Best Tonneau cover?

Which is the best Tonneau cover, if anyone could tell me. Is it the Retax roll back or the BAK roll back or the BAK flip cover? I am thinking of getting one and am just confused as they both look good. :confused:

For the most part you're going to find those of us who got the Retrax like it the best, people who bought the BAK like it best, OEM tonneau owners like theirs, etc. There are multiple discussions on the boards about the merits of the different covers, including a nice chart. I'll see if I can find that and post the link.

Here are a few thoughts on the issue:

http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10238&highlight=tonneau+cover+comparison

http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5473&highlight=tonneau+cover+comparison

And the post with the comparison dbb made up is here:

http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showpost.php?p=70789&postcount=137

Which is the best Tonneau cover, if anyone could tell me. Is it the Retax roll back or the BAK roll back or the BAK flip cover? I am thinking of getting one and am just confused as they both look good. :confused:

It really depends on what your looking for. Retractable, fold up, lift up, soft roll up, fiberglass lift up. I was told the Roll Bak lacks quality. There is the Pace Edwards electric Bedlocker which IMO seems to be one of the best covers out there. They also make a manual version called the Full Metal JackRabbit.

I also heard the Roll N Lock will be introducing a electric cover in May.

Fold ups include the Bak Flip, Fold a Cover, & the Extang Trifecta.

Plastic lift ups would be Undercover.

Soft Roll ups include Truxedo, Acess & Extang

Fiberglass-Leer, Raider, ARE Snugtop

Hard Retractables-Pace Edwards, Roll N Lock, Truck Cover USA, Retrax

IMO, the best cover is the one installed on your truck.

I have the Truxedo and absolutely hate it. It flops around so much that I may take it off and purchase a different brand. The dealer says that there is a "fit" issue and the other owners are also not pleased. We'll see if I get any $ refunded.

Yeah I went through the same things searching for the perfect cover. Best advice I can give is decide what options appeal for you most. Like is watertight, easily removable, easy install, trifold or one piece, how much access to the inbed trunk will be impeded etc... good luck. I ended up going with the Torza Top Hard Premier Edition Tri Folding Truck Bed Cover from realtruck. I liked the fact that I could remove it completely by myself.

I have the Honda cover, it looks great, the only thing I don't like is the little rubber covers that cover the lock and one on the other side which covers nothing, blow off when traveling interstate speeds and flop around. I am tempted to glue the one that covers nothing down. The heat seems to cause the rubber cover to fit loosely, not as bad in winter.

It really depends on what you're looking for. I have a friend that has the OEM, and I just installed the Retrax yesterday. Here are some basic differences, keep in mind either way that Honda is retarded in not offering a true tailgate lock:

OEM - will lock the tailgate, but you have to drill into the tailgate to add a latch. The OEM is heavy to flip up, and only gives you half of the already small bed unless you remove the whole thing. Some people have learned to remove the two bolts that hold the front (towards the cab) half of the cover and replace them with cotter pins, and this seems to work well for my friend. Honda will sell this for around 1100 to 1300. My buddy got a hook up with employee's discount for around 800 - installation not included.

Retrax - Just installed it yesterday! Cost me 849, plus 50 dollars for shipping. It looks really good, and was easy to install. My big complaints so far:

1. It doesn't lock the tailgate, but I've read enough posts here to figure out how to rig straps to lock the damn thing so that someone can't open the tailgate unless they can break into the cover.

2. The tracks dig into the top of the tailgate when it closes, so it has already started to dig in small grooves from closing. I'm a little annoyned by it, but I'm not sure it's really that big of a deal.

3. The retractable deivce itself is F-ing huge! When I unpacked it, I thought it was rediculous how big the thing was, but after I installed it, it didn't look so bad anymore. I moved a lot of stuff yesterday in trying to clean the house up, and the cover took up probably a good 1/5 of the usable space.

Overall, I still went the the Retrax because of how good it looked. It only comes in black, and looks awesome with my gray truck. The weather strips that comes attached are of great quality, and should do a really good job of keeping things dry. I installed the thing in about 1 1/2 hour just like Retrax says, and most of that time for me was reading the directions 3 times to make sure I wouldn't mess up, or I spent that time looking for the right size soocket wrenches. By the way, Retrax actually sends the "Torx" screwdrives needed, so all you really need is a phillips screwdriver, and a set of socket wrenches, and scissors to get the job done. I didn't even bother installing the drain tubes, the seals look like they will do a fine job, and I bought some black silicone to the seal towards the cab just in case. The only other thing I might buy from Retrax is the tailgate seal. There is about a 3 mm gap when you close the tailgate with the cover closed (the cover does overlap the tailgate a little), and I think a nice seal would be good to keep out the rain.

The whole Retrax cover goes on with only 4 screws / bolts, and uses all existing holes. It won't lock the tailgate, but I riged something so that you can't open the tailgate unless you can unlock the cover.

Hope this helps.

Just a quick note. about the Retrax and about skipping the draintube installation....

