I need help. Does anyone out there have a 5.5 ft bed with the factory bed extender that have installed the extang Solid Fold bed cover?

Even if you don't have the bed extender, I need to know how far below the top of the bed rail the latching handles hang down and also how far down they have to extend to latch or release the cover. I see that apparently extand is saying their Solid Fold won't work because of interference of the handles with the bed extender. That said, I visited a local installer and he thinks I have 1/2 inch to work with and that I can install the bed cover with my bed extender in place and still be able to open and close the rear cover. I need some accurate dimensions in order to make my decision. I don't want to have a $700 bed cover arrive and find out I can't use it. If it's unclear what I'm looking for I can post a photo. I have AutoAnything 'on hold' with my order until I can find out for sure it will work.

HELP HELP HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

the hard and soft extang coves use the same rear latch. take a ruler place it on the bed rail. going up and down. and if it hit any thing with in 6 inches under the rail it wont work

 

Thanks 'redfx4150'
I talked with they guys at extang today and they seem to think I'll be OK. They said there was a problem with the OEM cargo management system installed. I made a measurement and it looks like I have just under 7" to work with. That shouild just be enough room to pull the handles down to latch/unlatch them.

I went ahead and placed my order with AutoAnything this morning. They gave their sale of 10% off which brought it down to $692.10. I went ahead and ordered the BedRug at the same time so I got a free tailgate seal and a $60 rebate PLUS, I found the model I need (the one made for the tailgates with the step and assist handle) for $28 less on another site so as advertised they matched it and all with free shipping. That brought the total to $1,070.15 ! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME !!!!!!

I probably won't be able to get everything installed until after New Years.

 

Well, my Solid-Fold showed up and it almost took me longer to get it out of the box than it did to install iT. It mounts so simple it's amazing which also means it can be taken off real easy. I had no clearance issues with my OEM bed extender. Now as soon as it warms up to about 70 again I'll be able to get my BedRug installed.

 

Just as a warning from a former owner of an Extang Solid-Fold:

Watch out for those little fabric straps. The mounting screw on mine snapped while I was doing 70 and nearly ripped the cover off my truck. At first they gave me an entire cover to replace it under warranty. They sent me the cover first so I wouldn't be without the cover. When I got it the straps on that one were mounted incorrectly so they sent me a return label and told me to send the new cover back. When I did that they said they would send me another new one that was properly assembled this time. I called them after a few weeks and they said they weren't sending a new oen even though they said they would. At this point they said they couldn't send me a second new cover and instead agreed to send me a new hinge and replacement panel for the one that had been bent. When I finally got them they didn't even fit properly on my cover. At that point I gave up because I was already looking at buying my F150. I sold that thing with my Dakota.

So in the end the thing is, watch those straps for nay kind of corrosion on the mounting screws because they will snap.

I will say that while I had it and before it was damaged it was a very nice cover and is extremely simple to remove and install by your self in just a few seconds. I loved the cover while I had it but was very unsatisfied with their Customer Service.

Good Luck and I hope it works for ya.

 

08stx4x4,
Interesting. That made me go out an look. I see that each of the straps appear to attached to the underside of the middle section with just two very small screws. Are those the ones you're talking about? Seeing that those covers are just thin aluminum sheets with foam in between I can now see where they wouldn't take much of a load and could strip right out. A very poor design for sure! My guess is that they would better to be mounted to the underside of that narrow metal hinge section in between the first two sections and then use longer webbing straps. I may just contact them to see if that aluminum hinge section is any heavier gage metal to do that. Without taking the cover off the truck again I can't tell how the two front plastic pieces are attached to the front section. Are they any better secured?

 

How are you liking your solid fold after a year or so now? I'm thinking about getting one and wasn't sure the bed extender would interfere, but reading your experiences, it sounds like you got it to work. Just wondering what you think after all this time.

I wanted to get a bakflip, but the idea of not being able to close the tailgate without opening the bakflip made me veto that. The quick tailgate stash option is huge for me.

 

minnemike,
I still really like my extang Solid Fold. I had one little piece of the sticky back foam come loose at one of the hinge points and they were real quick in replacing it. The plastic bed side rails stick up slightly higher than the front edge of the bed so the rubber sealing strip has a very small gap in the corners where it transitions. I mentioned that to then so they also sent me a roll of weather stripping to lay across the front metal edge of the bed so the Solid Fold would seal better. I run it through high pressure car washes with no noticeable leaks. You might also ask around to see if anyone has had any problems with these in freezing weather. I almost went with the BackFlip but didn't like all the tracks and drain hoses you had to install, and like you, liked to be able to easily open and close the tailgate without opening the cover. I also REALLY like how easy it is to completely remove and or fold up to haul something tall.

One thing I have to say about it though is that it's real dark inside of your bed at night :-) As soon as I can get some time I want to put some lights under the side bed rails.

 

Thanks again for all the info - just reading through your experiences has helped alot.

 

I just got mine installed this last Saturday with the Bedrug. Love it and the Bedrug. The installer put a thick piece of foam seal on the front bulkhead. I think this was directly from Extang as the dealer said they redesigned the front and rear seals for the F150s. The rear seal has 2 lips so water doesn't get under and go through the tailgate.

I was also wondering about a bed extender. Either the Ford extender but it angles so much, that you can't use the corners of the tailgate for storage. The Amp Research Bed Extender looks to be the best as it is more square to use all of the tailgate surface area and it offers several mounting options where one option can unlock it without it swiveling up.

So these extenders will work with the Solid Fold.

I really love my Solid Fold. The best reason is that you can still use bed accessories since the cover requires no rails to impede any bed accessories. I'm going to get the thule bike rack that telescropes and clamps to the bed walls and going to get the Extang Cargo Cleats. Couldn't use either of those on 99% of the Tonneau covers out there.

Here's my thread on it.

 

"Mike Up"
Check real close and get some good measurements before you order an aftermarket bed extender. The squared off ones may interfere with the rear pull down latch handles on your SolidFold. I had to do a lot of research and even contacted eXtang directly to get measurements of their handles to make sure it would work with my OEM bed extender. Most everyone said it wouldn't work.

The only 'mod' I had to make was to pull off the rubber bumpers (feet) on my bed extender, due to the thickness of the Bed Rug, so it would line up with its locking holes.