2024 Tacoma + Truxedo Sentry CT Tonneau Cover

I spent lots of time researching tonneau cover options and ultimately settled on the Sentry CT. There are plenty of video reviews of the thing. Here's a few details specific to the 2024 Tacoma that I didn't see elsewhere. Maybe it'll help someone else evaluating their options:


Packaging

Overall, it's...passable. They wrap the actual cover pretty well, but the side rails just get thrown in the box with no padding. That leads to dings, such as this one:



Maybe I'm just a drama queen, but for $1,400 I expect the parts to arrive in perfect condition. This wasn't a $300 no-name cover from Amazon.


Quality Control

The rails arrive with the foam strips already "installed." Apparently by a blind, drunk child:



They're not straight at all and if you install them this way, the foam squeezes out the side and looks amateurish. I'd rather they just put the strips in the package rolled up and let me install them myself.

There's also some runs in the paint. And the cuts (the ends of the rails) aren't painted. Again, not a show-stopping issue, but for the money I want perfect components.





Metal Shavings

Can confirm that the thing arrived just COVERED in metal shavings. I vacuumed them up as I unrolled it, since Toyota already has metal shavings covered for the 2024 trucks. There were hundreds of them. Really just a poor first impression.



Fitment

The cover does fit the truck nicely. Installation was easy. They tell you to press down firmly on the rail while tightening the brackets (so that the foam compresses and seals), but I found that doing so leaves the rails angled downwards pretty steeply. Light pressing was all that was required and they then sit much more level.

However, the rails press on the inside of the plastic bed caps, which exacerbates an issue that was already present: the outside corners of the bed caps like to lift upwards and don't sit flush. That happens even without the rails installed and several reviews of the 2024 Tacoma have pointed this out. The rails just make it worse. This is going to be the same story for any tonneau cover that uses similar rails:






Security

On a scale of 1 to "would-survive-San-Francisco", this thing is a zero. Security is a joke. It latches at the front, middle, and tailgate end but you can pick up the cover at the middle between two of those points and lift it a good two inches. Very easily enough to see what's in the bed and then pull the release cord with a coat hanger or maybe even your arm if you've never seen a gym.

I much preferred BakFlip's locking mechanism, which engages a bar along the entire length of the cover. But tons of people said BakFlip's quality has nosedived. The Sentry CT's build quality is definitely higher and the canvas is much nicer than vinyl.

There's a guy who added two more latches to each side of the cover. His story is here. I may do this.

As it stands, the cover will keep stuff safe for a quick trip into Home Depot, but I wouldn't leave anything in here overnight or in a dark, unattended parking lot. "Security" shouldn't even be on the website for the Sentry CT until Truxedo improves the locking mechanism.



Overall

It looks sharp and clean. If they improved the latching/security, this thing would be perfect. I didn't want a tri-fold hard cover and the ultra-secure options like Renegade and Diamondback were too limiting—you can't easily get them out of the way when you need the entire bed.

The rolled-up cover can be removed from the truck in about 30 seconds without tools, which was a big selling point. The BakFlip requires undoing 4 bolts (and then not losing those bolts), whereas the Sentry CT just has two sliding handles underneath that let go of the rail and the thing pops right out. It is not heavy.

 

This is a bummer because it looks like you just got a bad shipment from them. Ordered mine from RealTruck and was an easy install and fitment.

The cover has also done me well parking in dimly lit parking garages in San Francisco for work ;-)