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FAQ — Retractable Tonneau Covers

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What is The Best Retractable Cover Out There?

F250 Owner: I'm calling about a tonneau cover for a 2017 Ford F250 with the short bed.

Peter: Which cover were you looking at?

F250 Owner: The Retrax Pro MX, but what other brands do you guys sell?

Peter: We sell pretty much all of the major Tonneau brands, BAK, Undercover, Extang, Truxedo, Roll-N-Lock. Pretty much all of them. There are a few we don't, we don't sell Gator.

F250 Owner: They don't seem that great anyway.

Peter: Yeah. That's about it, we sell pretty much all the big ones.

F250 Owner: So in your opinion, what is the best retractable cover out there?

Peter: We're talking about it right now. It's the Retrax Pro MX. Yeah, it's the only one I know with a lifetime warranty, too.

F250 Owner: Is that through the manufacturer or how does that work?

Peter: It is, yeah. And they cover pretty much everything. I mean they want to keep you a customer for life. So I mean, shorter view, jumping up and down on it and they'll pretty much cover everything.

F250 Owner: Okay. If and when the time comes, I'll definitely be giving you a call.

Peter: Sounds good.
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How Heavy are the Flips in the Tri-Fold of the BAKFlip MX4?

GMC Owner: I saw your advertisement on the Internet and I got a price quote. I'm looking for a bed cover for my wife's pickup and I was wondering if you can help me out.

Peter: Yeah, definitely. What truck is it for?

GMC Owner: It's a 2018 GMC pickup.

Peter: Okay.

GMC Owner: 5'9" or 5'8" bed.

Peter: Okay. The short one. Got It. Was there a particular model you were looking at?

GMC Owner: Well, yeah, I'm looking at two here. The BAKflip MX4 and they're RetraxPRO MX.

Peter: Okay, great. Yeah, the MX4 is my favorite folding cover and the RetraxPRO MX is the best retractable.

GMC Owner: Your pricing is about $300 cheaper than, what I've been seeing elsewhere.

Peter: Yeah. We're known for our pricing here.

GMC Owner: Yeah. Let me ask you about that and that MX4 BAKflip is that, I mean that was pretty sturdy bed cover.

Peter: Absolutely. Yeah. It can hold like 400 pounds on top. It's really heavy-duty.

GMC Owner: Okay, okay. Well, let me ask you a question here on this. I mean because I really like the Retrax, but the price is obviously higher. The only thing I worry about with the BAKflip is my wife being able to flip it. I think she can flip the first one, but then when it comes to the second one. How heavy are those, flips?

Peter: I mean, I honestly, I don't think she'll have a problem. I have many customers who buy these for their wives trucks and never hear about it being an issue. I think she'd be okay with the Retrax, too. Just remember with a short bed that the canister, that the cover retract into is going to take up about 10 inches by 10 inches by the width of the bed.

GMC Owner: Oh, that's right. So, you lose that bed space then.

Peter: Right.

GMC Owner: All right. Okay. Well, that's okay. That's more appealing than to the BAKflip. Okay. Well, Peter, can I call you back here and say in an hour.

Peter: Yeah, no problem.
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What's The Difference Between Roll N Lock's A Series M Series & E Series Tonneau Covers?

Toyota Tundra Owner: I just received an email from you about a Roll-N-Lock cover. And I need more information.

Peter: Okay.

Toyota Tundra Owner: I've got a Toyota Tundra, crew cab, five and a half foot bed. I see that you've got the M series, the A series and the E series. What are the primary differences? Just the vinyl over the aluminum, and powder-coated?

Peter: Yeah, so they're very similar except the M series is the vinyl over the aluminum. The A series is just the all powder-coated aluminum and then the E series is the aluminum with electric retractable. It's electric-powered, yeah.

Toyota Tundra Owner: Okay. Now, no, I don't need electric at all. Actually, I've never had a vinyl cover on a truck before. I've always owned a truck, but I've never had a cover like that. And I got this new one and I'm thinking I want to do this. What is your opinion of the Roll-N-Lock versus the tri-fold?

