FoldaCover G4 Elite and Bedslide SR10 Review

I just had a FoldaCover G4 Elite and a Bedslide SR10 installed by the great guys over at Rowell's in Indian Trail, NC. I have been drooling over these for the last 8 months, and I finally bought them. I own a 2011 MGM Tacoma Shortbed Sport.
I perform service, sales and calibrations to water flow meters for a living. I spend a lot of time on the road, and I need to have as much parts and equipment as possible, because I am usually a couple of hundred miles from my office.
Sometimes I have to haul a refrigeration unit, which is about 3 1/2 feet tall, so a solid tonneau would have been worthless for me.
I bought the Bedslide because I don't want to have to crawl into my bed when I need to get something out of one of my totes. The Bedslide will also make a nice platform for when I need a work bench to repair equipment.
Here is my review.

First, the G4 looks awesome. Smooth, streamlined, and secure. I love the look of this set-up.



I really like the keyed locking mechanism. I went with the G4 over the Bakflip for this reason alone. The Bakflip has a locking mechanism that can only be opened from the inside. I planned to install a locking system in my tailgate that would run off of the OEM doorlock circuit, but if that failed, I'd have to cut into the Bakflip. This concerned me enough to go with the G4.



One awesome feature of the G4 is that the front of the cover folds open, and has its own lock. I think that this is awesome. I am attaching a hook above the wheelwell to hold my hardhat, which is always a pain in the ass to stow.



The latch mechanism is pretty beefy. This is about as secure as you can get. Nothing is 100% secure, but this is very good.



The latch locks into a post mounted on the side of the bed. The existing factories holes are used for the mounting of the post.

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The inner latches of the tonneau are latched onto brackets that are mounted via the factory siderail system. Note: you still have full access to the rail system, except for the spots where the tonneau's brackets are mounted.



When fully folded, the FoldaCover sits flat near the cab of the truck. I like this better than the Bakflip, which sits standing up against the back window of the cab. I can still see out of my back window, and I have nothing slapping the back of my cab when I'm driving with the tonneau open.



The G4 comes with a tailgate lock. It's simple but effective. The tonneau has a plate shaped like an upside down L mounted on the rear panel near the tailgate. This L shaped plate folds down with the tonneau panel, and slides behind a D shaped bracket mounted to the tailgate. The tailgate will not open when the FoldaCover is closed.



I did not take a picture of it, but the weather stripping on the very rear of the tonneau that keeps water from coming in over the tailgate is mounted with a very thin strip of adhesive. When the tonneau is hot, the weather strip detaches itself from the tonneau. If you touch the weather strip, it will come loose. I am going to have to get down with some Liquid Nails, or another kind of adhesive to keep the weather stripping from falling off. I guess that this is my biggest gripe of the G4.

Now onto the Bedslide.
I am really impressed with the sturdiness and ease of use when rolling the Bedslide in and out. It is rated for 1200 pounds, so I know that it can handle the 150 pounds that I have piled on it. There is still room behind the wheelwells, where I plan to mount a rechargable flashlight, and fire extinguisher.



The Bedslide has has a heavy duty handle and locking system. You can tell that its a quality product.
It has 3 locking positions, so you don't have to pull it out all the way if you don't need to. Here is what the Bedslide looks like fully extended.



All in all, I am very happy with my purchase. It wasn't cheap, and there are less pricey alternatives and knock-offs, but you get what you pay for. I plan on using the Bedslide and tonneau for the next 10 years and probably install them on my next truck.
I give both a big thumbs up.

 

I do plan to get that bedslide a while back ago, how much are they? and how strong is it?

 

The SR10 was about $900. I know its not cheap, but you get what you pay for.
The Bedslide website says that it can take up to 1200 lbs, which I believe.

 

Haha ur bed cubbie is broke too. My buddy just put the foldacover on his tundra and loves it. I really want one.

 

Hey JungleFighter sweet setup you got there bro! Looks like it'll definitely be put to good use.

 

will this work with a bed extender?

 

Have you tested how well this keeps water out? I'm still torn on what/if any cover I want for my bed. I need something for when I take road trips to keep luggage secure/dry but don't want give up hauling space when I need it. So a solid tonneau cover wont work for me. I like the idea of the soft/folding covers but they seem to be leak prone from what i've read.

 

I love the Fold-a-covers. But compared to the Extang, Bak, or Flex, to get quick access to the full bed, the FAC is a PITA to take apart that front hinge and reassemble it to take it on/off. When/If Extang gets the Encore done for the Tacoma will remedy this.

Nice equipment though regardless. I have sold Bedslide before. Right now I do CargoEase and some JottoSlide.

 

Does this mean the FAC's are harder for a "do it yourself" install? I see you have them on your website but if I do end up buying, are they difficult to put on?

 

I get a few drips here and there, but nothing bad. I can't tell if it's just seepage that drops when I open the cover, or if the seams are actually leaking while the cover is closed.
After hard Carolina summer storms, I will have a few splash marks from single drips on my Bedslide, but that's it.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm definitely interested in this cover! Wish it was easier to take completely off, seems like the only downside.

 

I bought my Fold A Cover in early June and at the time they just started delivering the new revised version of the G4 Elite. The main difference now is that the bed rails (they call it the windseal) are no longer glued, they are now attached by bolts to the brackets. It is a one man job to install. I am extremely pleased with how the cover looks and functions.

From having done the entire installation myself I can say that the cover can be removed with ease. You are looking at removing 4 bolts and there is no re-alignment necessary during the re-install.

As for water seepage, because I have not experienced the rainy season yet, I cannot say. While I am sure it is not 100% water tight, based on what I see as possible areas of seepage, cargo will stay dry and whatever water does comes in will wind up under my cargo mat anyways so it won't be like my stuff is sitting in a puddle. I would say weatherproof enough to keep luggage clean and dry for road trips.

The only improvement I like to see is for a smaller gap between the top of the tailgate and the cover panel as that would improve security. Right now the weather strip seal that covers the gap is wider than I'd like.

 

Bob....thanks alot for the write up and especially pics. I am in the process of researching covers and really considering this one.

 

hows it holding up with everyday use? i am about to buy this but in my kind of work i will be opening it and closing it ever single day and i need a cover that will be able to withstand it and still maintain its security and functionality

 

I've had a Fold-A-Cover G4 for about 8 months and it's proven to be very trouble free so far. I open mine 2-3 times a week to haul building material. I really like how easy it is to fold and stack against the cab. While you don't get full bed access, I have no problem with lumber or plywood.
I installed it myself, and it was a bit of a PITA. 2 people would make the job much easier.
We've had some really heavy rains and I never noticed more than small drips, so I wouldn't hesitate to carry luggage or boxes. I agree with the comment about the rear seal adhesive being pretty weak. Both ends of my seal came loose within a couple of months. I used Gorilla Glue to reattach them and so far it's holding up fine. Liquid nails or silicone adhesive would work too.
Overall, I love the cover. It looks good, is built really well and seems relatively secure. If someone was determined to break in, I'm sure they could, but out of sight, out of mind...

 

Hey Bob, how much was the cover itself? Great Write-Up BTW.

 

^ I paid $730 shipped from http://www.foldacoverfactorystore.com/home.php

quick shipping....at my door 3 days later

 

Cool, Thanks for the info!

 

your welcome

 

I have the same cover and have nothing to add. The best part for me is the locking portion at the cab, it is perfect and why I went with this cover. I keep a couple of bin boxes at the front of the bed and I just toss stuff from the cab in, lock the cover and forget forget about it.