Originally Posted by
jason_cruse
I'm talking about the thick part on the rear of the top that's all one piece with the weatherstripping that seals the rear bow to the tonneau cover. It came out easy enough, but there is a metal frame under the rubber, and no matter how I try to get it back into the channels, and beat on it with a rubber mallet, it just won't go back in. All the videos online explain how hard it is, and then they cut away to it being finished (I imagine there was a lot of cussing if it's gone anything like mine) . Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!
If you have beat on it with a mallet, you might have that metal channel inside the rubber misshaped now, and need to either use a screwdriver to open it some or pliers to close it some. What has worked for me was to only use a flat trim tool. Start with pushing in the inside edge of the rubber gasket and once you have that edge down in the frame slot, while keeping pressure on the inside edge start pushing in the outside edge. It's important to maintain the pressure on the inside edge while doing the outside edge or the inside edge will pop out as you do the outside edge. Once I have them both down in the frame, I usually go back over the inside and outside edges with the flat trim tool. Just be careful as you withdraw the trim tool, to not pull the rubber gasket back out of the frame slot.
I might have misread your question because I have never removed the gasket between the back bow frame and the tonneau cover. It's not necessary to remove it there, only on the sides, at the windows. I'm not sure now that fits into the back bow frame.