Well, I love the looks of retrax but I broke it today.

Since it was installed I had hard time opening it because the handle was tight and simply would not pop up. I have tried to use the key and it did not fit neither.... I finally got pissed and decided to use plyer to add little more force.....BINGO!!! Next thing I saw was the 1/2 a key left in the key hole....

So damn....

 

So why wouldn't the handle pop open? Was it frozen? or a bad fit? I'm interested in getting a retrax myself...

-ii

 

IzInBloOm,

You know, after this happened I still highly recommend the retrax. It looks great. What happened on mine, I think, is the lock was defective to start with.

There is a push button on the hundle so it pops up. From the day 1 I had hard time popping this up in a sunny day. I had to use the driver to lift it up and sometimes the button was stuck inside as I pushed in....

The other problem was that the key and the spare key that came with the cover. It simply did not go in but I did not care because it was unlocked and I had nothing in the bed.

Tonight when it happened, I just came home from the hockey game and my axx was freezing. I was very impatient that I decided to really force it to pop up with the driver with no success. It was not locked so I finally was able to pop it up. Now, I started wondering if my key is going to fit and work and it did not even go in. It was not frozen but seemed like a wrong key or something. That's when I lost my temper and.....

I will post some pics tomorrow. I already e-mailed the company for replacement lock.

redstorm

 

thanks for the heads up redstorm. keep us posted. i am considering a retrax too.

 

redstorm,

Sorry to hear about this. Be sure to let us know how Retrax replies to your e-mail. As a fellow Retrax owner, I hope they readily stand behind their product.
I'm not entirely pleased with the handle/lock design, although I'm not sure how they could have made it differently while maintaining the low profile design. My handle would not pop up when I pressed the button, so I bent the tail end of the spring wire that runs under the handle upward a little more and that has helped.

 

I took a look again this morning to see if I could fix it. It was pretty cold but the lock/hundle were not frozen so I shaked the hundle to pull the broken key inside the key hole. YES!! It came out. Funny thing is that the key also fitted in and I was able to lock and unlock this time... ( with the spare key I had )

Let me tell you that I really like this cover and their service was great, fast shipping and follow ups.

I think now that the problem was the outside temp. Even though the lock did not look frozen, I think it was frozen inside the key hole?? I mean, I have tried hard to get the key in and did not work until this morning. It does pop up a little bit ( not all the way ) when you press the button but I say the cold temp may make it difficult. I am expecting a snow again tomorrow here in Maine so I will give you all more updates.

Once again, I have nothing against the company of this product and I liked their servece/price and the product itself.

Like JohnAndDar has mentioned I am not very impressed with the hundle and lock disign but I think it would have done the same with other covers I was considering ( versacover ), and there is a way to fix it with some modification to it...

Please give another day for next follow up.

BR

redstorm

 

redstorm and others,

I was searching some Retrax threads earlier today and found one where it was recommended to spray WD-40 freely into the locking mechanism and moving parts of the handle in order to keep water off the moving parts. As I already had rainwater freeze my Retrax handle once, I'm going to give it a try.

John

 

If someone has the time / inclination, could you post a picture of what the handle looks like. I am just curious as to what the design look like, I have never seen a RETRAX in person (I have the Undercover)

Thanks!

 

Well, I took some pics as it will be a storm tomorrow. I find that the lever gets stiffer as it gets colder. I think I am going to try JohnAndDar's suggestion.

below is the link to 2 albums.


https://www.f150online.com/galleries...w.cfm?num=5176


https://www.f150online.com/galleries...w.cfm?num=5158

 

Never put WD40 in a lock. Use graphite. You can get it at Home Depot. Makes key locks slippery. Keys will slide like you put KY on
them!

When you break a key off in a lock find the smallest coping saw balde you can and slide it in the lock beside the key. If you have the right blade it will fit. Sligtly twist the blade so the teeth engage the key and pull. The key sould come right out.

Grandfather taught me this when I was a youngen. He wasn't a locksmith but he like to tinker around with such things. It works!

 

R-man,

Thanks for the tip.

 

RCKCRSHR,

Your point is well taken. I'm going to apply the WD40 to the handle mechanism, particularly around the button that has to be pressed to get the handle to pop up. The WD40 at least has some water repelling (WD=water displacement?) characteristics that might help. I think what happened to redstorm is that the button froze, which made it feel like it had been locked...on top of that, the lock was frozen, which then led to the broken key.

John

 

JohnAndDar,

It may be a good idea to spray around the button. I would try that.

After all this happned I am convinced that the lock was fronzen inside, as well as the button and the other parts. It was a stupid of me breaking the key and not to think about lubricating the whole thing that was frozen and stuck.

I am pretty sure I would not suffer much after I use the spray and graphite, and maybe apply my own warm breath and some rubbing when it's cold.

It's all personal preference but I still think the retrax looks the best on 04 F150, and the above issue can be solved with very little work.

Thanks to all for all the tips. I gatta work on my short temper...

redstorm