Undercover SE Paintable Hard Tonneau Cover

Tonneau covers come in seemingly infinite varieties. One of the newer cargo-protection products to hit the market for the Toyota Tundra is the Undercover SE. At first glance, the Undercover SE seems similar to many other hardshell tonneau covers already available for the Tundra, but a closer looks reveals some intriguing features that make this particular product worth checking out.0

First, this tonneau cover is paintable. That’s a big deal to a lot of Tundra owners, especially considering that the official Toyota painted-to-match Tundra tonneau cover is a little pricey (about $1500). Of course, there are lots of fiberglass tonneau covers available that can be painted to match…but they’re heavy. Which brings us to the second benefit of the Undercover SE.

At 58 lbs, Undercover Claims the Lightest Tonneau Cover in the Industry

This cover is light. Anyone who has ever had to “wrassle” a solid tonneau cover onto the back of a pickup truck knows that it’s at least a two man job in most cases, due to the amount of materials that need to be used to ensure the strength of the product. The Undercover SE – which is mostly made from ABS plastic – weighs just 58 lbs. Undercover claims that weight makes it the lightest solid tonneau in the industry.

The image above helps to reveal the design that gives the Undercover SE exceptional strength despite its lack of mass. Four x-braces criss-cross the underside of the product, dividing the tonneau unit up into quarters and replacing the smooth underfinish traditionally found on hard covers. While these structural necessities do eat into the storage capacity of the bed somewhat, they only intrude an inch at most, which leaves plenty of room for hauling with the cover in place. Undercover doesn’t offer any specific numbers concerning the SE’s tensile capacity, but they do provide an amusing image of seven hearty-looking adults standing on top of an installed unit to promote its lack of deflection under load.

The Undercover SE Retains its Strength Despite Low Mass

Like most tonneau covers, the Undercover SE comes with quick release hardware that makes for easy snap on / snap off installation and dismounting, which is handy for Tundra owners who occasionally need to haul over-sized items with their pickup. The system makes use of struts to hold it upright during loading, comes with an LED light (a very handy feature that should be standard on any tonneau cover) and even offers a wall mount to help make storing the Undercover SE a breeze when it’s not in use.

The cover offers three style lines embossed into the surface, as well as slightly raised edges at the front and back to give the effect of a small spoiler mounted just over the tailgate.

Note the styling lines on the Undercover SE, shown here on a Toyota Tacoma

When you want want the tonneau painted to match, the process is to have a paint-ready tonneau delivered to your local paint and body shop, where they will match the tonneau paint color to your vehicle exactly. Undercover says that this lets them perfectly match the color of your Tundra without having to rely on canned color codes. Undercover promises an ordering process (including painting and installation) that takes typically half the time associated with other solid painted tonneaus.

The Undercover SE hard tonneau cover is a viable alternative for anyone looking for a high feature, low-weight and stylish cargo cover for their Toyota Tundra.