Sorry I missed the fun! As soon as I saw your mention of a bed cover in another thread I had to go hunting to see this thing. Very cool!
I would think that since you have two levels of sheet metal (the bed rail and the tailgate with cap) or maybe three (adding whatever the front bulkhead level is) then having two different thicknesses of weather seal rubber would not look out of place at all. Especially if it allows the cover to sit flatter.
So a thinner seal around the front and sides, to let the cover sit flatter with less tension holding it up. And an even thinner seal (by about the thickness of the diamond plate aluminum cap) along the rear. That would seem to fit the bill.
And now with the rubber seal, adding some tension to the latch would be a good thing as well. Were you only needed it to hold it from opening before, now you need it to keep the rubber seals compressed a little bit to seal better.
But just adding the rubber would I thought have added tension to the latch. Is that not the case?
Good luck.
Paul
haha, yes it is fun. Only because it isn't raining yet ;D
You pretty much have it right. There is a thinner strip near on the bulkhead side (front). There probably should be a thinner strip as you suggested, along the rear to make up for the height of the diamond plate.
I didn't think of this, instead I was going to use thicker strips for just part of the side rails. I was thinking that the seal is so compressed along the rear that it is already "thinner" there. Might be wrong.
There is a lot of tension on the latch and the seal is very compressed on the front and rear, and along the sides near the front. It is the sides toward the rear that has the gap.