Hard Tonneau Cover Recommendations?

[Birdtrd]

Still loving my Leer HF350M, its heavy though so if you remove it often its not the one for you. Once its installed and you take a little bit of time to seal it up and adjust the latches its pretty rock solid.

Good to hear. I just received the 4 panel HF650M today. Started to install it but the rails seemed a bit too long to fit where they are supposed to. I'm thinking that the "spray in" bed liner has taken some space away from the rails.
Going to try again this weekend and do some hack-n-mod if need be.

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[Nick Barber]

Can anyone with a BAK or Ford cover confirm Fords are the same covers made by BAK?

BTW I miss my Sport Trac with the hard folding cover. It was heavy, but attached to two integrated bed points, took about a minute to fully remove or put on with no bed rails necessary.

 

[P. A. Schilke]

Can anyone with a BAK or Ford cover confirm Fords are the same covers made by BAK?

BTW I miss my Sport Trac with the hard folding cover. It was heavy, but attached to two integrated bed points, took about a minute to fully remove or put on with no bed rails necessary.

Hi Nick,

I have a Bak Revolver MX4 roll up hard cover. Same as the Ford except I have no Ford Logo when rolled up against the backlite.

Best,
Phil Schilke
Ranger Vehicle Engineering
Ford Motor Co. Retired

 

[JaysOnTheEDGE]

Well the hot FL sun has started doing in my Leer HF350M, its starting to separate along the outside frame on one of the panel and its allowing a little water under it when it rains. after it stops raining you can see the water seeping out and starts to boil off as the sun bakes it. I haven't had time to really look at it and see if a little bit of sealant might cure it.

 

[VoodooRanger]

Well the hot FL sun has started doing in my Leer HF350M, its starting to separate along the outside frame on one of the panel and its allowing a little water under it when it rains. after it stops raining you can see the water seeping out and starts to boil off as the sun bakes it. I haven't had time to really look at it and see if a little bit of sealant might cure it.

Being in Miami, Florida, this is the kind of thing that worries me when it comes to buying a cover.

 

[MMorf]

After a lot of debate, I finally ordered a Gator EFX. Once it is in, I will install and follow up with my thoughts.

 

[MMorf]

My Gator EFX came in over the weekend and I was able to get it installed on Sunday. Here are my first thoughts...

1. Installation is not as easy as the youtube videos make it seem. The provided instructions border on useless and are hard to read/understand. It should also be done with two people. It was not easy to hold the rail up and install the clamps at the same time. It took a lot of removing one clamp at a time to readjust and I will probably need to readjust again. There are four additional brackets you need to install for the Ranger before putting the rails up. The middle clamps use a foam buffer that sticks to the inside of the bed rail to keep from damaging the truck that I am not impressed with. It kept moving when I would tighten those two clamps so I will be replacing the foam with something else soon.

2. Once the rails are installed, the cover itself is super easy to install/removed. It is not very heavy so I will be able to pull it off completely before putting up the truckbed tent. There are four attachments with wingnuts that only get hand tightened, so they can be removed and pull the cover itself off.

3. It clearly will not be completely waterproof. The rail drain tubes do not have a great place to run out of the bed to and the Ranger tailgate is not at all waterproof. But, it will provide a lot of protection from the rain and snow, even if it isn't waterproof. The seals are clearly over the top of the bed, tailgate, and bulkhead seal. I wasn't expecting anything more than some weather protection and a lot of physical security for my camping gear, hockey bag/sticks, golf bag, etc and I feel as though this will work perfectly. Another plus is that you can close the cover first and then the tailgate OR the tailgate first and then the cover. For me, this is a plus, but it also means the top of the tailgate does not seal completely.

4. The quality of materials and product seem very good especially considering the price. This was one of the cheaper options that I could find that was still a hard cover and semi-removable.

All in all, I am very impressed so far with the Gator EFX tonneau cover. It checked off all of the needs I had in a cover and was a reasonable price. I will keep everyone updated of any changes in my opinion, but over all I am very happy with my purchase.

 

[Fastfitzy]

Hey guys! Here is my recommendation and review of the hard tonneau I received today.

Tonneau: TRAVEL PRO 65-SERIES HARD TRI-FOLDING TONNEAU BED COVER

Manufacturer: RDJ TRUCKS (family owned small business, extra points)

Site: https://www.rdjtrucks.com/Ford-Ranger-19-TRAVEL-PRO-Hard-Fold-Tonneau-Cover-p/65-3036.htm

Retail Price: $598.00 (free shipping)

Review: My initial impression was positive, the packing materials are well done, fedex beat the hell out of the box, but once opened, everything was in perfect shape.

