Dodge Dakota Tonneau Cover DOES fit our J-trucks

[Dr.Bob]

I've heard it rumored, and people have said they've done it, but I never saw any pictures of what a tonneau cover or cap for the 8' bed of a Dodge Dakota would look like on a J-truck.

So i bought a TruXport TruXedo #242-601 tonneau for an '87-'96 Dodge Dakota with the 8' bed. It seems TruXport just recently discontinued this model, so a number of orders through Amazon were backordered, or the wrong item shipped, or were just cancelled. Finally I got a new, in-box version off a seller on e-bay, and installed it today. It does fit, though I will need stake-pocket plugs to make it really weather-tight.

I made a video of the whole install as proof:

https://youtu.be/zzTwWQpzhyw

[rocklaurence]

Nice! It is really a Clean setup also. I wonder if a folding Hard platform cover is available for the same Dakota?

[Phils67]

Nice! I wish I could find one for the 7 foot bed. 87-96 dakota shortbox was 6.5 unfortunately

[Yeller]

Nice! I wish I could find one for the 7 foot bed. 87-96 dakota shortbox was 6.5 unfortunately

I’m in the same boat

[Dr.Bob]

Nice! It is really a Clean setup also. I wonder if a folding Hard platform cover is available for the same Dakota?

There seem to be some out there, but quite a bit higher than a roll-back cover like I installed (which was under $200):

https://tonneaucoversworld.com/v/dodge/dakota/1996/

[Stuka]

Awesome that you threw together a video for it. I love the 7ft length for a short bed that J-Trucks have, but boy does it make accessories harder to find.

[iharding]

Nice! I wish I could find one for the 7 foot bed. 87-96 dakota shortbox was 6.5 unfortunately

I’m in the same boat

I bought a softopper for a ford ranger that fits my short bed. I don't know exactly what year range it was for.

[Phils67]

Just acquired a 91 ranger last week. The bed length from headboard to tailgate is the approximate length of a 7 foot J truck bed, down to the 16th of an inch. The width of ours however is almost 2 inch wider. Tomorrow morning I'm measuring the night managers ranger bed width before night crew leaves...he has a second Gen. If it works then a 2nd Gen ford ranger 7 foot bed is the one. If not, I'll try the cover on my Gladiator before I install it on the 91 when I eventually buy one. Either way I'll give confirmation when I figure this out. Thanks for the lead!

[Phils67]

Measured a 2nd Gen today, 1st Gen ranger looks like a closer fit but still seems too narrow

[Dr.Bob]

Nice! It is really a Clean setup also. I wonder if a folding Hard platform cover is available for the same Dakota?

I think either of these would work:

https://tonneaucoversworld.com/c/tonnea ... kota/1990/

but they are a lot more expensive than the roll-up one, that's for sure.