Bed cover for my pickup?

Looking for a cover for my short box pick up. What would you all suggest? I looked at the Ford dealer and they had one that was a tri fold soft cover that was pretty nice. I'd like something like that which isn't permanently mounted to the truck. The tri fold was just latched on and you could easily move it alone if need be.

Would like to stay with soft cover. The hard covers are pretty dang expensive!

Thanks!

I have a "Jack Rabbit" roll back on my truck. It was one of the best investments I made. It locks shut, and has 3 intermediate locking positions. Granted, it ran about a grand, but I'm very happy with it.
http://www.pace-edwards.com/JackRabbit

I have a roll'n lock which I bought off craigslist. I wanted a hard tonneau caue they look better but as far as functionality my roll'n lock was the best investment. I don't have to worry about taking the tonneau off, just slide it back and put what ever over sized load in the back. I would either suggest a roll or flip back depending what you use your truch for.

I have a tri fold solid cover. It hold to the bed with only 4 clamps so is easily removable. The two toward the tailgate are spring loaded for easily folding back the whole thing (forward onto itself - back two panels sit on the first when open). It is called solidfold from extang. I also have a pop n lock tailgate lock that locks the gate with the electric locks, so everything is locked up.

I have a Lund brand "Seal and Peel". No snaps or velcro. Opens and closes super easy. Bed and contents stay dry. Very functional besides the fact you cant lock it but my tailgate is wired into the alarm and most likely anyone will open the gate first. Under $300 too so much easier on the budget than other covers.

The Extang is the one I was looking at.

http://extang.com/docs/trifecta.html

Thoughts?

Extang is the way to go.

I know a couple of guys that have these on their F-450's and they absolutely love them. Nice this is you can stand on them as well.

If you get one, make sure the packaging box is not dented. They don't put muchp protection in there and the metal can get dented.

It's not a soft cover, but I just bought an Undercover SE Smooth for my Tundra. I need a water tight cover so I couldn't go with a 'soft' one. The Undercover covers are made out of ABS plastic so they are stronger and lighter then fiberglass ones. I got it for under $700 shipped to my door.

I have had fiberglass Protecto-tops on my previous trucks and currently have an UnderCover hard plastic cover on my current Chevy shortbox. I really like the undercover cover better than the fiberglass covers because it is much easier to keep looking nice and it's very strong. Just the other day a guy at the gas station asked me about it and I climbed up on it and jumped up and down on it just to show him how strong it is. They are about $700 but it's a great addition to the truck. It takes me about 5 minutes to remove it by myself. It is also much lighter than the fiberglass covers. In the past I have had a couple custom snap down vinyl tonneau covers and I really prefer the utility of the hard covers.

http://www.undercoverfactoryoutlet.com/

Thats a decent one for $500 and change. Standing on it? I'd like to see that. Maybe by balancing your weight on 2 of the cross bars, but the vinyl ain't going to hold too much weight.

Patrick, my "soft" Lund is water tight. Never seen any moisture/water in my bed.

I currently don't have a cover, but I have been also looking. I had a fiberglass one-piece on my last truck and will never do that again. I personally like the Bakflip. It looks like its the best of both worlds and the price looks reasonable.

http://www.bakflip-tonneau.com/features.asp?tabid=2

My mistake. The Extang I am familiar with is the hard to that is fold-able

http://extang.com/docs/solidfold.html

I really don't get how people think that vinyl is protective. I understand that it keeps things out sight but all it takes is a box cutter and everything in your truck bed is gone.

I will second the Undercover hard top. That thing is awsome! yes you can walk all over it , yes one person can pop it off in thirty seconds. I had one on my dodge for 4+ years and loved it.

I gotta say there are some cool features with that Bakflip cover. I have on a couple occasions wished I didn't have a cover so I could haul trees home from Costco or have had to run home and drop the cover so I could pick up a washer and dryer. If you ever needed a ladder rack you can't do it with a hard cover like the undercover but it looks like you could with one of those bakflips.

I've had several naugahyde tonneaus over the years. Their nice, till they pool up with rain or snow. Or someone decides to cut them to steal your stuff. Or the sun just bakes them beyond belief.