It rained here last night (not hard), and I now realize why the drain tubes are important.... If you guys buy the Retrax, please please please install the drain tubes! There was a lot of water on the cover, and I was glad to see the bed completely dry when I opened the cover, but about 5 seconds later, I realized why the drain tubes are there... Once you retract the cover, the water goes into a channel and comes out of the, you guessed it, the drain tubes!! It's not a big deal, just drill a couple of 1/2 inch holes in the platic plug and stick the tubes into the new hole...

Thanks

HI,
Couple of questions about the bakflip.....got mine a couple of days ago, I was missing the bolt kit so I thought you use the honda bolts.Till one of you fine folks filled me in! (Bogus , if I recall, thank you by the way) ..directions are not clear and there is no parts list...I went to ace and bought a couple of ss bolts, bingo, its installed, and I love it! however, I also got two small black "panels"with adhisive tape on back...do these go over the hole where the top tie down used to be? also, the drain tubes....do you cut holes in the big rubber plugs in each corner of the front of the bed? The previous posting seems to mention that retrax users do their install that way? thanks, I'm sorry if these are dumb questions. B.W.

[QUOTE=BILL WARREN;212972] I also got two small black "panels"with adhisive tape on back...do these go over the hole where the top tie down used to be? QUOTE]

Bill,

I have just ordered my Bakflip, but have not yet received it. I did a little research before I ordered it and found that the small black panels with adhesive go where the tie down were at the top by the front of the cab. I'm not sure if they go on before or after the rails are installed. In your case hopefully afterwards. Please reply when you do install them.

Al

Give me a call and all tell which covers are ordered and dont come back. We sell a bunch. There a lot to pick from, but only a few set themselves above all the others! Lets talk covers!

I mentioned this in another post so sorry ahead of time for the repost, but anyone have experience with the Extang? I'm torn between the Torza and the Extang.

Marv, thanks to your great site and great price, I went with the Torza. Your price even beat eBay!
-Anthony

seems like the retrax is the best if you leased the RL huh?

NKYRidge, it actually doesn't matter. My truck is leased and everything done to it could easy be taken off and put back to stock if I choose to turn the truck back in, although I'm considering keeping it. 99% of the covers out there don't require any drilling so they can be removed and sold (on eBay?) at a later date.

Do you know anyone who has the Pace Edwards Bedlocker. It looks like it something I would like. It really depends on what your looking for. Retractable, fold up, lift up, soft roll up, fiberglass lift up. I was told the Roll Bak lacks quality. There is the Pace Edwards electric Bedlocker which IMO seems to be one of the best covers out there. They also make a manual version called the Full Metal JackRabbit.

I also heard the Roll N Lock will be introducing a electric cover in May.

Fold ups include the Bak Flip, Fold a Cover, & the Extang Trifecta.

Plastic lift ups would be Undercover.

Soft Roll ups include Truxedo, Acess & Extang

Fiberglass-Leer, Raider, ARE Snugtop

Hard Retractables-Pace Edwards, Roll N Lock, Truck Cover USA, Retrax

I just received and installed my new extang trifecta tonneau cover part #44825. Installation was extremely easy and fast (approx. 20 min.) Installation is accomplished by installing a rail on each side. You do have to remove :mad:one upper tie downs at the cab and one torx screw on each side (extang supplies two torx allen wrenches with the kit). These rails do restrict
the trunk opening by approx. 2" but the trunk is still very acessible. ( based on my research it appears that all soft tonneau covers for the Ridge
require rails for mounting at this time). Once the rails are installed the cover is placed on the rails and clamped down. Installation and removal of the cover
from the rails takes about 2 minutes which is one of the key selling points of this cover. Fit and finish is very good and it looks great on the truck !

This is a great product for the cost I purchased it on the net from Truck Candy http://www.TruckCandy.com I talked to Brian @ 866-670-0055 he was extremely helpful with my questions and best of all - he was the most competitive $377 including Free Tonno Tonic,Tailgate Seal and shipping. He even worked with me on the tax ( Truck Candy is located in AZ and so am I so tax was a necessary evil).

P.S. For those who have extang soft vinyl covers - be cautious do not use Armor All on them. I was told it will void the warranty Armor All is a petroleum based product which will damage the plasticizers. Recommended products -extang Tonno Tonic or 303.

"Be Alive or Step Aside"

MrAC1980,

I have had the Extang Solid Fold for about 8 months now and have been quite pleased with it. The fit and finish of the unit has held up quite well.

I have posted a review thread of it (with pictures of installation and also of what I did to weather seal it) in the Accessories forum.

Here's a link to that thread "Extang Solid Fold Review & Pics"
http://ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21532

I mentioned this in another post so sorry ahead of time for the repost, but anyone have experience with the Extang? I'm torn between the Torza and the Extang.

Asking which tonneau cover is best is like asking which ice cream is best. Depends on which one you like best. Most every major brand will do well. As others have said, just depends on what you need in a cover. After lots of research, I got the Retrax because it fit my needs better. I need a cover that lets me have "almost" complete access to my bed....no matter the height of the items I wanted to haul. The OEM Honda cover wouldn't do that, since it onlyl lifts up to a certain height. I can roll the Retrax back into the cannister, and haul a full load of firewood or any other item(s) that are over 3' high. Just think through what you want a cover FOR, then pick the best one to suit your needs.

I have the Xtang and like it as well. I'm old fashioned and like a vinyl soft tonneau.