Peter: Well, I mean I like the hard covers just because you get more security, obviously. The retractables are great, but they're just super heavy duty. One thing to think about is that a retractable has a canister that the cover slot, that the cover retracts into, and that sits down in the bed and that takes up about 10 inches by 10 inches by the width of the bed. So you're going lose some space in there. If that's a concern, then the hard folding covers, like the back-flip covers, might be a good option because it gives you full bed access when you need to.

Toyota Tundra Owner: I see. Okay, so you're saying that the Roll-N-Lock has that ... It actually takes up part of my bed?

Peter: Yes. It rolls into a canister that sits down inside the bed, behind the cab. Like right at the front of the bed. So you're going to lose a little bit of bed space there.

Toyota Tundra Owner: Okay. A question, does that go all the way down to the bed itself?

Peter: It doesn't. You're going to have some space underneath, but it does go the full width of the bed.

Toyota Tundra Owner: Okay. Well, the reason I'm questioning is, with the bed that I've got, I can put my seven-foot rods caddy-corner and they fit. My rods and reels, fishing rods, and they fit but if I lost any space right down at the bottom of the ... on the bed, on the bottom of the bed itself, then I would not be able to do that.

Peter: No, you should be fine with rods. You're going to have enough room for those. Definitely.

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What's the Best Retractable Cover For a Ford 2018 Model Crew Cab?

Ford Owner: Hey, Sean, I've got a Ford 2018 Model Crew Cab. I'm looking for a retractable cover. I don't want the shiny black. I want the flat black in color.

Sean: What size bed?

Ford Owner: It's the crew cab. I haven't actually measured the bed, but it's the crew cab Ford 2018 model.

Sean: Okay. Usually, on the double doors, it's a 5.5 short bed, or you'd have a 6.5, or an 8', which you'd know if you had an 8'.

Ford Owner: Yeah, it's not an 8'. If it came down to an order, I'd make sure before I ordered.

Sean: Yeah, so there are two different types of covers that Retrax offers. Retrax is actually probably the best brand when it comes to their rolling covers. There's the ONE, which is the polycarbonate series, and then the PRO, which is the aluminum series. The PRO, they're actually running a special right now on their Retrax XR, which is the RetraxPRO MX, which is a matte black finish, and the XR part are referring to the side rails. The side rails on that model have T-slots to where you can add bike racks and kayak racks and stuff like that, and right now they're actually doing a promotion where if you buy one of those XRs, they send you a free set of Yakima JetStream load bars with it which is a $500 value. 

Ford Owner: Okay. 

Sean: Then if you didn't want those bars, which honestly for an extra 100 bucks to get that $500 gift is worth it, but let's say you didn't want that option, you could go back down to just the RetraxPRO MX and save the $100 difference. What I was going to say was both of those come with a lifetime warranty as well. 

Ford Owner: Right. How about the Brinx?

Sean: Brinx? I've never even heard of a Brinx tonneau cover, so let's look here.

Ford Owner: What do you have at around, say, $1,000-$1,200 range?

Sean: If you wanna stay within that range you could still get a Retrax. You can get the ONE MX.

Ford Owner: What's the difference in the ONE MX?

Sean: Well, it's polycarbonate instead of aluminum. It does have aluminum support rods every three inches, but the material of the cover itself is actually polycarbonate which is a plastic, so it's not quite the cover that the aluminum one is, but honestly, if it's going on a daily drive and you're not in construction, you're not using that cover 50 times a day, the ONE would probably be perfect for you. It's got a three-year warranty instead of a lifetime.

Ford Owner: Yeah, we're just using this cover for a vacation vehicle.

Sean: Yeah, man. The RetraxONE would be perfect for you then. It looks just exactly the same as the aluminum. It functions the same. Like I said, it's the plastic instead of aluminum.

Ford Owner: Yeah. Have you heard of a Gator brand?

Sean: I have, and honestly, you know what that is? It's a private label of a Retrax. There are a couple different covers that Retrax has that are cheaper, and what they do is they space those support rods out a little bit further. I'm not sure if anything else is different as far as hardware and stuff like that, but I know that on those private labels, they take some of the extra cost out of it and that's what makes it cheaper and that's what makes them easily sold. But there are differences and that's the difference.