Then I had a Lund 1 pc fiberglass cover on a Dakota. Their too big & awkward to get off the truck for one man. Now I have a stock Chevy Avalanche. The 3 pc hard cover is easy for 1 guy to pull off the truck & packs on the side of the bed. I like the fact that with a hard cover I can lock the bed up pretty secure.

Whatever you get, make sure you can fold it up by yourself. I have 2 friends with the Bakflip & their pretty slick & secure.

I have had my Roll Trax bed cover for about 4 years. It has been a good cover.

http://www.peragon.com/tonneau-cover-buy-now.php

i'm thinking about this one. haven't heard any feedback though.

X2 for the Jack Rabbit- had it 4 years and it's awesome. Almost water tight and looks great, easy to use and very secure. I added the Line X spray in liner to my F 150 too and together they are a great combo.

With the Extang solid cover, are those back clips really that secure? Being spring loaded, it appears it wouldn't take much to pry it up. Does this look like an issue or is it a mute point?

Try looking at Gaylordslids.com That is where I got my hard top tonneau cover.

Shawn, The back two attachment points are actually threaded and very secure. Only the rearward two (near the tailgate) attachment points are spring loaded. I've never had an issue - the cover is very secure to the truck bed.

Personally, I like a hard cover best - feels more secure, looks better IMO and snow wont hurt it. They're also very flexible in terms of use - you can take the whole thing off in a couple minutes if you want to haul something large and slide the cover in the truck bed with the load. Or if you know you are going to be hauling something large, just take it off and leave it in the garage.

If money is no object, I think the bakflip is probably the best. It also has the option for a forward toolbox (and front panel is hinged to open too). The bakflip wouldnt work for me because I have a tiedown rail mounted to the inside edge of the truckbed, to tie stuff down easier (These are very cool too BTW, you may want to check them out: http://www.aztrucks.com/product.asp?pr=Slide-N-Lock). In fact my solidfold cover attaches directly to the slide-n-lock's rail.

Hope this helps.

I know you prefer the soft covers, but I would take a look at the DiamondBack Truck Covers. (http://www.diamondbackcovers.com/) They are a hard cover capable of supporting up to 1600 lbs. And are fairly easy to take on and off and you can do so on your own.

Hmmm. I'm thinking I will go the hard cover route. I do like the looks of those tie downs too! Always a pain to just use the four the truck comes with.

Shawn, Let me know if you would like any pics. There is a modification necessary to the slide n lock rails to use the Extang Solidcover. But it's minor and works out very well when done. Essentially, you need to file down the back of the rail to allow the cover connectors to engage the rail (easy really). When complete, the cover is held down better than if you didnt have the rails at all.

Another cool tip, while we're on the subject: these are pretty handy and cheap too: http://www.harborfreight.com/2-in-1-...bar-66172.html

X2 on the Diamond Back cover. My brother-in-law has one on his Tundra and the thing is awesome. He mounts his Mtn bikes on it to.

I have an aluminum folding cover on my Titan, it's pretty good but not as nice and sturdy as the Diamond Back cover.

I have had an Extang soft cover on my truck for 7 years and 4 years on my old truck and 2 years on my truck before that living in the city and nothing was ever stolen. I love the Extang - it has a 10 year warranty, they replaced a 6 year old cover because of cracking with no questions asked, now I start over again, but I think this cover may outlast my truck. It is great, especially when i need to remove it for those unexpected hauling times, roll it up, velcro straps secure it and now I have an open bed. The Tri-fecta seems to be the best so far, a friend of mine got that one and loves it.

I've had the Jack Rabbit roll up style before and it seemed to start falling apart after about five years. My last couple of trucks i've had toppers for, which offer a ton of dry lockable storage. I hate to scarifice the storage but i'm ready for a change I think. The bakflip one looks pretty appealing to me. I can't decide if i would like the looks of my new truck better with a bed cover or a topper. What do you guys think about the look of trucks with toppers? I always thought they looked like something for an old man but now that i'm use to them my new truck looks small and funny without one.

Has anybody that hauls a dirtbike in a 6.5' bed found a cover that works well?

I had a topper for a few years on an old truck and really liked it. There are plenty of them that don't make it look like a senior citizen's truck. The only things that sucked were rear visibility, and cargo that's taller than the cab.

Just installed a Bakflip on my new truck, installation was super quick and easy, and with no drilling or cutting. Seems to be well designed and solidly built... we'll see how it holds up over time.