Folding or roll up tonneau cover?

First let me say I’ve never owned a truck. I’m trying to decide what’s best for a tonneau, rollup or folding?

I’m looking at the OEM trifold and the BAK x4s revolver (I don’t think I’ve ever use the T slot rails so the x4ts isn’t worth the little extra cash). I’d always assumed I’d get a rollup but since the OEM one is a trifold it seems like a lot of guys get this, either stock or buy afterwards.

How fast can drive if you have it folded up all the way against the window?

I’m having trouble seeing the benefits of folding over rollup. Any thoughts?

I live in Minnesota but my vehicles don’t spend much time outside in the elements as we garage park and work from home.

 

I would 100% recommend the Bakflip that is a trifold and folds up against the rear window.

I’ve had two of them, one on my Ram 1500 and one on my Tacoma. Absolutely fantastic product. I’ve driven hundreds of miles on the highway with the cover folded up against the back window and zero issues. It comes with rods that lock it upright so it can’t fall down.

I most recently had the Bakflip MX4 and I’ll say it was one of the most useful utilitarian things I’ve purchased for the truck. I highly recommend a tri-fold cover from them.

If you scroll through my build thread I think I have some photos somewhere haha

 

Also, in terms of benefits of the fold up…I’ve never had a roll up but I would argue the fold up would probably be much more secure when you want it locked upright or folded all the way up.

 

Any thoughts on the diamond back covers over OEM covers?

 

Not sure if you’re asking me or not but I think the diamondback covers are exceptional. A prime example of “you get what you pay for”…very expensive but weatherproof and secure. They will also last a lifetime.

I don’t have any experience with the OEM covers. Can’t imagine they are bad though.

 

I love my X4S. Love the way it looks!
I will warn you. The vinyl likes to not flex when it gets cold out. For me it's not a big problem as I keep mine in a garage which thaws it out.

The X4S is pretty damn secure along the sides. There's a locking bar that runs the whole length of the cover that locks every individual aluminum slat into place. They aren't like the vinyl soft covers that are velcrod along the sides.

 

^^ This ^^

Have one on my Tundra and love it. Nearly full access of the bed with a roll up.

 

I recently went through this dilemma with a few considerations for usage that my local dealer helped me with.
I carry tools so security was a factor. If not then a soft cover may be just fine for a lot less.

The OEM is made by Bak and are almost identical. The prop rods are the most notable difference.

They dont come with any speed warnings and both rest against the cab, so ask yourself how fast do you want to drive with a bed full of gear that requires the hard fold to be upright?

Check Real Trucks website (if not doing OEM) as they are having a good sale on covers and accessories. I saved @ $275

 

Forgot pics though it's on an F150...

 

My vote is for roll up.

 

I got very interested in the Fas-Top combo tonneau and topper all in one while still in pre-sales mode. There was reluctance to own a pickup again or give up the van. What different associates had also influenced me. Some of their tonneau covers or toppers did not have much flexibility or good design for the work oriented stuff I do.

The pic here shows how out of the way the tonneau is whether in topper mode or if the topper is taken out completely which is easy to do in a hurry. Even with the soft topper in I still have lower part of bed with full length available and minimal space taken if it is rolled inside the bed. The latter is about same or more available space as some associates' other sorts of tonneau covers.

Fas-Top might not be for everyone but wow am I happy now at 9 months and 9000 miles. I've been close to home and very far away having any or all of open bed, topper or tonneau coverage. With the long bed pickup and topper up I also eliminate the goofy (to me) limitations of the short bed models and have just about what the van could haul.

The utility and flexibility with a very proven type of construction and materials should be obvious. Against a solid topper or solid tonneau there will likely be wear at some point when a solid topper might be fine.

Maybe it's the brand being shown in the thread here but some associates have a fat when rolled tonneau that takes about as much space as my whole topper does and that topper removes with two cotter pins in a hurry.

