Tonneau cover

[grizz272]

What type of bed cover is the one to buy? Soft, hard, trifold or roll up? I like the idea of covering the bed when I am not towing. It is for a long box GMC 3500HD swr.

[GPG52_]

Our previous TV had a flip cover, we loved it except for one thing. The cover sat on top of the side rails, cutting into the TV/5'er clearance. Once folded it added about another 1 1/2 inch to the side rail heights... which we could live with, but, the latch on either side added another 1/2 inch of height. On one occasion I did gouge the 5er on the latch. Not a happy day!

On this TV we installed a Roll-N-Lock along with the matching Cargo Manager. It's mounting rails sit flush to the TV bed rail. And when rolled up it adds no height to the truck rails. You do lose about 8"x8" square box at the head of the box to accommodate the fully rolled tonneau. The Cargo Manager adjust along the side rails. Once we install the 5th wheel we set the Cargo Manager just in front of the 5th wheel, we set the adjustable tonneau cover to match the Cargo Manager and have in effect set up a semi secure storage area at the front of the box.

PROS: It clears the hitch and Cargo Manager. When closed it does lock the tailgate. In our case we have both a locking tonneau and OEM locking tailgate so storage in the bed is fairly secure.

CONS: The locking mechanism does freeze up, snow build up does hamper your ability to close the cover. Requires a little work to get access in certain winter conditions.

To each his own, but all in all the Roll-N-Lock and Cargo Manager meets our needs and expectation.

Happy trails ....
GPG

[ford_truck_guy]

They would, but I do not use mine in the winter..... No issue for me

[grizz272]

You guys that have a retractable top; do the tops freeze shut from snow and ice?

[Ron3rd]

XTang Solid fold on my last 2 trucks; very sturdy and well built.

The Bakflip G2 (Generation 2) must be MUCH improved. I had the original Bakflip on an old Tundra and it was terrible. Very flimsy and eventually fell apart. Sagged badly in the middle.

One feature I did like about the Bakflip however is how you could fold the last section up against the cap window. Very nice feature that my XTang does not have.

[aviator41]

I have a roll-n-lock as well and LOVE it. it's very secure and can be extended to the front of the hitch when traveling, give a semi-weatherproof area. once at the campgrounds and the truck detached, I can close it up and the bed is a locked system. (I have an auto-lock on the tailgate that locks the tailgate when the truck is locked.)

love it.

[ford_truck_guy]

My last truck had the Roll N Lock and i liked that... This truck has the Pace Edwards Full Metal Jacket Rabbit and like that just a bit better..

I used to have to open the cover to open the tailgate with the Roll N Lock, I do not have to do that now.. Other than that, they are basically the same.

[joe_puma]

i have a roll-N-lock on my 2500. Doesn't interfere with my trailer or hitch. Heard some people had problems with side rails hitting pin box. I do have the mor ride box, not the factory. My cover is about 5 yrs old, truck outside all year in mid west, still in great shape.

[grizz272]

For you guys using the Anderson Ultimate hitch, does the hitch ball interfere with the tonneau cover when it is closed? Do you just remove the ball then?

[tfdcc]

X3 on the Retrax, Great covers

[Nodaker]

ReTrax Pro. Very good quality and locks anyplace so I can easily cover the area in front of the hitch.

Only disadvantage is the canister that it rolls up into in the front of the box. There is still space under the canister and for a long box there's still plenty of storage.

[Learjet]

just a consideration, I put a tri-fold on my Long box and can not see the hitch head when backing...no problem since I have a cargo camera that came on the truck. But if you don't, a tri-fold could be an issue.

I don't know if the quad-folds are better at seeing the hitch head?

[GottaRunGottaCa]

Helmsey wrote:
I have used the BakFlip G2 folding cover on my last 4 trucks and have had good service out of it.

X2 and love it

[Latner]

donn0128 wrote:

greende wrote:
I have a Fold-A-Cover brand hard tonneau. It folds in four sections and lays flat and does not block the back window.

X2

X3

[Helmsey]

I have used the BakFlip G2 folding cover on my last 4 trucks and have had good service out of it.