This tonneau is very similar in design to the extang solid fold 2.0 from what I could tell online. The installation was a piece of cake, I mean really super easy, all one piece. It came with a tall bulkhead foam weather seal that is long enough for leftovers to use for the corner gaps that we all have (I didn’t pull the adhesive backing yet, due to spray in liner being done soon. There is extra weather stripping for the tailgate, but I don’t think it is needed really.

the construction of this thing seems very good, it’s as heavy as you’d expect, but feels very sturdy. I don’t know what the load rating is, but it seems strong enough to support light items atop of it.(going to email the mfr to see if they have load tested it) The weather seals along the panel edges seem top notch and line up and fall into place cleanly along the bed rail when folding it down (no bunching or pinching).

it uses four clamp points. 2 near the bulkhead and 2 near the tailgate. The bulkhead clamps use sliding bolts with a metal rail lip and are tightened with a thick wing nut, they feel sturdy and durable. The tailgate clamps are quick release levers, that have a heavy duty plastic rail lip (additional pieces are supplied in case of breakage). All four latches have a cavity with clips for stowing them before folding the cover. On the tailgate side there are also two sets of built in push button battery powered LED lights (not super bright, but will keep me from having to buy bed lighting).
View attachment 56286

there are pros and cons with any cover, but I really like the hard fold style, and I really like this one, having it sit on top of the bed rails does eliminate most racks or rail systems, but I have no plans for racks. It is sooo easy to remove, I don’t really feel like I am losing bed access when it’s folded up. I do wish that it had come with some kind of zip up storage bag to put it in when not in use. Originally I was hesitant about the hard tri-fold covers, thinking that they would limit the rear view when folded up, but with this one at least, it doesn’t block the rear view at all.

Over all, I highly recommend this cover, especially if you are looking to go the hard tri-fold route, the look, build quality, and price give it the edge over the “truck hero” sub brands.

 

[GregM]

Hey guys! Here is my recommendation and review of the hard tonneau I received today.

Tonneau: TRAVEL PRO 65-SERIES HARD TRI-FOLDING TONNEAU BED COVER

Manufacturer: RDJ TRUCKS (family owned small business, extra points)

Site: https://www.rdjtrucks.com/Ford-Ranger-19-TRAVEL-PRO-Hard-Fold-Tonneau-Cover-p/65-3036.htm

Retail Price: $598.00 (free shipping)

Review: My initial impression was positive, the packing materials are well done, fedex beat the hell out of the box, but once opened, everything was in perfect shape.

This tonneau is very similar in design to the extang solid fold 2.0 from what I could tell online. The installation was a piece of cake, I mean really super easy, all one piece. It came with a tall bulkhead foam weather seal that is long enough for leftovers to use for the corner gaps that we all have (I didn’t pull the adhesive backing yet, due to spray in liner being done soon. There is extra weather stripping for the tailgate, but I don’t think it is needed really.

the construction of this thing seems very good, it’s as heavy as you’d expect, but feels very sturdy. I don’t know what the load rating is, but it seems strong enough to support light items atop of it.(going to email the mfr to see if they have load tested it) The weather seals along the panel edges seem top notch and line up and fall into place cleanly along the bed rail when folding it down (no bunching or pinching).

it uses four clamp points. 2 near the bulkhead and 2 near the tailgate. The bulkhead clamps use sliding bolts with a metal rail lip and are tightened with a thick wing nut, they feel sturdy and durable. The tailgate clamps are quick release levers, that have a heavy duty plastic rail lip (additional pieces are supplied in case of breakage). All four latches have a cavity with clips for stowing them before folding the cover. On the tailgate side there are also two sets of built in push button battery powered LED lights (not super bright, but will keep me from having to buy bed lighting).
View attachment 56286

there are pros and cons with any cover, but I really like the hard fold style, and I really like this one, having it sit on top of the bed rails does eliminate most racks or rail systems, but I have no plans for racks. It is sooo easy to remove, I don’t really feel like I am losing bed access when it’s folded up. I do wish that it had come with some kind of zip up storage bag to put it in when not in use. Originally I was hesitant about the hard tri-fold covers, thinking that they would limit the rear view when folded up, but with this one at least, it doesn’t block the rear view at all.

Over all, I highly recommend this cover, especially if you are looking to go the hard tri-fold route, the look, build quality, and price give it the edge over the “truck hero” sub brands.

ar

Congrats Casey you finally got it. Glad you are happy with your purchase
It is a good looking cover and I really like the led lights feature

 

[Fastfitzy]

Congrats Casey you finally got it. Glad you are happy with your purchase
It is a good looking cover and I really like the led lights feature

Thanks Greg,
Matt at RDJ Trucks responded to me this morning. The Max load rating for it is 350lbs.(a lot more than I expected) so I will feel comfortable strapping stuff of top of it if necessary. I really like this thing, I would slap their sticker on my back window if they had one. I really enjoy the fact that I am supporting a small business at the same time *disclaimer, I have no connection to the company except as a consumer. I only found them after doing a lot of googling to find a more affordable option for what I was looking for*

 

[KJRR]

Hey guys! Here is my recommendation and review of the hard tonneau I received today.

