BakFlip F1 Tonneau Cover -- Quality Issue

Purchased/installed one of these BakFlip F1 tonneau covers on my 2006 Tacoma, just under one year ago.

http://www.bakfliptonneaucover.com/bakflip_f1

First, my reasoning (and what I tell myself so I can sleep at night) behind buying this (stupid crazy expensive) tonneau cover.

(a) It appeared rigid enough to: survive New England winters; secure my stuff; and stand on, if necessary.
(b) It allowed almost 100% use of the bed and I could easily remove it, if necessary.

The good:

• Allows for full use of the entire truck bed.
• Almost watertight.
• Panels (themselves) are extremely strong, handle snow/ice without issue.
• Stand (momentarily) on it without issue.
• Easy (+/- one hour) install and less than five minutes to remove.

The Ugly:
After one year of moderate use (fully operating the cover on average of once per week) the cable that connects the locking latches (on the least used panel) pulled through its sleeve crimp. Easy–yet very annoying–fix for a $800+ tonneau cover.

 

I almost bought one, but the last minute I pulled the trigger on the g4 elite.

 

I remember really liking the g4 elite, the latch mechanisms and metal hinges looked superior to the BakFlip F1. However, the BakFlip's ability to flip up and out of the way swayed me.

Any gripes about the g4 Elite? How long have you had it on for?

 

Practically I do not have it on my truck yet. I got an accident after I ordered it. Got it on the 4th day, but my truck was in the body shop for 9 days. Damage through shipping, send it back and waiting for another new one. So I got the cover bit no truck and got the truck with no cover.

 

@jtv man, that's a shame. Hope the accident wasn't serious.

 

Mod/Disassembly
Finally got around to swapping out the cables. Dad had some extra steel cable from a job. BakFlip used "coat-hanger-thin" wire and flimsy crimps.


After removing the locking rails I was able to pull their wire through their other crimps with my bare hands. No wonder it pulled free.


Disassembly Tips:


(1) Remove all the screws! There's a bunch of very small and hard to see (painted black) TEK screws along the locking rails. I marked them with + symbols.

(2) Once all the screws are removed, the entire unit slides out from the rail on either side. There are actually five separate pieces (left lock mechanism, left tension spacer, middle spacer bar, right tension spacer, right lock mechanism) all looped together by the cable.

 

That a little odd because I've had BakFLip F1 bed covers on the last 3 F-150 pickup and have never had an issue. Some people can tear up anything.

 

Seems like you had better luck than me and/or bought newer versions of the BakFlip F1 cover.

I've noticed that newer versions of the BakFlip F1 use better cables. I wonder if the fact that this post ranked highly on google search results for "Bakflip F1 review" or "BakFlip F1 quality" had anything to do with BakFlip making that change... or perhaps your comment suggesting that I'm able to "tear anything up."

While I appreciate your tacit acknowledgement of my supernatural strength, I'm afraid it wasn't necessary to expose this BakFlip F1 quality control issue.

Also, if by chance you're affiliated with Bakflip, please let them know that I'm still waiting on that apology for this BakFlip F1 quality issue and would be happy to amend my BakFlip F1 review if they so asked

 

It comes with a 3 year warranty. Did you try giving them a call?

 

Yupp, you know, back in the spring of 2013... They threw around some nonsense around buying it from Amazon and not an authorized BakFlip dealer, yadda yadda yadda. So I made the repair myself and posted this review.

Moreover, the relationship between cable quality and the status of the person who installed the cover (i.e., user or authorized dealer) remains unknown. Perhaps more research is needed on this topic. I will say that I've had zero issues with the stainless steel cables I put on

 

I didn't even notice this thread was from 2013
Either way, glad the new cable works Good to know on the warranty being denied via Amazon, wasn't aware of that. The cable looks easy enought o replace too

 

No worries, I was surprised that this thread surfaced today as well.

Yea, I can't speak to the terms of BakFlip's current warranty, but it's definitely worth looking at carefully if you're in the market for a cover.