Tonneau covers? your thoughts?

[Wyldk2]

Since having my 2014 ford f150 I have decided to get a Tonneau cover for it. I would like one that folds and so i can still haul my atv ( my can-am fits, just the back tires rest on the crease between the tailgate and the bed). I have been looking at a Bakflip, but i don't know what i really need or ought to get. Figured some of you guys/gals with trucks would be able to offer advise.

 

I probably won't get one until i get my refund check so no hurry.

 

My truck has a bedliner( ford) and it's a 6.5 ft bed. Thanks.

[FreedomGunCo]

I have a Truxedo LoPro QT. Love it, had it on my FX4 and its now on my Raptor

[buck1032]

This most likely will not work for you as your vehicle is new, but I trolled Craigslist and picked up an Undercover hard tonneau for my 03 Ram for $100. A much better price than for new. Granted the locks were broken, I planned on changing them anyway. I keyed the cover to match the locks on our camper that I changed locks on.

[Wiljo05]

I've run a tonnopro on all my trucks and love them. Not as nice as the hard shells, but is secure, no leaks, and easy to fold up or remove easily one man.

[Hozzie]

If you can afford it, Rollnlocks are hard to beat.   There are pros and cons to each type of tonneau.  I went through a big pro/con list and I ended up getting a TonnoPro.  For the money ($278), it has worked even better than I expected.  I rarely go with the cheapest product, but in this case, it does exactly what I need it to do.  Pro's for it are it is light, easy to install, seals well, has been durable, and can be taken off by myself if needed in a couple of minutes.  Con's, it doesn't flip completely up out of the way and it doesn't lock although I can lock my tailgate with it closed.  That of course won't stop someone from just ripping it and taking what they want if they desire.  You essentially end up with about 2/3rds of an open truck bed when it is folded back and snapped in.  Because it comes off easy, this wasn't an issue for me.  When I need the whole bed (as you mention for an ATV), then I just take it off and set it aside.

 

I have also had the Backflip on another truck.  It was nice, and it flips completely open, but I didn't like that you then can't see out of the back window.  I think that was about $800 for my previous Titan.

 

A hard tonneau for me looks nice, but isn't practical if you actually want or need to use your bed.

 

The Rollnlock is nice because it takes up very little room (something like 12") at the front of the bed and it locks open at any position.  It is also very secure.  In the end, it wasn't worth an extra $1000 to me for what I was doing. 

[TGO David]

I went through this recently.  On previous trucks I've always had the Undercover brand of ABS hard shell.  It worked great for security and weather-tightness but was a real pain to remove when I wanted to haul something large.

 

Just before Christmas I ordered an Undercover Flex for my current truck, but I ended up with buyer's remorse and cancelled the order.  I just use my truck far too frequently as a truck and knew it was $700'ish that really wasn't well spent.  They are supposed to be outstanding tonneau covers and I did a lot of research on them before buying, but in the end I felt like I'd end up becoming frustrated with having any sort of cover on the bed.

 

The rolling segmented type are supposed to be nice as well but I've seen some that didn't hold up.  I would research those pretty heavily before buying one to make sure that I got the most durable option.

[kckndrgn]

I have one, very similar to this:

http://www.truxedo.com/edge/land.php

 

I love it.  I keep the cover on most of the time, and I'm going on 5 years with it.  It's starting to show some age, and I need to adjust the tension, but it still works wonderfully.   The bed is not water tight, but very little water (rain) gets in when in use.

 

Pros: Rolls up and completly out of the way when not in use.  Easy to install.  Keeps the bed covered to keep contents (if any) out of sight.

Cons: In Very cold weather (sub freezing) the material can get stiff and difficult, but not impossible, to roll up.  Not as secure as a hard top.

 

I find the cover comes in best when going on vacations, since I don't have to pack the bed in such a way to worry about stuff flying out.  As long as everything is below the bed sides I can close the cover.

[whitewolf001]

Not to hijack the thread, but which do you gents prefer; A camper shell or a cover?

[Hozzie]

If you never think you will need to carry something taller than a camper shell, then I think they are great.  The real downside to them is it is kind of a pain to take them on and off if needed.  I really considered one, but in the end went with something I knew I could take off by myself very quickly if needed. 

[E4 No More]

https://www.peragon.com/?gclid=CJLVxqPj_8ICFYdaMgodOV0AgQ

[wileecoyote]

I have a Tundra with 6.5' bed. I did literally hundreds of hours of research on covers and inspected nearly every type and brand out there. I eventually settled on the BAKFLIP and it was by far the best decision I ever made. I have since installed the same cover on 3 different trucks, all work excellent. My favorite features include:

Easily installs in about 60 minutes without drilling or permanently modifying your truck.

Hard cover locks closed for security, and you can sit on the folded portion or set gear on top of it.

Watertight, has built in concealed drain rails to catch any leaks and keep the water out of your bed.

Can flip open 1, 2, 3, or 4 sections at a time and ride at highway speed in any of these conditions.

Can be removed and replaced by a single person in less than 5 minutes without tools.

Holds up well over time, and still looks like new after 7 years in the hot southern summer sun, ice cold northern winter snow, and many tornado rain storms.

When folded all the way open (4 sections) it will block part of your rear window view, but you can still see out of your rear view mirror along the top edge, and this doesn't matter to me because if I ever have it all the way open I'm usually hauling large freight that would block my rear window view anyway. If I ever needed it to be completely open without partially blocking the rear window view, I would just remove it which is easily done by hand and no tools in 2 minutes, but in all my years of hauling and driving over 200,000 miles I've never needed to do this. Edited January 6, 2015 by wileecoyote

[TGO David]

https://www.peragon.com/?gclid=CJLVxqPj_8ICFYdaMgodOV0AgQ

 

That's pretty slick.