Ford Owner: Well, that shorter bed, I'm just using it as basically storage for luggage and stuff, but I also want a quality cover that I won't be replacing in five years.

Sean: Yeah, I've not heard a whole lot of issues with the Retrax, even the ONE. I worked for Truck Hero, which is the company that owns Retrax, and I sold Retrax all over the world, man. Australia, Dubai, Germany, all over the place, and it quickly became the number one seller. 

Ford Owner: Well, let me measure my bed and give it some thought and I may give you a shout back.

Sean: All right, man. If you give us a call, my name is Sean.
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Best Low Profile Tonneau Cover for a Ford F350

Ford F-350 Owner: I have a Ford F350 which previously had a Truck Gear Tonneau cover that was just a roll up. I was looking for something that would be flat, that would get pretty much even with the bedrails themselves, and that would be retractable. I don't necessarily need power. Is there something like that?

Peter: Are you looking for retractable cover or another roll-up cover?

Ford F-350 Owner: I can go either way. Retractable is nice where it just kind of shoves itself up, but whatever works I'm, happy with.

Peter: Okay. We're just talking about a huge difference in like price and quality when we're talking about a retractable and a roll up. The retractables are going to sit flush inside the bedrail, so it's not going to sit on top. Is this an eight foot bed?

Ford F-350 Owner: It's a 6 and a half foot bed.

Peter: Okay.

Ford F-350 Owner: It's the Super Crew, so it's not the full eight.

Peter: Okay, so I mean with retractables you're going to have a lot of different options ranging from from Roll N Lock to Retrax. I mean those can start anywhere from around $1200 and go up from there. It just depends on which model you're looking at. The soft roll up covers one like the TuxEdo Lo Pro, can start from anywhere between $270 and go up to maybe $500 or so. 

Ford F-350 Owner: Okay, well the one that I have cost me somewhere around the $500 range but it doesn't sit level with the bedrail. The Velcro attaching part of it is about an inch above the bedrail.

Peter: Right. So the TruxEdo Lo Pro sits pretty much flush inside the bedrail. It sits up maybe half an inch but it's very low profile. It's the most low profile soft roll up out there. Plus it's free shipping and no sales tax.

Ford F-350 Owner: Okay, and is that fairly durable for the type that it is? Understanding that it doesn't lock but when I close the bedrail you can't just pull it open?

Peter: That's correct. And its very durable, it's got a lifetime warranty, so it's going to hold up well for years.

Ford F-350 Owner: Does it have the clamps that go in along the inside of the bedrail?

Peter: Yes.

Ford F-350 Owner: Okay. Now does it need a rubber seal anywhere around the front?

Peter: All of the appropriate gaskets are included.

Ford F-350 Owner: Okay. And is this cover very simple to put together and install?

Peter: It is.

Ford F-350 Owner: Well, let me get that information written down. I can give you a call back on this. How quick is the delivery on that if I choose to do that?

Peter: It's about five days.

Ford F-350 Owner: Let me take a few minutes and compare tonneau covers and I'll decide what I want to do.

Peter: Sounds good.
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What Information is Needed for a Price Quote for a Retractable Cover for a 2014 Toyota Tundra?

Toyota Tundra Owner: I was calling about a Tonneau cover for a 2014 Toyota Tundra.

Peter: Okay.

Toyota Tundra Owner: I wanted to see how much it cost.

Peter: Okay, what's the bed length?

Toyota Tundra Owner: Five foot seven.

Peter: Okay, and do you have the deck rail system? The tie-down system in the bed?


Toyota Tundra Owner: No.

Peter: Okay, and which tonneau cover were you looking at?

Toyota Tundra Owner: The retractable cover. You have two or three different ones, right?

Peter: We have about 20 different retractable covers. Who is the manufacturer?

Toyota Tundra Owner: I don't know. I'd have to go back online and look again. 

Peter: Okay, yeah just let me know the manufacturer, and the model, and I can get you a quote.


Toyota Tundra Owner: Okay. Okay, I'll look it up and check it out, and then I'll give you a call again.

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