truck bed tonneaus - school me

For a '17 F-150, 5.7 bed.

I'm thinking about those trifold tonneaus. Something sturdy that I can leave outside. I think there are some you open from the front as well as the back.

I am only in and out of them on the weekends, but my truck is parked outside so I don't think I want a "soft" tonneau, and I don't want to break the bank to get one.

Ideas? Thanks in advance.

I have a soft cover on mine, but extang makes some nice covers. I’ve had only soft covers but in my experience the more expensive name brands seem to have better materials and overall nicer quality than the cheaper not so well known names. Hard covers are not cheap though. My current cover was from ford and it was just over 500


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In for recommendations, shopping for covers for my Tundra.

http://ruggedliner.com/tonneau-covers/hard-folding-tonneau-cover/

I have this.

Good:
Thieves can’t cut there way in
Easy to put on and off
Looks nice.
Has lights.
No assembly just opened box and put it on truck done.
Replacement parts available.
Keeps rain and snow out(not gravel road dust though)
Inexpensive but does not feel that way. $500 for mine.

The real nice one are north of 1000.

Bad:
Sits on top of box so not smooth looking.
Kinda awkward by yourself to remove or install.
Does not flip up at front so with it open you loose about 1.5’ of open bed at front in stowed position

Thief’s could use pry bar to get in still.

It’s a good compromise for someone not needing to haul stuff that requires removal regularly. Had it on for almost a year. No sagging, dis coloration or defects yet. Still working as new.


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Hard to beat Leer cap from CL.

I rock a bakflip g2 in my ‘14 f150. Its a trifold. Would highly recommend. Comes off the truck in about 5 mins if need be or folds against the back window in just seconds. Keeps 99% of the weather out and if you lock your tailgate it keeps you stuff secure.

+1 for Bakflip. I have the MX4 on my '16 F150. Similar to the G2 but it has a matte finish, it's a little bit stronger, and the big bonus for me is you can close the tailgate with the cover up or down. Sits flush and looks great too.

Hmmm, I've been thinking about putting one on my 04. I want something that's easy to put on and take off.
I shall look at the Bakflip brand.

I have the Truxedo Truxport roll up soft cover on my F150 and had the same one on my Ranger. Sure, I hardly ever roll it up but when I need the bed it is usually because I need all the bed so a roll up is better for me.


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I have an access lorado. It's a roll up, my son has a tri-fold on his truck. I like the roll up better, it sits between the bed rails, giving it a flusher look and I'm not in and out of the bed a lot. My son opens and closes his all day long and with a 8" lifted truck he can easily flip 2 sections forward from the ground to get to his tools. Access has a video showing both types in use that helped me make up my mind before I bought mine.

@OETKB im putting a bakflip on mine. Good quality stuff, no noise while going down the road

I have a paragon retractable bed cover for 8 years now and its been good. My next truck will get a bakflip g2. The only thing i did not like about the paragon is it takes up 4 or 5 inches of bed space when you retract it back.

Zemedici said:

@OETKB im putting a bakflip on mine. Good quality stuff, no noise while going down the road

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Do tell. Which one in particular? I was looking at them based on the other recommendations here.

And best place to order? I see them at their website and on realtruck.com, who I've never bought from (yet).

I see they're on Amazon also.

I'm reading some reviews on Amazon of Bakflips coming out of completely intact packaging with scratches, and missing installation hardware. Wish I could buy one locally that I could inspect first.

I ran soft trifold (trifecta brand) for years on my trucks. No issues but really not the most secure things going.

With my new truck with locking tailgate I wanted something more semi permanent so I got a hard folding and locking MOPAR cover which I was told was a rebranded bakflip.

All I can say is I will never go back to a soft folding again even at 3x the price point. Much more robust feeling, and the security is nice to have if I need to leave tools or materials in the bed for a time period.

The wifes father has a "rugged" brand hard tonneau on his truck, not a beefy as the Bak/Mopar stuff but was $400 less and still gets the job done. If you don't have crazy weather or care as much about security its a good medium.

Went from a Backflip try fold to this model.
Beats the trifold all day long.
https://www.realtruck.com/bak-revol...tF1uDseY_0_3qMZDKZTb_aKj8-o3XWqhoCxsIQAvD_BwE

OETKB said:

I'm reading some reviews on Amazon of Bakflips coming out of completely intact packaging with scratches, and missing installation hardware. Wish I could buy one locally that I could inspect first.

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I didn't have any issues with mine. Order from Luke @ truckalterations.com. He crushed any price I saw on Amazon.

I have a Gator Tri Fold soft version on my Colorado. Its been great, very sturdy with no leaks at the seals. The truck lives its life outside and so far no ill effects on the soft cover in 5,000 or so miles. It was $270 with free shipping and has a great warranty on the cover and frame.

https://gatorcovers.com/shop-by-category/soft-folding/gator-tri-fold-tonneau-cover.html

It came assembled with the cover attached to the frame ready to go. You place the first portion and center the tonneau. Once you have it centered you just adjust the 2 forward clamps to grab the bed rail from the underside. Flip the back two sections down and clamp the rear 2 to the bed rail. Took all of 10 minutes to fit.

I had Truxedo LoPro soft rollup on my 2006 F150 5.5' bed. After 5 years the vinyl was noticeably faded. The spring tension system worked fine. The cover had slight leaks at the front corners.

I went with the Access Lorado soft rollup on my 2011 F150 5.5' bed. The vinyl held up great - looked almost new at 115K miles. The tension system also worked fine and never needed adjustment. The cover also leaked at the front corners - even after some small dabs of silicone.

I then went with a Lomax hard trim-fold on my 2018 F150 5.5' bed. This cover is relatively new to market and also an Access product. There was some thought in this cover design - particularly how the panels lock together to compress the perimeter seal and ease of cover removal. This cover is by far the driest of the 3 I've had. It's also the lowest profile of any of the 3 - the finish looks great. The panels are also solid aluminum alloy - note several hard tri-fold covers are thin skins over a form core and can dent fairly easily. The cover uses bonded on hinges - some early ones had issues - current ones have been reliable. The continuous hinge means no leaks and the cover is really nice to clear snow off of and wash/dry since the top surface is completely flat (no hardware or exposed seals).

Another recommendation for BAKFlip. They have different levels depending on your needs. Look up Morrie at:

https://www.tonneaufactoryoutlet.com/

They carry some other brands and types. Chat or call Morrie to get your best price.