Real Truck Hard Fold Tonneau

I just bought a Real Truck Hard-Flip folding tonneau cover from Realtruck.com. Realtruck advertises a 5% discount but I found a 10% coupon that's still valid.

$590 with a 10% discount (coupon code: Toyota858) and free shipping.

$531 out the door.

I'll take some pictures and post when I get it.

 

I will be very interested in your review of this cover. I am certainly in the market for a hard cover. I'm most interested in fit and how water tight it is. Please don't forget to update this.
Thanks,
Mike

 

I just got a notice that it's on back order until the 7th of January, so I won't have an update until after that date. But I won't forget.

 

Good luck with it! I'd like to see how it works out for you as well. It's look IDENTICAL to my BakFlip, and that was a waste of money. Your's is more expensive so hopefully it's made better.

Since it's so similar to the BakFlip, check the following list of things so you don't run into the same problems as me. Maybe you'll be able to return it if it has the same issues as mine.

1. unpainted steel rivets instead of aluminum so the rusted within a month
2. the rails that clamp to the factory tie down rails to support the cover were 2 pieces held together with foam tape. closing the cover caused the inside piece the flex down away from the latches, not latch properly, and loosen the foam tape. (I eventually drilled and riveted them together)
3. inner core of cover was cardboard so it was only a thin ABS laminate holding the rivets that hold the gas struts in place. (they came out so I got some electrical block covers for larger area and larger rivets to reattach them)
4. cable guides for releasing the latches were foam taped as well. A nice hot summer and repeated opening caused the cables to start coming through the tape like fishing line during a de-badging project.
5. cover came with drain holes near the cab in the side rails, but rake of the truck/angle of parking spot made them useless. Water ran out the back of the rails and into the bed instead of down the drain tubes. (Had I known that before I would not have drilled 2 holes in my bed for the drain tubes, and would've just plugged the holes in the rails.)
6. This may have been a fluke, but my passenger side gas strut died early on. (I wondered why it was opening harder and didn't stay up against the back window properly.)

Well, long story short I had it on just over a year before it finally broke beyond repair and I just tore the sumbutch off cuz I was tired of dealing with it. Right now it's a $500 pile behind my barn and I had to drop another $500 on a different cover. I like my new cover better, but sill irritated I wasted $500 on the BakFlip. I loved the design and how it worked... But the materials and assembly job were piss poor.

 

Thanks for the heads-up. I was actually considering the Bak-Flip until I saw your review of it. I also thought long and hard about the soft top you have. But in the end a tonneau cover won out.

 

Glad I could help! lol

So are you going with the one you originally posted, or find something else due to the back order?

 

I'll wait. If it delays beyond the 7th, I'll cancel the order and go with something else (I'm hoping it's not that "it'll be in in two weeks" delay tactic).

One that I really liked was the Red's Beds diamond plate (in black). At $1200, it's a serious commitment though.

 

Seriously? Those things cost $1200!?!?!?! It's just a f'n BakFlip build with Diamond plate!! It doesn't use gas struts, it uses slide bars that you manually move a pin for.

I would not pay $1200 for that!

For around $900 (if you shop around) you could get a Diamondback SE that'll hold 400lbs on the cover and looks like it'll last longer and be more water tight than Red's. www.diamondbackcover.com

 

The Red's Bed is available for around $810 but I like the look of the black powder coat, which is extra (I did find the black for $1010 at Auto Accessories Garage.com). Plus I like the flip cover better; it's easier to get out of the way and I don't have a garage for storage.

 

I'm not saying I don't like it! I'm saying the damn thing should be cheaper! lol It's like they copied the BakFlip piece for piece, and swapped the ABS panels w/rubber hinges for diamond plate and gas struts for manual locking struts. It looks like something I could make with parts from Home depot. No offense to it, but the panels could be laser cut or punch very cheaply. Then everything else is simply bolted on. I could be missing something, and I've never seen on in person.... But the fact that each part of a BakFlip requires more labor and materials to assemble yet is half the price. I don't get it. Unless the metal used by Red's is just ungodly expensive, or it's a 1 man shop having to pay high rates for machining the panels at other shops.

And consider the Daimondback SE uses MORE material, MORE cutting, MORE welding, and just plain MORE assembly time for about the same price. The Diamondback uses the same material, and isn't a simple cut n assemble cover. It has multiple pieces and angles cut and welded together.

