hard tonneau cover: school me

[Mustang2Ranger]

I like my trifold a lot. Definitely got what I wanted

But since you mentioned high crime, a one piece hardtop or roll up may be more secure

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[TomC]

I've had 2 Bak flips, and went with a diamondback SE. The Bak flips are too easy to break into, and neither looked good after 4 years. Keep an eye in the outlet store, and save 20% or more. You get what you pay for in tonneau covers, IMO.

Outlet Store | DiamondBack Covers – Tagged "Ford Ranger"

 

[Kino]

Does your Diamondback do a good job with keeping out water?

Does it attach via clamps?

Yes to both. The weather stripping on spray-in bedliner near the cab was not adhering well, but I fixed it.

 

[VTRanger]

I know this isn't your exact question, but I purchased the cheapest soft cover I could find on amazon for like $180, and I love it. It's a trifold, has 2 clamps near the cab and two quick release clamps near the gate. Keeps the water out and items out of site and somewhat locked.

 

[Mirage775]

I am exploring the route of an auto roll up cover like the Pace Edwards Switchblade.

I have that installed

 

[packhawk1]

My Ranger is my first truck, so I know little about the details of tonneau covers.

I love a pretty active lifestyle and like most "western" states, theft crimes is high in my area. So I want a hard cover.

I would normally want a cap, as my dad always had those growing up, but up here, they are $3000+ and honestly don't look as good as they do on full size trucks.

So hard cover it is.

I can get a hard trifold like Gator or Rough Country or Extang for just under a grand with shipping.

Or, I can go all out and get the Diamondback HD (buy once, cry once) that can literally support a dead moose on top.

What says the hive mind?

Are the cheaper trifolds junk for hard use (camping, fishing, hunting, bad weather) within their weight restrictions?

Should I just go all out and buy the pricey boy?

I was in the same boat as you about a month ago. Just purchased my first truck and immediately was in the market for a tonneau. I ended up going for the gator tri fold. I believe it was around $900 and everything is fine with the cover itself.

I decided to install the cover myself even though I really wasn’t totally sure what I was doing. I found the clamps that came with the cover to be extremely difficult to attach to the small rail lip on the Ranger.

There was an annoying rattle and squeak which I determined to be from the clamps. I bought a set of truxedo clamps and they have turned out to be a much better fit.

If I could do it all over again I probably would have gone with a different cover or at least had a professional install it for me to avoid some of the headaches that came along with it.

Hope this helps but whatever you go with will work out in the end even if it requires some trial and error!

 

[JeeperCreeper]

I've had 2 Bak flips, and went with a diamondback SE. The Bak flips are too easy to break into, and neither looked good after 4 years. Keep an eye in the outlet store, and save 20% or more. You get what you pay for in tonneau covers, IMO.

Outlet Store | DiamondBack Covers – Tagged "Ford Ranger"

That is fantastic! Too bad it's not for a 5' bed.

You wouldn't happen to know what their average turnover is on the clearance section?

I kinda need a cover sooner than later, so I don't want to wait for a year. So you peek at it now and again to know how often new merch comes through?

 

[Mirage775]

I personally do not like the flip back covers. I had one on my old '03 Ranger and also one on my '13 Silverado. I don't like how they completely blocked the rear window, when they were raised all the way up... I also didn't like how they "bounced" when driving at interstate speeds...

I do like my roll up Switchblade currently installed on my '21 though.

Yes, it does take up a portion of the bed, but I don't haul much anymore, other than bags of mulch and potted flowers and trees for my wife, but I do like that it's a hard cover and I don't have anything sticking up in the air or blocking the rear window, if I need to haul something large

Just my $.02

 

[TomC]

So you peek at it now and again to know how often new merch comes through?

Correct. I saw a lot more 5 ft options than 6 ft. Kinda goes in cycles.

 

[ControlNode]

I love the idea of a hardcover but when I go to put my mtn bike in the back I don't want the folded sections to block my rear window.

Yeah, but with most of the tri folds if you need to remove the cover it's just a couple thumb screws at the front. You could just remove it for days you need the cover out of the way and put it right back afterwards. The cover is a little awkward, but not really heavy. The other option would be to get a different way to carry the bikes.

Or, look at options to overcome the blocked rear window. I know I'm thinking about mounting a rear view mirror camera system and a secondary high mount brake light (that is also blocked from view) on that section of the tri fold you see when it's propped up for near full bed access. Then I just need to make a temp mount for the in truck display for that camera I put over the rear view mirror.

 

[HMG03]

I have the BakFlip X4S Rolling Hardcover. It was about $1100 shipped. It does an ok job of keeping water out, but it is easy to break into if you have the correct tool. It will keep street-walking randos out because the cover can’t be opened by pulling on it. Installation was a bit of a pain because the directions might as well have been written in Chinese. I am happy with it, but I probably won’t buy it again because of how easy it is to break into it.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

Correct. I saw a lot more 5 ft options than 6 ft. Kinda goes in cycles.

How long ago was that, would you guess?

Just tryna see if there's any clues to their manufacturing cycles.

I could probably just call them but I doubt the would tell me.

In other news, found out if I get raw aluminum from Diamondback, I save a crap ton of money. That might be the way I go.

 

[TomC]

How long ago was that, would you guess?

I checked once a week, but was looking for a 180 SE in black. Never hurts to call. The accessories are nice as well.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

I checked once a week, but was looking for a 180 SE in black. Never hurts to call. The accessories are nice as well.

Well, I just looked at their ship times to Alaska. I kinda need this within a month.

So I just pulled the trigger and ordered an HD in raw diamond plate.

She'll be shiny, but after reading the small issues with other hard covers, I'm paying double but getting much more use for the abuse I'll put it through.

Thanks everyone for the help, I'll give it a review when I get it

 

[Danager]

After having the BakFlip on three F-150s, I no longer wanted that big panel blocking the window. I researched and found the Bak Revolver X4S. On the 5’ bed, rolled up is only 7” tall. Easy to remove the roll if I need to. I find it seals up pretty good. The big issue is the gap around the tailgate. Security is pretty good. Easy to add a piece of plastic to prevent the release cable from being grabbed with a coat hanger. It states it supports a few hundred pounds.

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