The tonneau cover for my convertible top tends to flap about after 50mph. Gusts of air find their way underneath and literally pull open the cover (a little disconcerting while on the highway), with only the corner anchors holding down the cover.

To fix this, I placed a ten inch strip (felt side) of velcro behind the middle of the rear seats and the adjoining strip (hook side) on the matching position on the cover. I experimented a bit with different positions and different types of velcro. The best result thus far is to stick the felt side on the rear seats and the hook side onto the cover using regular strength velcro.

The felt side was placed behind the seat so it won't hook onto the ceiling liner when the top is raised or lowered; the liner brushes the back of the seats when the top goes up or down.

Also, at least for me, just a strip in the middle was sufficient; wasn't necessary to have strips along the entire length of the rear seats.

I had started with heavy duty velcro (much higher density of hooks), but then switched to just general purpose velcro. The heavy duty was too sticky making it harder to pull the cover off, taxing the stickiness of the adhesive, and also risked damage to the seats or the cover.

I got the velcro at Michael's. The package says the adhesive won't work well on flexible material like leather, but it's worked fine thus far for over a month.

Where the strips are placed, you cannot tell the velcro is there. And no more problems with a flapping tonneau cover :-)

 

That's strange, mine doesn't flap at high speeds. Is your cover snug enough that you have to 'wrap' the corner around the seat belt guide?

Good fix though, even better if you can find a beige/tan hook n loop section.

 

Yeah, it was a choice of either white or black velcro so I picked the less contrasting white.

I'm pretty certain the cover is on correctly. The entire flap folds neatly behind the seats, but still air gets underneath and balloons out the cover without the velcro.

 

Thx for the tip, Monty. I may use that same set-up as mine tends to catch a lil air around 70 or so.

 

I'll take a picture of what i'm talking about tomorrow montauke, and see if you've got it on the same way.

 

This is interesting. I have had my tonneau cover on and been into the triple digits without it fluttering at all.

Dave B

 

Mine has snaps behind each rear seat's head rest. Which was original?

 

Very strange! Is your cover OEM or after market. I have no problems with the cover staying in place. They do make a light tan velcro. Good fix for that problem though!!

p.s. Do you tuck the sides in on each side?

 

Mine is aftermarket, no snaps, and this is how I 'tuck' mine into the sides (and around the seatbelt guide)

 

Mine is just like that aftermarket one and it does not come out at high speeds.

 

W'oh, thanks for the photos, I never knew about the tuck underneath the corners. I'll be sure to look for those the next time the XK8 comes out the garage (it's been raining a lot). But I don't think the corner tuck will fix my issue, because air is getting in from the front of the middle of the cover. But I'll look at those corners, nonetheless.

 

Strange,

I don't tuck mine inside the fender wells on the sides. They just lie flat on the body work. There is some light scuffing but it dissappears quickly each time I detail the car.

Dave B

 

I think they're meant to be tucked, especially around each seat belt guide. That keeps the center of the cover pretty low, and should prevent any air from sneaking in. 02, is there a paticular reason why you don't tuck yours inside the body panel? It then becomes 100% sealed.

 

Funny thing is the first time I put mine on, I also thought the sides should sit on the body and installed it that way. Then I looked at a brochure with photos of the top down and saw that it was tucked on the sides (also the owner's manual states to do so). Looks-wise it almost looks better on the outside versus tucked.

Doug

 

I'm heading to the British Bash tomorrow. I'll see how others install their convertible covers. Tucked or untucked. Maybe there's a consensus. I think I'm an untucked.

here's a link: http://britishbash.com/

 

Not strictly on-thread but my mind always looks for ironies or quirks in any situation. So I was imagining some arbitrary non-Jaguar owner browsing around the web and stumbling on a thread that is now 2 pages debating on whether or not a tonneau cover should be tucked in or not. It cracks me up even though I am part of the discussion.

Doug

 

Hey, consider yourself fortunate you're looking for threads to even participate in, means you aren't having any engine/electrical/hydraulic/suspension/tranny problems. (throw some salt...knock on wood) I like these threads...they're not typical for car forums.

 

I'm glad I can add to an atypical thread. Don't be surprised if more come from my direction :-)

Anywho, about the tucked or untucked, I think I may found the difference. So I was at the British Bash in Louisville on Saturday (neat show, but that's another thread), and looked at other XK8 convertibles to see how their tonneaus were attached. Some were able to be tucked about a quarter inch into the body and some barely came to the edge the sheetmetal. I believe there are two reasons:

1. During the install, the cover is not fully stretched out leaving wrinkles that decreases the surface area the cover covers, and/or

2. The top is not as fully compressed as much as it possibly could be so the folded aluminum beams at the corners remain perhaps half an inch or so taller. This may be due to how the top is crimped when it folds. On my convertible, I did notice two little worn marks on the middle of my top which may be due to such a crimp. I try to flatten out the folds as the top come down with my arm, doesn't really help all that much as I only have one arm to use. I think there will always be crimping, just some tops folds cleaner than others. I suspect the cleaner the folds, the more compressed the top comes down, and then the lower profile, which leads to more tonneau cover tucking. So at speed, higher pressure underneath the cover will billow the cover up a bit, without a good tonneau cover seal against the sheetmetal, gaps will be made, permitting wind to gush in, flap the cover about, and ruining the contour of the cover against the car.

There... that's my story. Shall this go onto page 3?

 

I now recall, when I saw your first few pictures of your car with the top down (the set where you're wife looked pretty happy behind the wheel), I thought to myself...the top looked like it wasn't folded down entirely, like it stuck up higher on the ends. I figured I was just tired or making stuff up. It could very well be the reason why your cover isn't securing as tightly as ours. That also could be an adjustment item also the dealer could confirm for you. Perhaps it isn't calibrated correctly and stopping the open function prematurely. I hate prematurely...