Bak Flip Hard Folding Truck Bed Covers - HD All Metal

Posted By: Scott C. (Superior, WI) on 11/2008

I installed on a 2008 Ram and I've got to say this is an outstanding product. Installation is straight forward and the on-line video helps. It really dresses up the truck and provides a secure storage area (once you get a tailgate lock). There were a couple of long spacers that came with it that I wasn't sure about, but a quick call to the company explained it all. I had considered several covers before buying the BakFlip HD and was a little turned off on others (roll-up hard covers in particular) by all of the negative comments in regards to ease of installation. This was about a 20 minute install and another 10 minutes of getting it adjusted perfect.

Posted By: Brian E. (Malone, NY) on 11/2008

I installed this BakFlip G2 HD a week ago. About an hour for installation, but, I was in no rush. The installation was fairly straightforward. However, the manual does not mention replacing the front bolt of the front upper Tie-downs, after removing the cleats. The rails only require one bolt here, so why not replace the bolt you had to remove.
Also, the bolts that come with the tonneau are plated; some sort of Zinc (?) plating. Why not Stainless Steel? I'm going to replace mine with S/S ones. Probably cost about $4. Put on some 'Anti-Seize' and you're good for life. There was also no mention (or pictures) of the self-tapping screws (plastic bag included with 4 black self-tapping upholstery screws).
I found out from BakFlip's web site, that they (the screws (2)) are used at the tailgate end of the rails. I drilled 1/8" pilot holes, and found I was only drilling the composite liner, not the steel box.

After a trip back home from the cottage (about 2 hours) in a light rain, I opened the tailgate to find a lot of water leakage. Coming from a hard tonneau on a ’04 Tacoma that never leaked for the four years I had it,
this was somewhat disappointing. I checked the adjustment, and everything seems to line up, at the front and back.
So, the nature of the beast?? It will be interesting to see what happens this winter up here in the Great White North, at minus thirty Celsius
(in Fahrenheit, that’s just plain cold).

A Suggestion
When folding or unfolding the cover, don’t wear a belt with a buckle or jacket with a large zipper. You can easily scratch the side of the truck. I’m 5’11” and, being very careful, I can just fold it, (or unfold it), without scraping the fender.

So, that’s my rant.

Overall, I’d give this tonneau about 8.0 to 8.5 out of 10.

Installation 9.0
Appearance 9.5
Functionality 9.0 (Get used to opening and closing the tailgate to fold or unfold the tonneau)
Water Seal 5.0
Cost 7.0

Posted By: Steven W. S. (Sprakers, NY) on 11/2008

Perfect fit for my F-150. It took me about 40 minutes to get everything installed. Had it for a week and so far its been good.

Posted By: R Glenn S. (Babylon, NY) on 11/2008

high quality product - easy to install - easy to open and close

Posted By: William H. (Sterling, VA) on 10/2008

Perfect fit and trivial to install. Took all of 30 minutes to get everything installed. A good chunk of that was installing the drain tubes because I decided that I didn't want to drill into the truck bed and I didn't want to leave the plugs to the bed wide open. So, I pulled the plugs and drilled a hole slightly smaller than the drain tubes and then forced the rubber tubes through the holes. It rained all weekend and the truck bed stayed perfectly dry.

Scott
(2003 F250 SD Crew shortbed)