[Spook]

I had an A.R.E. on a previous truck for about six years and it was of good quality (paint, fit, hinge and locking hardware, etc.) They look and function great but are limited in what you can put in the bed because of the hinged one-piece design.

 

My current truck has a Rugged Cover and I've had no problems for the past four. It folds flat behind the back window when open. It hasn't leaked, wears well and, when properly installed (one person, no tools), is quite secure to the bed. I have a bed liner also and Rugged Cover provides hardware custom to the brand of truck. For the money it was worked well for me (I wanna say it was about $365 but don't hold me to that). Bought it in Tullahoma at the Line-X place at intersection of Carroll St. and Anderson St.

 

Good luck.

[Grand Torino]

I think the way you use your truck really drives what kind/type cover you get. I've had the Undercover SE for about 6 years and it still looks like new. One the rare occasion I needed it off to carry something large the missus and I can take it off in 5 minutes....and neither of us are spring chickens. :P

[Wyldk2]

I'm basically wanting a tonneau cover for reducing the drag coefficient. And I don't mind it at all folding up so i can't see out of the back of the bed. My Can-am obstructs my view anyways, the only time the Tonneau cover will be folded so i cant see is when i'm hauling the ATV.

 

A hard shell, ( while nice) is not feasable for my utility. I don't plan o keeping anything real valuable back there unless I'm on trips( but then I've installed a heavy duty cable lock and my tailgate locks).

 

I'm still keeping an eye out. Looked on craigslist for a deal but i see only either stuff that is broken or won't fit my ford. So I'm still looking.

 

Going to be hard to go look as i was told today to look forward to 6-7 days a week working 11 hours a day. So maybe I won't have to wait until tax time to get the tonneau cover i need. Lol

 

Thanks for thehelp guys, keep it coming.  And i don'tmind the hijacking of the thread as long as we keep it to truck bed accessories. Thanks,

[raildog]

I have a luad pop upon my truck love it my father in law has a extang like you want he loves it i have been thinking about changing mine out for a soft toper its like a camper shell but made out of canvas with aluminum polls and it folds up out of the way next to the cab

[Capbyrd]

I went through this recently.  On previous trucks I've always had the Undercover brand of ABS hard shell.  It worked great for security and weather-tightness but was a real pain to remove when I wanted to haul something large.

 

Just before Christmas I ordered an Undercover Flex for my current truck, but I ended up with buyer's remorse and cancelled the order.  I just use my truck far too frequently as a truck and knew it was $700'ish that really wasn't well spent.  They are supposed to be outstanding tonneau covers and I did a lot of research on them before buying, but in the end I felt like I'd end up becoming frustrated with having any sort of cover on the bed.

 

The rolling segmented type are supposed to be nice as well but I've seen some that didn't hold up.  I would research those pretty heavily before buying one to make sure that I got the most durable option.

 

 

 

I had an Undercover Flex on my last truck.  It was great. You can't really fold it up and put a 4wheeler in it.  But it has two knobs that loosen it from the frame and you can pull the whole thing off.  Takes about 2 minutes.  Very nice cover. 

 

 

[whitewolf001]

I had an Undercover Flex on my last truck.  It was great. You can't really fold it up and put a 4wheeler in it.  But it has two knobs that loosen it from the frame and you can pull the whole thing off.  Takes about 2 minutes.  Very nice cover. 

 

 

How well does it keep water out?

[Capbyrd]

I never had a problem with water getting in. On a hard rain, for several days, I'd notice a small amount of water around the back of the bed but I could never tell if it was from just dripping in when I opened it up or actually leaking somewhere.  I'm pretty sure it wasn't leaking though.  The tubes you see in the last picture are the drip rail built into it and as long as you run those out of the truck, you should be fine. 

[Guest Stoveman]

+1 on the Bakflip. I'm on truck #2 with one and absolutely love them. The ability to lock up your bed is a huge plus. 

[Wyldk2]

Narrowed it down to 2 different covers.

 

One is a Bakflip G2. Thing i like about it is the cover folds so you can sit on it and stand on it if needed ( aluminum though)

 

The other is an Undercover flex. I like the fiberglass reinforced panels, no dinging damage and it won't touch the cab of the truck when folded up.

 

The only thing i'm concerned with is the ammount of space between the cab of the truck and the last folded panel when upright. I need the most ammount of room possible for my atv.

 

Mine fits, just i don't want it sitting out too far on the tailgate, yet i don't want to have a shattered back glass moment either.

[Capbyrd]

That's the great thing about the flex. It has two hand nuts to loosen and it comes off. Takes all of 2 minutes and can be done by one person if absolutely necessary.

[Gunter123]

Apology if this is a very old thread, I haven't found newer topic about this. BTW, been looking at tonneau covers available but can't decide which is a better ones nowadays that lasts. Dad had that 1-pc hard Undercover that works great but I sometimes haul tall stuffs. How's that Undercover Flex all this years? High considering them or any similar tri-fold but wifey likes the retractable ones. Anyone got good experience with them? TIA

[Fourtyfive]

I just put an Undercover hard shell on my 2017 Ram 2500. Love it.

[DaveTN]

I have the Extang e-max. Folds up, doesn’t touch the cab. I ordered it from Realtruck.com; took about 4 days, free shipping. Took about 30 minutes to install.

https://www.extang.com/p-36823-emax-tonno.html