Folding bed cover

I am thinking about a folding bed cover in the near future. If you have one what do you like/dislike about it? Does it fold all the way up to put big things in the bed? Oh....what make and model do you have?

 

Do you want soft or hard cover? That would be the first thing to decide on.
Budget wise it is $300± vs $1,000±, but security wise it is somewhat significant difference also.

 

2020 CM... I have the BakFlip MX4... folds out of the way, not totally watertight but 95%...I’m in the wrong business though...any tonneau cover is too expensive in my mind

 

I would prefer the folding hard cover. The ones I have seen are in like 3 pieces but I just don’t know a lot about them.

 

I have this one from Rough Country. It is affordable and has been serving me well for almost 3 years now. It folds up to where 2/3 of the bed is usable, and if you need all of it, it is a very quick disconnect to remove the whole thing; one person can remove or install it in 2 minutes or less.

Obviously not the same security as a hard cover, but this works for my needs.

 

Rough Country has a hard cover for a reasonable price also. Most of these covers are basically the same thing manufactured by the same company, just have different brand labels on them.

 

I have the Trifecta 2.0 Signature Series from exTang. Its their new cloth version.
I like it a lot. Haven't noticed any water in the bed, but I normally park in my garage.

Picked mine up from Amazon warehouse and exTang had a rebate.

https://extang.com/trifecta-2-0-signature-series/2016/toyota/tundra

 

I have the Rough Country hard tri-fold. Works pretty well. Not 100% watertight (a little leaks around the tail gate), but is good for my needs. It folds up 2/3s of the bed, but can be removed in about 5 minutes if i needed the whole bed.

 

I have the rough country hard flush mount tri fold. . .like someone stated, it doesn't fold ALL the way up like some do, just the back two sections. However, for 650, I was pretty impressed. Its one of the cheaper hard folders and about the only one that has a lifetime warranty as far as I could tell. I'd buy again

 

the american tonneau cover are nice. hard 3 pieces fold. easy install and solid.

 

I have a Bakflip tri fold. 99% of the time I love it for what it is, if I did it again I'd buy a retractable. If you are going to have it completely open to use your bed, you lose visibility out of the back window with a tri fold. This is rarely an issue but when it is, I really wish I had gone retractable. Is it enough of an issue that I'm willing to buy a retractable and accept the lost value in my tri fold? No, it's not worth that cost. But that's my 2 cents.
I like the security of the hard tri fold since my truck is left out often and I don't want the tailgate stolen either. I rarely have water in the bed even after massive storms, and when I do there is barely any on the bottom sides, but anything in the bed has stayed dry.

 

Love my Rugged Cover 2...

 

That was my second choice after my rough country. . .only second because it was more expensive but definitely looked like a nice cover. .

 

With the retractable you lose about a foot of bed space, 100% of the time. With our short beds that is not a good option. When the tri-fold is folded up against the cab and you lose visibility, most of the time you would do that because you are loading something big, say a piece of furniture, which in itself would block visibility anyway. Not always, but in general.

 

@Boerseun I guess it depends what you end up loading in the bed, most of the time where I've had the cover blocking the window, I could have had items tucked under the container for the retractable cover without it causing an issue. But again, that was my 2 cents. I think it would hinder me less to have the container for the retractable all the time but always have rear visibility than to lose visibility. I have never owned a retractable cover so that could be more of a hindrance than I imagine, but losing visibility is the only negative I have to my tri fold.

 

A couple guys at work have the retractable ones on full size trucks and sometimes complain about the room that the container takes up. But they may complain about the folding one also.

 

It really makes me sad reading threads like this when I have one for sale. A nice Rugged Series II. Just sayin....

 

I have a BAKflip MX4 too. It works well for how I use my truck, and is 95% water tight. I personally don’t like the retractable covers because of the lost space from the canister, but that’s just me. The only downside with a hard folding cover is that it limits the kind of bed rack you can have. I’ll be getting a kayak soon, the only way I can haul it is to use an Adarac pro ladder rack. Not a big deal, but something to be aware of.

 

I have a Lomax and like it for the following reasons it is the thin but strong and it has a rail system that secures and seals the cover really well. It also looks good. This is my 2nd Lomax I had one on my old truck as well.

 

I have the undercover flex and I am extremely happy with it. I previously had a bakflip g2 on my last tundra and worked very well. The only reason I went undercover on my 2019 is the way the bed drains. Bakflip uses tubes to drain of the rails and undercover uses channels to the tailgate.

 

I just purchased and installed this hard tri-fold tonneau cover on my 2020 Tundra CM. For $373, the quality seems to be pretty good and easy to install. I ordered from Amazon (AutoDynasty).

 

Are there any folding bed covers that utilize the existing deck rail system? I’d rather not remove or relocate it.

 

I believe many of them utilize the rail system. My Rough Country does, and when shopping for them, most websites ask if your truck has the rail system. I think it is just different hardware if you do or don't.

 

Undercover flex.

 

Is it the low profile Rough Country or the one the sticks up about an inch? The low-profile looks good but I can’t tell from their website if it will fold back against the glass so I can use most of the bed if I need to.

 

I have an Undercover Flex.
They replaced the first one under warranty because the panels started leaking.
Seems they redesigned it from the first one I bought.
Second one is holding up better than the first one.

If you know ahead of time you're going to haul something big, it is easily removed and reinstalled.
You don't have to take the rails off to remove it.

Not 100% water tight, but it does OK.



Customized my drain tubes with lawn sprinkler parts..
i should have put them in the upper half of the plug instead of the bottom half.



I'm also a huge Bedrug fan.





I probably should have bought another Retrax like I had in my 2005.
But as previously stated the canister takes up some room.
Both my trucks have 6.5' beds, that canister would be huge in a crewmax bed.
It was also removeable, but a PITA to take on and off.


I also seriously considered a Diamondback.
Not a folder by any means, but tough as nails..
The cost is kept me from buying one.

 

I'm actually thinking about adding a rail system to my 2014 DC.
Although I can't use the rails when the cover is closed.

I'm having issues with keeping the middle clamp on the bed rail on one side of my Flex.
It clamps to a very small edge on the bottom of the bed rail.
All the others stay on, it is just that one that comes off if I close the lid down very hard.
I have to close it gently or the clamp pops off.

I think attached to the bed rail system would eliminate this issue.
Main reason I want the rail system is I need more tie downs when my wife buys stuff and I have to haul it home.
Those corner tie downs aren't enough for me.

 

I have the hard tri-fold. It does not fold up against the glass, it only folds up to give access to 2/3rds of the bed, but could be easily removed in about 2 minutes if needed. I don't need full access very often, so it works for me and the price was very competitive compared to those that fold up against the glass.

 

Mine uses the rail system and is very secure. I haven't tried to put any tie downs on with the tonneau closed, so not sure if they work or not. I'd have to remove the brackets holding the tonneau cover to the rail system to figure it out.

I also upgraded my drains today with clear tubing and liquid-tite electrical fittings, but does the same thing as the sprinkler hardware.

Here are some pics.

 

The hard trifold cover I bought came with 2 mounting systems. With or without the bed rail