Side-By-Side Comparison of BakFlip vs Extang Solid Fold Tonneaus w/ Pics
03-29-2011, 11:20 AM
#41
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04-01-2011, 10:44 AM
#42
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Warranty comparison
Thanks for a great review. This does help me with my buying decision. I think some readers might find it helpful to know that Extang has a three year warranty while Bak only has a one year warranty. I don't know about BAK, but I have read about many customers having good experiences with Extang when warranty issues occurred.
04-13-2011, 03:35 AM
#43
Junior Member
I realize this is an old thread, but I wanted to add my experience. Back in '07, we bought a Nissan (my first mistake) Frontier and I installed the BakFlip.
I'm not sure if I got a factory reject or not but I should have returned it immediately when I found I had to use shims to set the rails. For whatever reason, the latches weren't long enough to reach the rails to lock. They were always just millimeters short.
Anyway, I finally got it installed and it was fine for about six months, then one of the shocks that holds the cover open broke. Numerous calls and emails to the company went unanswered.
After that, I continually had to add shims to the rails and/or bang on the latches to make sure they locked.
Last year, I noticed a severe warp in the panels. They started to sag in the middle. The rubber connections between the panels also started to dry rot and tear. Because of the sag, the latches wouldn't stay locked and they'd always pop losse... more then a few times after parking, i'd have to slam down the latches to keep the top locked.
The rear panel wouldn't remain locked more often then not and the driver side latch ripped out of the panel. The panel is plastic or polymer with styrofoam filling. I used gorilla glue to glue the latch back to the panel. I can't tell you how badass Gorilla glue is! Awesome stuff. I had doubts that it would work to hold the latch to the panel because it's structurally integral to the cover with lots of different forces and stresses but that stuff was like concrete!
Anyway, fast forward to January. My wife's on the freeway when she hears a loud bang. She looks in the rear view and sees the rear most panel flapping up and down. Then the next panel breaks loose and they're flapping in the wind and banging on the bed rails. She freaks out, and does her best to drop speed and pull off the freeway. She hears another loud pop and the flapping stops. She pulls to the shoulder and sees that the rear most panel is gone. No where in sight on the freeway. It tore loose and disappeared on the freeway. Luckily it was early afternoon so there wasn't much traffic.
Further inspection showed that the only thing that was attaching the rest of the cover to the truck was one mounting bolt. The cover panels were about to separate because the rubber strips that held them together were all ripped and one of the anchor brackets cracked off. Luckily she's handy enough to use my emergency tools and took off the remaining bracket and folds up what's left of the top and dumps it into the bed so it lays flat.
I heard an earful about the #$%@# bed cover that night... luckily no one was killed by that mysteriously disappearing panel.
BakFlip lost my business forever. Zero customer service and the product was crap from the get go. I still kick myself for not returning it when I got it.
Anyway, it was only three years of light use in mild California weather (no snow, no desert, etc) for it to catastrophically fail. On the Dodge I owned before the Nissan, I had a different cover and that lasted five years with no problems... only some fading from the sun. The only reason I didn't go with that brand again was because I liked how the BakFlip folded up against the rear window, opening up more room in the bed.
Just my two cents. I think I got a bad cover as I've read reviews where people never had problems. But, I never spoke with anyone or received an email from the company after multiple multiple tries.
I'll be looking at Truck Cover USA for the Lariat... only the best for the best!
I'm not sure if I got a factory reject or not but I should have returned it immediately when I found I had to use shims to set the rails. For whatever reason, the latches weren't long enough to reach the rails to lock. They were always just millimeters short.
Anyway, I finally got it installed and it was fine for about six months, then one of the shocks that holds the cover open broke. Numerous calls and emails to the company went unanswered.
After that, I continually had to add shims to the rails and/or bang on the latches to make sure they locked.
Last year, I noticed a severe warp in the panels. They started to sag in the middle. The rubber connections between the panels also started to dry rot and tear. Because of the sag, the latches wouldn't stay locked and they'd always pop losse... more then a few times after parking, i'd have to slam down the latches to keep the top locked.
The rear panel wouldn't remain locked more often then not and the driver side latch ripped out of the panel. The panel is plastic or polymer with styrofoam filling. I used gorilla glue to glue the latch back to the panel. I can't tell you how badass Gorilla glue is! Awesome stuff. I had doubts that it would work to hold the latch to the panel because it's structurally integral to the cover with lots of different forces and stresses but that stuff was like concrete!