 

Second this, I had a backflip on my ford back in the day, will be getting another version of it for my Tacoma. In addition to the low profile clean look it’s mega sturdy, and can’t be cut through easily like vinyl, making the bed far more secure. Flips up the a locking rod that stops it from moving, and it’s really easy to remove if for some reason you need that extra 4-6 inches of space. Also I’m eastern Canadian so our winters are similar, the vinyls stretch here under the weight of snow and ice, and can be a pain to manipulate in the cold. My old man had a literal button one up, it was impossible to get the last 3-4 snaps in the winter. Can’t go wrong. There is a Canadian company called CW tonneau that sells a way cheaper version of the backflip ($650 cdn) that as far as I can tell is basically identical.

 

I have the Diamondback HD cover and it’s awesome. Was outside in 6” snow and not a single drop of water in the bed. They make a fold up one also.

 

I've had 5 Bakflips...3 MX4s, 1 G2, and 1 Fibermax since 2021. They were all great. This time I bought the toyota brand. Mainly because the Bakflip brand has gotten so expensive. Got it for $1015.75 +tax. The Toyota brand tonneau seems to be very good quality. I'd actually be willing to bet it's made by Bakflip. Almost identical install and usability. I'd say the roll up or the fold up are both good options, just whatever you prefer...I think you can drive pretty fast without problems. 70+

 

I bought a 2025 trd offroad 6" bed that had an oem trifold cover already installed and I like it so far. I've only owned the truck for 10 days and haven't had enough rain time with it to give a full opinion. I ran a velcro bed cover previously in my old truck for 16 years and it had it's downsides but overall I was happy with it and would have purchased that again had this truck not already had the oem cover installed.

When this oem cover is folded up and leaned against the back window and I hook up the prop rods, in order for the rods to hook into the cover, the cover does not touch the front windows. I assumed the prop rods would prop the cover up against the window and rest on the pads but this is not the case and I do not see an obvious adjustment in the prop rods. The Bak version apprears adjustable but I do not see a way to adjust on the Toyota version. Anyone have this cover that can shed some light?

It also seems like some degree of camera is blocked when the cover is stowed against the back window. It is very rare that I will be driving with the cover stowed upright.

 

Haven't put one on this truck. Had the truxedo x15 soft cover and was really good cover on my old truck. Looking at the bak flip and x4s. Those are the 2

 

Although mine isn't a 4th gen, I have the Diamondback HD on my 3rd gen.

Overall it's a nice cover. It's made very well and it's neat that you can haul objects on top of the cover. The cover is very secure too, as it uses steel rods controlled by a handle with a key lock to lock the cover, which is very important to me as I live in an area with a relatively more property crime rate. Taking out the cover is a simple process that absolutely can be done by yourself.

However, you aren't gonna have much bed access if you want to haul tall objects without taking the cover off. You can fold and strap down the rear portion of the cover, but most of the bed will still be covered (a bit more than half).

Some people claimed that the HD doesn't leak water into the bed, but that isn't the case in my experience. I found that there's still water leaking in from the center panel of the cover, even on my replacement cover.

Which brings us to customer service, which is actually top notch. They were responsive and willing to work with me to get a replacement. Why didn't I push for another replacement? I honestly didn't find the cause until some time passed and I didn't feel like contacting again.

I still have the cover on my truck. If I were to do it again, I'll look into the Switchback instead, a tri-fold cover also made by Diamondback, just for the bit more bed access.

 

There isn't any adjustments. You are correct the backflip leaned up against the cab on the 3rd gen. Then you could adjust the prop rods so it would fit snug up against the cab so it wouldn't move going down the road. Maybe the OEM is designed to not rest on the window or cab on purpose. Less rubbing going down the road.

 

Personally I only like role up covers, I look at it this way I want the bed covered, and when I want to use the bed I want the bed at full access but not worry about something blocking or hitting the back window.

 

The X4S is nice when it works. I've been through 2 as the first delaminated in the hot AZ summer. The glue melted and the whole thing fell apart and buckled. Bakflip sent a replacement under warranty, but the end caps always seem to pop off. Last summer I had a bear rip into the bed of the truck and shred the tonneau, so now I need a 3rd.

I'm looking for a replacement, but I don't think I'll go with another Bakflip product.

The Lomax Stance is a better value and better quality imo.