Gator Hard Tri-Fold Woes

[packhawk1]

Hey Everyone,

I purchased a new Ranger recently and knew immediately that I wanted a tonneau cover for the bed. I did some research and settled on a Gator hard tri-fold. Installation was difficult as I had never attached a tonneau cover before and the directions provided with the cover required a Ph D to decipher. The main issue I found during installation was getting the clamps to attach properly. It seems like a combination of poorly made clamps and strangely designed bed rails on the truck itself.

Eventually I thought I had everything done properly. The rails were clamped on and I got the cover itself attached and folded down properly. After a day or so though I noticed a horrible squeak/rattling noise while going over bumps similar to the squeak that those cheap plastic water bottles make when they rub against each other. At first it didn't seem like a big deal and I figured maybe the cold weather was contributing to that (0 degrees in Wisconsin the last week). Now it's driving me insane and I can't stand another second of it.

I tried moving the cover further from the bulkhead and fiddling with the clamps over and over again. I also tried shimming the bulkhead brackets and a few of the clamps themselves but nothing has worked. I'm fairly certain it has something to do with the clamps and how they're attached but I'm really not sure .

I ordered some truxedo clamps that looked to me like they might grip the truck and rail together better but I'm not sure if that will be the solution. Thinking of taking it into a shop and asking them to fiddle around with it and find a solution. In the meantime I think I'll disassemble the whole thing and wait for the other clamps to arrive. Just can't stand the squeak even for a few days.

Has anybody else had a similar issue? I've searched the forum and found people having problems with the clamps but no mention of a rattle or squeak. I can try to post pictures if anybody is curious. Any advice is appreciated!!!

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[halligan1201]

I don't have the hard cover but I have the Gator SFX soft tri-fold and it leaves much to be desired in the fitment category. It's too short to reach from bulkhead to end of tailgate so from the factory it would leak like a sieve - had to buy some rubber tailgate seal to close the massive gap.

Like you, I found the factory clamps to leave much to be desired. Others have the same product name but got entirely different clamp set-up than came with mine; you might want to reach out to Gator and see if they have updated the clamps for the hard tri as well.

 

[GreenCreekDucks]

Love the Cover.. Hate the clamps.. You are not alone... I had some older clamps I saved from another cover from my previous F150.. They worked much better.. Switch them out. You will be good !

 

[Blue_Ranger]

I have the hard tri-fold and would agree the clamps are awful. After installing mine, the rails would fall off and I had to keep re-attaching the clamps. It seems, at least in my case, that there is not enough material on the bed rails for the clamps to "catch" onto. Additionally, I found I had the clamps in the wrong place on the tonneau rails.
I was able to find another set of instructions online that were a little clearer and helped solve my issue. Good luck.

 

[Rp930]

Can you show a picture of the current clamp installed?

 

[micl9]

Funny I just dropped off my truck yesterday for a rattle coming from back end. I thought it was suspension. They told me they could not diagnose with my folding Undercover and hitch cap and bed extender. Took it home last night and removed the hitch cover and bed extender, 30 deg this morning and it was still there. Folded my cover up so it was standing vertical behind the cab and pretty sure it was still there. Had to take it back to get the E-Brake cover replaced and told them to take another look.
At this point I don't know whats better a real issue (that they can hopefully fix) or having to live with a rattly tonneau cover!

Oh and they could duplicate the noise! LOL 1st step accomplished!

 

[Jbroke]

Gator clamps suck, for the first 6 months they were fine but all of a sudden they stopped holding and would randomly fall off after hitting a bump in the road. Finally had enough one day over the holiday break and tossed it after spending nearly an hour trying to get them to clamp properly, would get them all set then gently close the cover and 2/3 would pop off. Ranger needs a bed rail system like the tacoma where it you can actually attach the cover to something sturdy.

 

[OCL]

I don't have the Gator brand. I'm using the Truxedo SOFT rollup cover. Doesn't have any clamp issues, even after extended off road use. So clamp issues can't be because of the Ranger bed rail.