Anyway, fast forward to January. My wife's on the freeway when she hears a loud bang. She looks in the rear view and sees the rear most panel flapping up and down. Then the next panel breaks loose and they're flapping in the wind and banging on the bed rails. She freaks out, and does her best to drop speed and pull off the freeway. She hears another loud pop and the flapping stops. She pulls to the shoulder and sees that the rear most panel is gone. No where in sight on the freeway. It tore loose and disappeared on the freeway. Luckily it was early afternoon so there wasn't much traffic.
Further inspection showed that the only thing that was attaching the rest of the cover to the truck was one mounting bolt. The cover panels were about to separate because the rubber strips that held them together were all ripped and one of the anchor brackets cracked off. Luckily she's handy enough to use my emergency tools and took off the remaining bracket and folds up what's left of the top and dumps it into the bed so it lays flat.
I heard an earful about the #$%@# bed cover that night... luckily no one was killed by that mysteriously disappearing panel.
BakFlip lost my business forever. Zero customer service and the product was crap from the get go. I still kick myself for not returning it when I got it.
Anyway, it was only three years of light use in mild California weather (no snow, no desert, etc) for it to catastrophically fail. On the Dodge I owned before the Nissan, I had a different cover and that lasted five years with no problems... only some fading from the sun. The only reason I didn't go with that brand again was because I liked how the BakFlip folded up against the rear window, opening up more room in the bed.
Just my two cents. I think I got a bad cover as I've read reviews where people never had problems. But, I never spoke with anyone or received an email from the company after multiple multiple tries.
I'll be looking at Truck Cover USA for the Lariat... only the best for the best!
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kendive (06-21-2015)
04-13-2011, 09:53 AM
#45
TruckCoversUSA is a great cover for sure, but you should also take a look at the new RetraxPro which is also black powdercoated aluminum. The RetraxPro is a BEAST!
Here are a couple of dealer cross section samples. RetraxPro on the left, TruckCoversUSA on the right. Note that the RetraxPro slats are interconnected with rubber, the TruckCoversUSA cover slats are directly connected to each other. The RetraxPro has a smooth surface while the TCUSA has a textured surface (which may hide small scratches better than the smooth surface).
Here are a couple of dealer cross section samples. RetraxPro on the left, TruckCoversUSA on the right. Note that the RetraxPro slats are interconnected with rubber, the TruckCoversUSA cover slats are directly connected to each other. The RetraxPro has a smooth surface while the TCUSA has a textured surface (which may hide small scratches better than the smooth surface).
Last edited by Stage4; 04-13-2011 at 09:55 AM.
06-13-2011, 02:37 PM
#46
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Hi!
Just purchased my Extang Solid Fold - cost was $640.00 on e-Bay and included free shipping. It arrived quickly and in good shape. I installed it very easily, in fact - it was tougher getting it out of the box than it was actually installing it - which I did completely alone!! Thus far I'm very pleased!!
We've had no rain since installation so I can't say whether it leaks or not, but I will say it appears to have great seals all around. As previously mentioned, the tonneau can be completely closed and you can feel the resistance of the seals when you open the tailgate.
I purchased because I will be traveling across the country, from Florida to Washington state for a new job. I need to insure that whatever I put into the bed of my truck can be locked and secured - so far I have no complaints!!
I love the way it looks and I'm anxious to see if my gas mileage improves - particularly on this cross country trip!!
Steve
Just purchased my Extang Solid Fold - cost was $640.00 on e-Bay and included free shipping. It arrived quickly and in good shape. I installed it very easily, in fact - it was tougher getting it out of the box than it was actually installing it - which I did completely alone!! Thus far I'm very pleased!!
We've had no rain since installation so I can't say whether it leaks or not, but I will say it appears to have great seals all around. As previously mentioned, the tonneau can be completely closed and you can feel the resistance of the seals when you open the tailgate.
I purchased because I will be traveling across the country, from Florida to Washington state for a new job. I need to insure that whatever I put into the bed of my truck can be locked and secured - so far I have no complaints!!
I love the way it looks and I'm anxious to see if my gas mileage improves - particularly on this cross country trip!!
Steve
09-19-2011, 10:59 AM
#49
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Thread Starter
09-19-2011, 11:55 AM
#50
I had an extang trifecta on my old truck. Extang makes great products and has great customer service. My trifect broke a hing somehow and I called up Extang, they guy asked me to take a picture of it and email it to him. He called me right back and said, were sending you a brand new one. Got it in a few days.
Good stuff!
Good stuff!