Waterport under BakFlip Tonneau (Tri-fold)

I just finished installing a waterport for showering after surfing into a short bed under a BakFlip tonneau (trifold). I can still close the Bakflip with the waterport installed which was important for me.

To save anyone time here are my thoughts and recommendations.

First, I purchased the waterport from Sportsmans warehouse so I believe it is the latest model. I am also using the cap with the built in pump which makes the setup about an inch taller than with the stock cap. I ordered the drop plate from the Waterport website.

My plan was to use the drop plate as a guide and mark the bakflip rail and drill three holes for the bolts that go into T-slot adapters supplied with the kit.

The first issue I ran into is that the bolts supplied with the kit are not long enough with the added width of the bakflip rail. I found 5/16 bolts at lowes that were 1/2 longer than the ones supplied with the kit.

Next issue the drop plate holes with powder coating are too tight to get the bolts through so either need to run a drill through them or use emery tape to remove the powder coat and widen the holes.

Next issue is that the T-Slot adapters provided in the kit are not radiused on the back, they are flat. This is a problem since the fasteners holding the T-rail to the truck bed stick out into the T-rail and interfere with sliding the T-Slot adapters in. You can Jam them in with a bit of effort, but it would be great if they would radius the back of the T-Slot adapters the same way BakFlip did with their T-Slot adapters (really well thought out).

Next issue the only way I could get the system to work was to take the T-slot adapters provided and remove the nuts and put the bolts into the T-Slot adapters. So step 1 remove the nuts from the T-Slot adapters; step 2 insert the new longer bolts in place in the T-Slot adapters; and step 3 put the adapters with bolts sticking out in the rail.

I had to remove the entire BakFlip rail and then slip the drop plate into place and then try to line it all up with the T-Slot bolts. The radius of the lip on the BakFlip rail will not let you install the plate while the rail is still attached to the truck.

Overall very happy with the kit aside from a bit of frustration on the install. If I had to do it again I would just buy 1/4 inch aluminum plate and 5/16 bolts rather than ordering the drop plate.

One thing if anyone reads this is that with the drop plate I cannot use a padlock to secure the the waterport. With the drop plate you cannot get a lock shackle through the hole provided since the drop plate interferes. I am looking for a cable or some kind of pin to resolve the issue if anyone has any recommendations.

Also - I added a regulator to check pressure. Here are the parts from lowes I used, not the cheapest route but I was in a pinch and needed to get it done right away.

Had issues with pin hole leaks which on advice from a HVAC guy I know were resolved by doing the following. 2 wraps of ptfe tape on all fittings with a coating of pipe dope over top. Worked amazing.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-Air-Adjusting-Valve-with-Gauge/1000404953
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-1-4-in-x-1-4-in-Male-Coupling/3664366
https://www.lowes.com/pd/B-K-1-4-in-Threaded-Street-Elbow-Fitting/1000505705

If waterport reads this one thing I would reccomend in the next iteration of the product is to make the fitting ambidexterous, for example I would like to move the hose from the one end to the other end, also you should be able to swap the schrader valve to the other end and relocate the the pressure relief valve to its place. This is important when putting it in tight spots like in a bed you may not be able to get a pump to the side they chose to put the schrader valve on, or something may interfere with the side that hose and quick connect is set up on. If you could swap all to the other ends would be great. I would also reccomend imbedding SS fittings in the plastic where all fittings attach. Much stronger and would last longer seems silly to skimp on this on an otherwise well built product.

Hope this helps someone.

 

I know that people like to use my universal mounts to attach waterports to their bed rails. Allows them to mount the waterport under a bed cover also.

Universal Bed Rail Mounts​

These are CNC plasma cut from 1/8" aluminum, so they will never rust, and can be customized to hold quick fists for a shovel/axe setup, bike fork mounts for transporting your bike, water ports, rotopax cans, hi-lift jack + shovel, or use them as drop mounts to mount items under a bed cover, etc. Hardware is for mounting the brackets to your bed rail. If you are interested send me a PM and I can get you set up.

Click Here for Universal Mounts​

 

What is your take on the BakFlip cover for the Tacoma?

 

Good product and would recommend with the caveat that I have never had a cover from another manufacturer to compare it too.

Installation instructions and hardware are well thought out. I like how I am able to half open it to fit longboards over the tail or fully open to get furniture in the bed. I can fit shortboards under the cover which is super convenient. I also like using it as a table, super convenient to have a flat surface to set a drink down and food while you eat. Also nice to have extra semi secured storage for things like tarps and recovery gear that dont easily fit in the cab.

Only issues so far with it are, i) I need to play with it a bit to get it stop weeping water. Really only a little bit on the one side. ii) it is strong but not against certain impacts. I hopped up on it to clean the rear window and my knees left pressure dents in the cover. Wish it was a bit more resilient maybe rubberized armor on the top. iii) it wont really stop determined thieves but I street park in Philly and it keeps people from using the bed of my truck as a trash can. iv) if you plan on putting an overbed rack on the back of your truck you need to buy the special rails from Bakflip which are crazy expensive, I guess you could just get appropriate sized aluminum angle and figure something out but would be nice if that item was included with all covers (seems like a no brainer since I think the rack rails only really fit branded accesories). v) final downside it is really expensive. Priced appropriately for the quality but it would be an easier decision to get one if they were closer to $500 than to $1000.