Diamondback 270 User manual

9/16 "
Socket
7/ 1 6 "
Socket
Ratchet
Wrench
Hammer
9/16 "
Wrench
CONTINUED ON REVERSE >
Insert the installation-tool mandrel into a rivet nut. Hand-tighten it
until its hexagonal sleeve is tight to the face of the rivet nut.
6
Use a 9/16" wrench to hold the sleeve as you
tighten the mandrel with a 7/16" socket until the
rivet nut deforms and locks against the interior of
the bed wall.
7
Do not overtighten the bolts. If you
do, you might strip the rivet nuts.
Reinstall all three brackets using the hex
bolts, plain washers, and a 7/16" socket.
10
1/4" Hex
Bolts (8)
3/8
"
Bit
Threaded Insert
Installation Tool
1/4" Aluminum
Rivet Nuts (8)
1/4" Self-Drilling
Screws (8)
Cap
Clamps (6)
× 6
1/4"Plain
Washers (8)
× 8
INSTALLATION GUIDE CVR-270.2
DiamondBackCovers.com / 800 935 4002
270
Aluminum-Body Trucks
PARTS INCLUDED:
Clamp BracketTail Panel
Cab & T Panels Assembly
1/8" Hex
Key
Lock-Rod
Striker Brackets (2)
Gas Springs (6)
Bed-Rail
Edge Trim (2)
TOOLS REQUIRED:
If your truck has bed rail caps, you should
affix the included bulkhead prep kit prior to
installing the cover. Refer to the Bulkhead
Prep Kit Installation Guide for details.
PRE-INSTALLATION NOTE:
Drill
3/8" Nut
Driver
Utility
Knife
PREPARE THE CARGO BED
Attach the clamp bracket to the bulkhead, centered side to side
and flush with the top rail, using a drill, 3/8" nut driver bit, and four
self-drilling screws.
1
Installing the clamp bracket is easiest if you pre-drill it using
the screws.
Attach a lock-rod striker bracket to each front corner of the cargo
bed with its V bend rearward using a drill, 3/8" nut driver bit, two
self-drilling screws, and the two holes nearest the ends of the bracket.
2
Make sure the bracket’s legs are located as high on the bed wall as
possible without them breaking the plane of the top of the bed rail.
It’s OK for the top of the V bend
itself to break this plane.
You’ll know the rivet nut
is fully compressed
when you feel the
mandrel become very
difficult to turn.
Detach all three brackets by removing the self-drilling screws.
3
4Use the holes in the truck
body left by the self-drilling
screws as pilot holes to drill
larger, 3/8" holes.
Hammer an aluminum rivet nut into each hole.
5
Do not install rivet nuts through plastic bed rail caps or plastic
bedliners. (Spray-on bedliners are fine.) Use a utility knife to trim
the plastic so that the rivet nuts’ outer flange can sit tightly against
the body of the truck itself.
8Remove the installation tool by unscrewing the mandrel.
9Repeat steps 6-8 for each rivet nut.
If you are also installing a Cross Bin, do so now. Refer to page 2
of the Cross Bin Installation Guide for details.
11
Important installation information
IMPORTANT!
Keep an eye out for these icons:
Normal install time
90 minutes
Tips to assist installation
Helpful Hints

MAY 2017
DiamondBackCovers.com MARCH 2018
MOUNT THE COVER
Place the cab & T panels assembly on
the front half of the bed so its
leading edge lines up with the
outside edge of the bulkhead.
12
Center the cover side to side.
15
Road vibration can loosen your clamps. Retighten them after
100 miles. Check them every time you haul on top.
Place two cap clamps under each of the three ends of the T panel.
Tighten with a 9/16" socket.
16
ADJUST THE LOCK RODS
Loosen the set screws on the
tailgate-panel lock-rod linkages.
19
20 Adjust the length of the lock rods & retighten the set screws so that
with the lock handle open, the rod tips clear the bed rails, and with the
handle closed, the rod tips do not strike the bed walls.
With the lock handle in the closed
position, position the lock rods
tight against the underside of the
striker brackets so that they’ll
draw the panels down and
compress the weather-
strip. Tighten the rod
guide brackets with a
7/ 1 6" s o c ke t .
21
24
7/16" socket
For best weather protection, have a second person
press down on the cover while you adjust the lock rods.
Using the access panels is easiest when you press
down as you open or close them.
22 Repeat steps 19–21 for the forward cab-panel lock rods so that:
A. with the lock handles in the open position, the rod tips
clear the striker brackets,
B. with the handles in the closed position, the forward rod
tips do not strike the bulkhead, and
C. in the closed position, they are tight against the underside
of the striker brackets, drawing the panels down & com-
pressing the weatherstrip.
If there isn’t enough travel in the rod guide brackets to position
the rods so that they press against the strikers, reshape the
striker V bends with pliers.
Your panels should be difficult to operate at first. Leave them
closed as much as possible for 3–4 days to break in the weath-
erstrip. After that period, you should find that the panels open
and close without difficulty.
ATTACH THE GAS SPRINGS
23 If you are also installing a Side Bin, do so now. Refer to the Side Bin
Installation Guide for details.
To avoid premature failure of your gas springs, attach them
barrel up, shaft down.
Attach the 60-lb. gas springs to the cab-panel ball studs and the two
stronger gas springs to the tailgate-panel ball studs.
You’ll find the gas spring strength printed on the sides of the barrels.
25 Leave the cover closed and locked for 24 hours to allow the
weatherstrip adhesive, which is pressure-sensitive, to fully cure.
13 Attach the tail panel by angling it 90° from the bed rails, sliding its
driver-side, loop-shaped hinge knuckle fully onto the correspond-
ing center-panel hinge pin, then dropping its passenger-side,
C-shaped hinge knuckle fully onto its corresponding pin.
FIRST SECOND
Lower the tail panel into the closed position.
14
17 If plastic extends
beyond the bottom of
the vertical face of the
metal bed rails, trim a
two-inch length of it, flush
with the bed rail’s bottom
edge, at both points under
the tail panel where a
lock rod will pass
under the rails.
Peel the red adhesive backing from the
edge trim pieces. Affix them to the bed rail at
both points where a rod will pass under-
neath, the curl of their j’s touching the
bottom edge of the rail.
18
Affix the edge trim to the painted metal only,
behind the plastic bed liner or bed rail cap.
Using a tool to widen the curl of the ‘j’ can make this
step easier.
plastic
metal
The rearward cab-panel lock rods come pre-adjusted tight to
the T-panel gutters. You need only adjust the forward lock rods.
1/8"hex key