Tonneau: TRAVEL PRO 65-SERIES HARD TRI-FOLDING TONNEAU BED COVER

Manufacturer: RDJ TRUCKS (family owned small business, extra points)

Site: https://www.rdjtrucks.com/Ford-Ranger-19-TRAVEL-PRO-Hard-Fold-Tonneau-Cover-p/65-3036.htm

Nice review. I'm a little jealous since I have the Extang Solid fold 2.0. I like the release handles on yours better, you have lights and its cheaper.
Couple things I did on mine was to add a wing nut to the wing nuts near the bulkhead to ensure they didn't loosen up and backoff. I also added a strap to the bolt they are on and attached it to the bed near the cab just as an extra measure in case it tried to fly off while it was folded up. I've seen a few on the side of the highway and one about to fly off before the guy pulled off the highway. Nicely done!

 

[Jtholz]

I have the Xtang Xceed cover.... Love it!

• Virtually flush and seamless fit all the way around.
• The finish matches the other black finish on the truck.
• Super strong.... I've knelt on it.
• EnduraCoat finish over the aluminum panels.
• Secure rotary-release handle on rear panel.
• Has not leaked at all (even with a power-wand spray wash)

I have this same set up.

 

[Fastfitzy]

Nice review. I'm a little jealous since I have the Extang Solid fold 2.0. I like the release handles on yours better, you have lights and its cheaper.
Couple things I did on mine was to add a wing nut to the wing nuts near the bulkhead to ensure they didn't loosen up and backoff. I also added a strap to the bolt they are on and attached it to the bed near the cab just as an extra measure in case it tried to fly off while it was folded up. I've seen a few on the side of the highway and one about to fly off before the guy pulled off the highway. Nicely done!

Can you expand a little on the straps you mentioned. I’ll probably, definitely want to ensure the bulkhead clamps don’t come loose. Is it a higher risk when folded up do to the wind circling back around?

 

[KJRR]

Can you expand a little on the straps you mentioned. I’ll probably, definitely want to ensure the bulkhead clamps don’t come loose. Is it a higher risk when folded up do to the wind circling back around?

Here's a shot of what I did. Its actually a small bungee cord from the bolt to the front of the bed.
I don't expect it would hold long if the cover came loose but just need enough to get off the road. As long as its strapped down when folded up, I don't imagine there's a whole lot of risk of it blowing off since its laying flat and fairly heavy. Its not folded up against the back of the cab like some do. You can see the second wing nut I added also.

 

[LaKings]

My Gator EFX came in over the weekend and I was able to get it installed on Sunday. Here are my first thoughts...

1. Installation is not as easy as the youtube videos make it seem. The provided instructions border on useless and are hard to read/understand. It should also be done with two people. It was not easy to hold the rail up and install the clamps at the same time. It took a lot of removing one clamp at a time to readjust and I will probably need to readjust again. There are four additional brackets you need to install for the Ranger before putting the rails up. The middle clamps use a foam buffer that sticks to the inside of the bed rail to keep from damaging the truck that I am not impressed with. It kept moving when I would tighten those two clamps so I will be replacing the foam with something else soon.

2. Once the rails are installed, the cover itself is super easy to install/removed. It is not very heavy so I will be able to pull it off completely before putting up the truckbed tent. There are four attachments with wingnuts that only get hand tightened, so they can be removed and pull the cover itself off.

3. It clearly will not be completely waterproof. The rail drain tubes do not have a great place to run out of the bed to and the Ranger tailgate is not at all waterproof. But, it will provide a lot of protection from the rain and snow, even if it isn't waterproof. The seals are clearly over the top of the bed, tailgate, and bulkhead seal. I wasn't expecting anything more than some weather protection and a lot of physical security for my camping gear, hockey bag/sticks, golf bag, etc and I feel as though this will work perfectly. Another plus is that you can close the cover first and then the tailgate OR the tailgate first and then the cover. For me, this is a plus, but it also means the top of the tailgate does not seal completely.

4. The quality of materials and product seem very good especially considering the price. This was one of the cheaper options that I could find that was still a hard cover and semi-removable.

All in all, I am very impressed so far with the Gator EFX tonneau cover. It checked off all of the needs I had in a cover and was a reasonable price. I will keep everyone updated of any changes in my opinion, but over all I am very happy with my purchase.

thanks for review. Looking at this too. Not sure what the difference between the EFX and FX3 models are. I was wondering if you had a drop in liner. I'm told the install is a bit tricky if you have one.

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