 

[Grumpaw]

Truxedo cover on mine, and like some have found the clamps, while are good, don't seem to hold the rails securely. I have even put a nut on the back side on the bolt threads, and the clamps still tend to work loose.
There is just not enough rail lip on the Ranger's bed for the clamp to get a good grip.
I am seriously thinking of just running some stainless steel self tapping screws through the tonneau rails into the Ranger bed lip, maybe one every foot. If nothing else, that will stop the rails from shifting or coming loose.

 

[JACER]

My Ranger came with the Ford roll up tonneau cover. Those clamps wouldn't stay on either. Not only that, but it was hardly water tight either.

I did some research & replaced that cover with a Lear quad fold hard cover. I've had no troubles with the clamps after first retightening them as instructed to do so. And it is much more water resistant.

 

[packhawk1]

I don't have the hard cover but I have the Gator SFX soft tri-fold and it leaves much to be desired in the fitment category. It's too short to reach from bulkhead to end of tailgate so from the factory it would leak like a sieve - had to buy some rubber tailgate seal to close the massive gap.

Like you, I found the factory clamps to leave much to be desired. Others have the same product name but got entirely different clamp set-up than came with mine; you might want to reach out to Gator and see if they have updated the clamps for the hard tri as well.

Thankfully I haven't noticed that the cover is too short, but I havent been out in any rain and the truck is kept indoors at night so I'm sure I'll encounter some water-proofing issues down the line. I will have to reach out to gator about the clamps. Not super excited about getting into a big fight with the manufacturer but I guess that's where we're at!

 

[packhawk1]

Love the Cover.. Hate the clamps.. You are not alone... I had some older clamps I saved from another cover from my previous F150.. They worked much better.. Switch them out. You will be good !

That's good to hear! Fingers crossed these new clamps I ordered solves the issue. Did you notice any squeaking or rattling while using the gator clamps or were they just not biting down properly?

 

[packhawk1]

I have the hard tri-fold and would agree the clamps are awful. After installing mine, the rails would fall off and I had to keep re-attaching the clamps. It seems, at least in my case, that there is not enough material on the bed rails for the clamps to "catch" onto. Additionally, I found I had the clamps in the wrong place on the tonneau rails.
I was able to find another set of instructions online that were a little clearer and helped solve my issue. Good luck.

Glad you got your problem solved. Is there any chance you still have the link to those online instructions you found??

 

[packhawk1]

Funny I just dropped off my truck yesterday for a rattle coming from back end. I thought it was suspension. They told me they could not diagnose with my folding Undercover and hitch cap and bed extender. Took it home last night and removed the hitch cover and bed extender, 30 deg this morning and it was still there. Folded my cover up so it was standing vertical behind the cab and pretty sure it was still there. Had to take it back to get the E-Brake cover replaced and told them to take another look.
At this point I don't know whats better a real issue (that they can hopefully fix) or having to live with a rattly tonneau cover!

Oh and they could duplicate the noise! LOL 1st step accomplished!

Haha I think at this point I'd rather have a real issue with a clear cut way to fix it. The rattling drives me crazy good luck on getting that solved. I've been trying to duplicate the noise with some success, but still haven't been successful on solving the problem.

 

[packhawk1]

Gator clamps suck, for the first 6 months they were fine but all of a sudden they stopped holding and would randomly fall off after hitting a bump in the road. Finally had enough one day over the holiday break and tossed it after spending nearly an hour trying to get them to clamp properly, would get them all set then gently close the cover and 2/3 would pop off. Ranger needs a bed rail system like the tacoma where it you can actually attach the cover to something sturdy.

I haven't had any clamps fall off yet thankfully, but I agree part of the problem seems to be the design of the bed and the lack of a good clamping spot. I'm getting worried that I'm doing damage to the truck by clamping and re-clamping in certain spots.

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