There comes a point in time, as a truck owner, when you're tired of worrying about the stuff in the bed. We have all done it at least once; you park at a fast-food joint and proceed to stuff everything from the bed into the cab so you can secure it. To save our sanity, and our cargo, we looked into getting a tonneau cover for our Tacoma tester.We use this truck a lot and figured it was time to put the bed on lock-down and improve the smooth looks, as well.
We contacted ARE, so we could check out the company's first completely smooth tonneau, the LoPro. All of the other tonneaus this company makes have a type of body line molded into them, while the LoPro, on the other hand, is as slick as they come. It's a traditional smooth cover that hangs over the edge of the bed, just enough to hide the black, plastic-cap netting and giving you a smooth monochromatic look.
The tonneau has some cool features that make it very user-friendly, like the unique kick-up props. These automatically open the cover a few inches, which allows you to open the tailgate without raising the tonneau all of the way. It also has a Click and Go quick-disconnect system that allows you to remove the assembly with a flip of the little handle. Also, reinstallation is as easy as snapping it back into place. The LoPro and its painted finish are backed by a lifetime warranty from ARE, for the life span of the original pickup truck it is installed in.
If you are interested in keeping all of your gear safe and sound, and smoothing out the lines of your truck, then read on, and we will show you the finer points of how the LoPro went on our Tacoma.
2. So, here is what to expect when you order the LoPro from ARE, a slick piece of fiberglass, molded into a tonneau, coated in OEM paints fully assembled onto the rail/hinge system. To install the cover, you must unbolt it from the supports in the box and flip the Click and Go handle to pop the hinges free from the rails. Once you get the cover out of the way, you will find these parts: the mounting rails (A), the clamps (B), the Kick-up props (C), a pack of shims (D), OE-style keys and a bottle of touch-up paint (E). The only tool you will need for this install is a set of standard Allen keys, not included (F).
A. | 
B. |
C. | 
D. |
E. | 
F. |
3. We went over to Fuller Truck Accessories in Fullerton, California, our local ARE dealer, to have the Tonneau installed on the truck while we snapped the pictures. The technicians there could have installed this in 10 minutes, but we slowed them down with constant "hold it for the picture" instructions. The Tacoma has an integrated track system that the LoPro will mount onto. Although, depending on your application, the clamps may look different. For our truck, the clamps slid right into the factory tracks and provided the mounting point for the ARE rails. | 
4. Once the clamps were positioned, the rails were lined up. You can see that all of the other stuff, like the prop-rod mounts, are preinstalled on the rail, which saves you the guess work on where they go and cuts down on time needed to install parts. Isn't that nice of ARE? |
5. The shims are provided to keep the rails from rotating while you tighten the hardware. The way the company designed this clamping system requires only one bolt per mount, again, to simplify installation. | 
6. Kick-up props are another unique feature of the LoPro. They automatically open the cover a few inches for convenient tailgate access. They index into a slot in the bottom of the mounting area, which holds the lower portion of it, while two, button-head Allen bolts hold the top. |
7. With the rails installed, it was time to drop the tonneau into place. Look closely at the back of the cab; you can see the techs when they put some tape there, just to be safe. This is definitely a two-person job. So, if you are at home, call up a friend. | 
8. ARE's Click and Go system makes installing the LoPro quick and easy. The system looks similar to a door-type latch, and all you have to do is line up the latch with the pin, and then push down until you hear it click. |
9. Since everything is preinstalled, the prop rods are a snap-pardon the pun-to install. | 
10. In the event your tonneau is a little too hard to close, loosen the Allen bolts and slide the latch up. We raised ours about 1/4 inch, to ensure it would close perfectly. The smooth looks and killer functionality of the LoPro make it a great tonneau for us show and worker guys. We like the fact that it covers our black plastic bed rails and keeps our parts nice and safe from sticky-fingered dirtbags. |