Bed Cover Price vs performance

What is the best price\performance bed cover?

What kind of performance are you hoping for with a bed cover?

gijosh28 said:

What is the best price\performance bed cover?

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Price is not the lowest, but the performance of my second Truck Cover USA cover has been good.

ChevyChad said:

What kind of performance are you hoping for with a bed cover?

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I left it open to interpretation, in case someone replied with something I didn't think of. For example, last time we had a thread like this someone pointed out wind noise which I never thought of, but what a huge deal that would make to me. I think I ruled out soft covers then.

I guess I'm looking for one that makes the least noise, keeps the bed cleanest/driest, looks the best and functions easy/well.

I was in love with the paragon. The idea of color matching it to the bed made it look the best, it looked really easy to use, it didn't block the rear window when folded all the way up, and if you needed more space, is looked really easy to remove and put in the back seat. I went to go order one and the shop told me they wouldn't order it for me and if I brought it to them they were going to charge me $400 to put it in because it was impossible to get lined up. They said the last one they did took an immense amount of time and labor to get lined up and it fell out of alignment shortly thereafter. They said it never opened all the way, never closed all the way, didn't move easily and leaked like a sieve. And they are pretty pricey.

They are pushing the Bakflip mx4 and the Retrax. I know a couple people got really good deals from vendors on here for those two. I guess I was just looking to see if anyone got a good deal on one that they've had really good experience with.

Gotcha.. I have a gatortrax on mine. I like it overall. No leaks in the 1.5 years i have had it (had it on my 17 and then put it on my 18). Its nice that it locks in any position. My only complaint is that it occasionally it gets stuck or slightly hard to open since the handle is off to the side. So when it does, I typically just climb up in the bed and push on it from the middle. Pretty crappy design to put the handle cantilevered off to one side. There is no way to not put an uneven torque on the bed cover like that which can cause binding.

But in the end, it does the job it is supposed to: covers stuff in the bed, can lock in any position, can be locked with a key, and you dont have to have the tailgate open to open it (as long as it doesnt bind as stated above). No wind noise with it and its a hard cover, so its not like a thief could just easily come up and slash thru it with a knife like some of the soft covers would be susceptible to.

I think I paid around $1000 for mine when I bought it because the company was running a sale at the time.


https://gatorcovers.com/shop-by-category/retractable/gatortrax-tonneau-cover.html


BTW, I had the truck cover USA on my gen 1 raptor. The rear seal eventually wore and tore off and after that, every time it rained I'd get water in my bed. That was after about 5 years of use though. Time will tell how long the gatortrax rear seal holds up.

ChevyChad said:

Gotcha.. I have a gatortrax on mine. I like it overall. No leaks in the 1.5 years i have had it (had it on my 17 and then put it on my 18). Its nice that it locks in any position. My only complaint is that it occasionally it gets stuck or slightly hard to open since the handle is off to the side. So when it does, I typically just climb up in the bed and push on it from the middle. Pretty crappy design to put the handle cantilevered off to one side. There is no way to not put an uneven torque on the bed cover like that which can cause binding.

But in the end, it does the job it is supposed to: covers stuff in the bed, can lock in any position, can be locked with a key, and you dont have to have the tailgate open to open it (as long as it doesnt bind as stated above). No wind noise with it and its a hard cover, so its not like a thief could just easily come up and slash thru it with a knife like some of the soft covers would be susceptible to.

I think I paid around $1000 for mine when I bought it because the company was running a sale at the time.


https://gatorcovers.com/shop-by-category/retractable/gatortrax-tonneau-cover.html


BTW, I had the truck cover USA on my gen 1 raptor. The rear seal eventually wore and tore off and after that, every time it rained I'd get water in my bed. That was after about 5 years of use though. Time will tell how long the gatortrax rear seal holds up.

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My concern about those cover is the canister: in a very dusty/sandy environnement would it endup getting stuck?

M3LELENA said:

My concern about those cover is the canister: in a very dusty/sandy environnement would it endup getting stuck?

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I can't answer that question from experience, but I would imagine that it would be no different than any other type of roll-away bed cover of similar construction. I know that doesnt really answer your question at all though

I've got the Bakflip MX4. I paid the regular retail on it which was right around $1,000 I think. I've only had it about 6 weeks, but I really like it. The video on their website about it shows all the features pretty well, and it works as advertised in the video. I also added the Bakbox as well, which is also nice.

I'm an Extang Solid Fold 2.0 Fan.
It sets on the bed and tailgate.
You don't have to put in a rail system or drain.
Two anchorage points at the cabin you tighten by hand.
Two spring loaded handles at the rear to secure closed and to fold open.
Takes the whole sum of 5 minutes to install and uninstall. So, if your out of pocket and buy something you can pop it off load up and stow it next to what you've bought in a jiffy.
Plus, I don't like the railing of the bed level covers. I seem to bump into them with my back, leg, or hands.

Got it at the local 4 Wheel Parts for $720

Man, these are all some strong points. I like the temporary nature of the extang. That's pretty cool. I went and look at an MX4 this morning, but I really don't like the way it sits against the cab of the truck in the open position.