I guess I think about it like this: cookies stamped out with a cookie cutter and backed should cost far less than a fully assembled gingerbread house or 4 layer cake.

Every picture I've seen of Red's looks like they could be stamped out, bolted together, weather strip glued on, and be ready to sell. No where near the amount of work required to assemble other covers that cost less (or the same and use same material).

Edit:
oh yeah, one more thing. The latches on Red's cover are all MANUAL! That means you have to climb in the bed, or walk back and forth on both sides of the truck release/setting latches whenever you open/close it. All the other covers (same price or less) had the latches on each panel tied together so one operation release both sides of that panel. (and the latches look like something I'd buy at home depot to keep my shed door closed.)

 

I had a Pace Edwards cover on my old truck and LOved it.... retractable sleek and lockable!!! opens in seconds and closes in seconds... can't beat it..

Cons:
takes up a little bed space... can still get stuff under it but larger objects dont fit...

 

I am thinking of this cover

http://www.extang.com/docs/extangrt.html


Extang RT.... soft cover but looks nice...

many people have them at XR underground...

 

Well, I received the cover today. Looks like it is a BakFlip G2 sold under the Real Truck name. BakFlip claims to have addressed the issues raised with the earlier model. I'll try it out to see how well it works.

 

Well it's good the addressed the issues... I'm curious what they changed so let us know how the install goes and post some pics!

 

I got the Bakflip G2 installed yesterday. It took about 30 minutes. The instructions included have some steps that don't apply for the Tacoma because of the bed rails. Instead, they included some aluminum strips with screws (held on with a locking nut). They assemble one as an example. Just put the other five together in like manner.


Slide the strips inside the truck bed rails (three on each side). You'll need to pop the rail endcap off.



Put the rail against the bed and slide it as far forward as it will go (the aluminum bracket goes forward). Slide the mounting bolts to match up with the holes in the rail. Bolt up the rails. Make sure you don't tighten them down too much. They should be snug. If you over-tighten them, the rails will stick up slightly from the bed.

Here's a shot of the rail installed. The cab is to the left of the picture.


I didn't get any shots of installing the panels. Just lay the folded cover with the smallest section to the front of the bed. Unfold the cover and check the fit at the back. Then drop the screws through the two holes at the front of the cover through the slotted aluminum mounts on the rails. You'll have to try it repeatedly. There's a cable under each section that you grab to unlock it from the mounting rail. I wound up with the cover as far forward as it would go with the screws installed. I might actually drill the slot out a little more forward.

The fit for the knobs is pretty tight because of the front rail. I pulled the cover back slightly and added the knobs. When it was close to being tight, I pushed it forward and tightened it further. You can see the drain spout in the shot. They include two plastic clear drain tubes with the unit. I'll have to figure out the best way to route them as I don't really want to drill a big hole in the truck bed. For now, I have the drain tubes routed to the box cutout in the side of the bed.



The rubber bumpers are taped to the edge that will touch the truck when it's fully opened.

 

Based on PiercedTiger's description of the previous unit, it looks like they replaced the gas struts with a simple rod assembly. You loosen the knob, slide the bracket up, lay the rod under the bottom and let the bracket slide over the tip. Then tighten the knob. It's simple but it's strong and looks like it would hold well.



The weather strip at the folds looks a little crumpled from long-term storage. A person on the Tundra Solutions forum stated that it will smooth out eventually.


Here's the cover installed and closed. I had to push down slightly at each seam to get the cover to lock.



Here's the cover opened, with the support rods up and my bed extender deployed. The cover doesn't interfere with the Westin bed extender.

 

BTW, I found a reply about the quality issues from the owner of Bak Industries on the Tundra Solutions forum. Here's what he said:

 

Looks good! Those rods to hold it up probably put less stress on the cover so that eliminates 2 problems: rivets popping out and struts failing.

Question though. Are the rails for the cover 1 piece each or two? Mine were 2, and held together with foam tape. So they flexed when you tried closing the cover so sometimes you had to press harder (until I riveted them).

 

Thanks. Too bad I didn't see that before. Oh well. I'm happier with my Bestop. I can fit more in the bed anyway. lol

 

Looks like they're still 2 piece but it's now held together with rivets. He stated too that the locking mechanisms are adjustable. So it may be possible to get it to lock without pushing down on the cover.

I noticed too at the screw holes at the front of the cover that the internal material appears to be a crush foam like you'd find in a motorcycle helmet (no more cardboard).