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Well, I haven't seen any reviews on the Gator Recoil Retractable cover anywhere yet, so this should be a first.
I had been shopping for a retractable cover for some time. I didn't want a flip cover because I didnt like the way some of them rest on the cab. And I didn't want a hard cover as some of those are a PITA to get on and off and I use my bed often enough that it would be in the way.
So I settled on a retractable cover, but which one. Most of the retractables out there are over $1200, which is a lot of scratch for some folks. After looking on realtrucks I found this Gator Recoil for $900, seemed to be good quality and had a few more features, like adjustable catches, over the other similar priced covers. So I took a chance. I ordered the cover on Friday January 27th, website and email after order said it would ship between 30 Jan and 1 Feb. Realtruck emailed me on 2 Feb stating it wouldnt ship until the 10th. Well after a slightly angry email, I got shipping notification that afternoon.
Anyway, it arrived here on Thursday 9 Feb, and I quickly went to work. I first need to say the instructions provided are absolutely horrendous. But there's a decent super duty install video on youtube from them, that is actually pretty decent and makes understanding the install much better. For the most part install is pretty straight forward and if you have any mechanical ability it goes together pretty well. The cover itself is aluminum slats, as well as the lower canister and the rails.
Once I had the rails, latches and clamps installed and adjusted, i realized that the passenger side latch was not installed far enough out to catch the stops all the way. So i had to get get some new vinyl coated wire rope and cut what was already installed to adjust the latches and reconnect the pull tab.
Here's the cover closed, it seals against the tailgate and there is no way to open it from the outside. So, if you lock the tailgate, essentially your bed is secure.
The canister takes up about a foot of real estate at the front of the bed, which if you have a 6.5' isn't too bad. I could see it being a problem on a 5.5
And from the rear, the rails don't overhang too much into the bed. You also have to drill a hole in each of the plastic plugs at the front of the bed for the canister drain tubes.
Overall, I am fairly satisfied with the cover. Had a pretty decent rain yesterday, and other than a few drips at the rear of the bed, it was mostly dry, and the drain tubes were doing their job. I consider the instructions and the latch issue to be minor problems. Fit and function are adequate, as well as the finish. For the price, I believe the cover is good and would say its a 4 out of 5.
Thank you very much. I too have been considering this retractable tonneau. How scratch resistant does the powder coating on the slats look? How does the matte finish look? I was hoping to get one at a discount, but don't think the vendors here sell Gator.
Thank you very much. I too have been considering this retractable tonneau. How scratch resistant does the powder coating on the slats look? How does the matte finish look? I was hoping to get one at a discount, but don't think the vendors here sell Gator.
Retrax and Gator are the exact same. I got a great deal from Luke in this thread.
Well, I haven't seen any reviews on the Gator Recoil Retractable cover anywhere yet, so this should be a first.
I had been shopping for a retractable cover for some time. I didn't want a flip cover because I didnt like the way some of them rest on the cab. And I didn't want a hard cover as some of those are a PITA to get on and off and I use my bed often enough that it would be in the way.
So I settled on a retractable cover, but which one. Most of the retractables out there are over $1200, which is a lot of scratch for some folks. After looking on realtrucks I found this Gator Recoil for $900, seemed to be good quality and had a few more features, like adjustable catches, over the other similar priced covers. So I took a chance. I ordered the cover on Friday January 27th, website and email after order said it would ship between 30 Jan and 1 Feb. Realtruck emailed me on 2 Feb stating it wouldnt ship until the 10th. Well after a slightly angry email, I got shipping notification that afternoon.
Anyway, it arrived here on Thursday 9 Feb, and I quickly went to work. I first need to say the instructions provided are absolutely horrendous. But there's a decent super duty install video on youtube from them, that is actually pretty decent and makes understanding the install much better. For the most part install is pretty straight forward and if you have any mechanical ability it goes together pretty well. The cover itself is aluminum slats, as well as the lower canister and the rails.
Once I had the rails, latches and clamps installed and adjusted, i realized that the passenger side latch was not installed far enough out to catch the stops all the way. So i had to get get some new vinyl coated wire rope and cut what was already installed to adjust the latches and reconnect the pull tab.
Here's the cover closed, it seals against the tailgate and there is no way to open it from the outside. So, if you lock the tailgate, essentially your bed is secure.
The canister takes up about a foot of real estate at the front of the bed, which if you have a 6.5' isn't too bad. I could see it being a problem on a 5.5
And from the rear, the rails don't overhang too much into the bed. You also have to drill a hole in each of the plastic plugs at the front of the bed for the canister drain tubes.
Overall, I am fairly satisfied with the cover. Had a pretty decent rain yesterday, and other than a few drips at the rear of the bed, it was mostly dry, and the drain tubes were doing their job. I consider the instructions and the latch issue to be minor problems. Fit and function are adequate, as well as the finish. For the price, I believe the cover is good and would say its a 4 out of 5.
I was looking at this cover and it really interest me but I have a concern that maybe you could answer.
Noise.
Since it`s aluminum, does it rattle a lot while on the road?
Can you hear it and how`s the noise with the rear window open.
The matte finish looks great. As for durability and scratch resistance, we'll see how it holds up. I'd imagine being powdercoat, it will be good.
Being its aluminum slats there is a little noise too the cover. It's better after the latch issue was fixed. But it still has a little click to it driving with the back window open. With the window closed its inaudible.
02-11-2017, 02:53 PM
Gator Recoil Cover Review
