops into the top holes on the side walls of the bed of your truck.

This was early 80s, but my dad had something that expanded as you twisted the eye bolt that secured it into place. No idea what it would be called though.
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My tonneau cover wouldn’t allow that. It covers the holes. So if his is open then that’s the number one thing I would do as well. I guess I pictured my cover when I said eye bolts.

Thanks for the replies.

1.) My cover is a design so that it covers those areas where you can just slip the bull ring bolts into some of you are suggesting, and I’d prefer not to drill holes into my tonneau cover if I can help it, as I do still want to fold and unfold it.

2.) The Clam shack is large enough that it would stick out on both sides of the truck if I strapped it directly behind the windshield. Thought of it and tried it.

I may take a look into a hauler option as mentioned but was hoping for a cheaper option. The eye bolts would be intriguing, but then that would leave a hole when folding it up.

Sorry, I had multiple trucks without any covers and then 1 tonneau cover, topper from here on! Best of luck!!

Diamondback covers have tiedown cleats on the sides if something like that would fit on your cover. But am guessing your cover wasn’t designed to carry cargo on top? Besides the shelter’s weight you would also have pressure from strapping it down, so be sure that whatever you do doesn’t cave the cover.

Some of you bring a lot of stuff if it all won’t fit in pickup. Especially a popup shack.

I went all out with the slotted Retrax and Rhino Racks!

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Ripjiggen wrote:

Some of you bring a lot of stuff if it all won’t fit in pickup. Especially a popup shack.

The old 8 ft box fits it all plus some.

Thank you for all the replies fellas, maybe getting a new tonneau with more options to customize tie downs will be the solution in the years to come.

Right now the wish list budget item if things break nicely in the next year is a snow dog that can be loaded onto a hitch mount then find a way to strap the shack on the tonneau, reason being with a snow dog, that is an extra sled that needs to be placed inside the bed, and with the big shack already being forced at a sideways angle because it is too long, that makes all the space more valuable. Ideally, I’m able to fit two sleds, the snowdog, and the shack in the bed with minimal cramming with other gear, but as many of you know things start to add up, and since I do a lot of night fishing, when you start to factor in heaters etc. the bed fills up fast outside of the normal clothing and electronics.

Why I am planning this, simple, I hate having to deal with a trailer all the time, it’s nothing but a liability and something else to pull and suck gas mileage. I want to confine everything to the truck if possible without the need to pull something behind, obviously I will on big trips if needed, but weekend warrior me would like to keep it to just the truck.

run the ratchet strap under the tonneau and then up and over. I assume your tonneau could still close over the strap?

I switched to a topper, for the most part, because of ice fishing. Now if I need to haul something that doesn’t fit under the topper, then I generally just need to bring the trailer anyway. My truck gets better MPG pulling a small trailer than having the 4 wheeler in the bed anyway.

icefanatic11 wrote:

Thank you for all the replies fellas, maybe getting a new tonneau with more options to customize tie downs will be the solution in the years to come.

I have the Diamondback SE on my Jeep. It’s basically what you are describing. It has tie down built into the panels and it can hold 400lbs on top of the cover. It wasn’t cheap though, cost me almost $2k.

Next summer I’ll be switching to a cap, the hard covers are too limiting for me.