Whats the cheapest place to get tonneaus??
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 397
Likes: 0
From: Western Washington
Installed my Backflip HD
I ordered a Bakflip HD (special promotion for the price of a G2).
I have to admit it looks pretty nice installed.
However, I was really disappointed on three fronts.
1) Quality of assembly. It looks like the guys who assembled them were racing each other and used a miter saw with a spent blade. All the cut aluminum ends were done very crudely with sharp burrs hanging everywhere. The small vinyl coated wire/cable that releases the latches runs through aluminum channels and when I pull the cable the vinyl sheath is cut by the very sharp and rough edges. I will need to go into there with a dremel or file and smooth it all up or the cable will be frayed in no time.
2) Clamps and customer service. When I was installing the siderails I noted the clamps seemed over-sized for the application (2010 F-150 XLT). The rearmost one could not be installed anywhere near where the rail ended without bearing into the paint on the inside wall of the bed. I had to install the clamp almost 2 feet forward of the rail end which puts the clamp well away from the rearward latch. I called BakFlip CS and a helpful man said I needed to talk to a technician but they were all helping other customers. I left him my number (and had him read it back to me to make sure it was written down correctly) but have never heard back from them. That was over two days ago.
It looks like my best option is to try to find some smaller clamps that are suitable for the tailgate end of the side rails.
3) I was mislead on the weight of the product even though I did my homework on the Backflip website and discussed this with a BakFlip dealer. The weight is very important to me because my wife will need to remove it by herself several occasions a year. I also did not want to pack on the pounds so the lightness of the BakFlip HD was very appealing to me.
The BakFlip website says "The average G2 cover weighs only 40 lbs. The new aluminum HD series cover averages at a mere 36 pounds. This includes the weight of the rails."
Sounds good, eh? I have a 6.5' bed so I assumed my cover would fall in the "average" category. Before I placed my order I asked the dealer the weights of the BackFlip HD and G2 in the 6.5' length and he said they both weighed about the same at 45 lbs. That surprised be as it was 9 more lbs. than the average weight claimed on the BakFlip website for the HD model but I placed my order anyway.
When it arrived I was immediately struck by how heavy the cover and hardware was. After removing all the packaging I weighed the components on an accurate digital postage scale with a 330 lb. capacity. It is known to be accurate to well under 1 lb. The installed components weighed 65. lbs!
While there are heavier tonneaus from other manufacturers, I felt like I had been purposely deceived because I had been led to believe the complete cover would weigh between 36 lbs. and 45 lbs, not 65 lbs. 
The cover is going to work for me but I wish there was more honesty/accuracy regarding it's true weight and a little more care taken in finishing off the cut aluminum. It looked like 3rd graders did the cutting. From what I can see so far, the rest of the product looks to be of good quality and will hopefully serve me well for at least a few years.
I have to admit it looks pretty nice installed.
However, I was really disappointed on three fronts.
1) Quality of assembly. It looks like the guys who assembled them were racing each other and used a miter saw with a spent blade. All the cut aluminum ends were done very crudely with sharp burrs hanging everywhere. The small vinyl coated wire/cable that releases the latches runs through aluminum channels and when I pull the cable the vinyl sheath is cut by the very sharp and rough edges. I will need to go into there with a dremel or file and smooth it all up or the cable will be frayed in no time.
2) Clamps and customer service. When I was installing the siderails I noted the clamps seemed over-sized for the application (2010 F-150 XLT). The rearmost one could not be installed anywhere near where the rail ended without bearing into the paint on the inside wall of the bed. I had to install the clamp almost 2 feet forward of the rail end which puts the clamp well away from the rearward latch. I called BakFlip CS and a helpful man said I needed to talk to a technician but they were all helping other customers. I left him my number (and had him read it back to me to make sure it was written down correctly) but have never heard back from them. That was over two days ago.
It looks like my best option is to try to find some smaller clamps that are suitable for the tailgate end of the side rails.
3) I was mislead on the weight of the product even though I did my homework on the Backflip website and discussed this with a BakFlip dealer. The weight is very important to me because my wife will need to remove it by herself several occasions a year. I also did not want to pack on the pounds so the lightness of the BakFlip HD was very appealing to me.
The BakFlip website says "The average G2 cover weighs only 40 lbs. The new aluminum HD series cover averages at a mere 36 pounds. This includes the weight of the rails."
Sounds good, eh? I have a 6.5' bed so I assumed my cover would fall in the "average" category. Before I placed my order I asked the dealer the weights of the BackFlip HD and G2 in the 6.5' length and he said they both weighed about the same at 45 lbs. That surprised be as it was 9 more lbs. than the average weight claimed on the BakFlip website for the HD model but I placed my order anyway.
When it arrived I was immediately struck by how heavy the cover and hardware was. After removing all the packaging I weighed the components on an accurate digital postage scale with a 330 lb. capacity. It is known to be accurate to well under 1 lb. The installed components weighed 65. lbs!
While there are heavier tonneaus from other manufacturers, I felt like I had been purposely deceived because I had been led to believe the complete cover would weigh between 36 lbs. and 45 lbs, not 65 lbs. The cover is going to work for me but I wish there was more honesty/accuracy regarding it's true weight and a little more care taken in finishing off the cut aluminum. It looked like 3rd graders did the cutting. From what I can see so far, the rest of the product looks to be of good quality and will hopefully serve me well for at least a few years.
