Recently released Leer trifold model HF350

After i took it in, they worked on it for much longer than they did during initial install. finally they realized what they saw as a major design flaw. Tacomas have the little curve at the end of the bed, by the tailgate. as seen here


the rails for the cover seemingly did not address this curvature. i used a yard stick to try to illustrate.



the issue was that if they tightened down the rail, bending it to seal tight against the curve, then the latches on the cover would not meet the rails. however if they left it straight, then there was the huge gap when the rails would not even meet the bedrail, so there was no seal at all. They tried jamming various materials in there to get the rails to seal properly but they were not satisfied that it would stay dry, so they just refunded my money. I was pretty pissed, I've been waiting on this model to come out ever since they discontinued the X2T cover. It was such an obvious flaw, i was floored how Leer would release a product that was that poorly designed. The guys a the factory outlet were also dumbfounded when they realized how bad it was. they were also embarrassed that they did not notice when they first installed.

 

This all went down this past Friday. They said they were going to stop offering the Tacoma model until the issue was corrected and the covers were redesigned. So the guy called corporate on Monday, and as it turns out, Leer actually does address this issue by way of an independent seal that was made specifically to address that curvature. It was supposed to be in the box with the cover but it was not. Because I was the first Tacoma install, and the previous X2T model did not have this separate seal, the installers did not know they needed to use it. So i am going to go back soon and give it one more chance. I want to take a look at the seal, and watch them install it very carefully. They assure me (because Leer assured them) that the seal will keep the bed dry, as it was specifically designed with the curve in mind. If i don't like how the install is looking, i will tell them just to forget it, or if they do install and it still leaks, i will definitely return it and let my voice be heard. So...i recommend you wait a couple weeks to see how my install goes, and i will report back as soon as i have some data. I will be the guinea pig i guess.

 

Thanks for reporting back. I actually went to a leer retailer today to order one. And the guy said none were available and he would have to call me back... guess that saved me. Let us know how it goes

 

Will do. They were supposed to call as soon as they got the seal which will hopefully be soon.

 

Thanks for keeping us updated! I've been shopping around for a nice cover and this post is very helpful.

 

so the seal came in, they installed. and within an hour of driving home in the rain, i had a fair amount of water in the bed. so i am going to have to give this cover a thumbs down, from a weather resistance standpoint anyway. there were a couple of points of infiltration i attribute to minor install mistakes, but the "seal" that they claimed was meant to account for the curve in our bed was an open celled foam type product. i did not get a picture of it, but it was about an inch or so wide, and 5 feet long. the idea was that it would compress more where the bed curved, and a little less everywhere else. it was made of rubber, but with the open cells it was basically a sponge. their thought and my hope was that after it was compressed and the rails were tightened down it would seal itself up but it did not. I am actually floored that an engineer at leer (presumably with an engineering degree) would think that this type of "seal" was the answer. now it wasn't a ton of water. it was better than my OEM was, but it was still enough to pool and run anywhere in the bed that happens to be downhill, which is too much for me. i understand trifolds are not going to be 100%. some drips here and there, or perhaps some moisture in one corner or another that is not enough to really run...i could accept that. and given that last night wasn't even a heavy rain, i think i am going to just move on and return the cover. a few pictures to follow...

 

here's just a couple pictures to give you an idea of the amount of water. again, it was fair rain for few minutes, then it lightened up a bit. by no means a heavy rain.

 

Guess the BAKFlip MX4 it is! Thanks for all the info.

 

what was the most concerning infiltration point was below. it was dripping from the under side of the cover itself, and if you zoom a little you can see silicon that was applied at the factory. so this was an obvious point of concern for them since they thought to silicon the area, this flat bar that you can see a drip clinging to, was damp most of the way across the cover, so water may have been getting through the joint. you can also see the "seal" that they thought was the answer in these pictures. its the grey foam looking stuff between the utility track and the cover rails.

 

i have found there are various degrees of success with most trifolds, including BAKflip. if you search you'll find people with BAKflips that also have water infiltration. it all depends on what you find acceptable i guess. some people don't care about water at all.

 

overall, i would still highly recommend this cover IF you are ok with the amount of water in these pictures. you may even get lucky and wind up with no water from the start. it is a nice looking cover, sturdy (though a little less so then the OEM), i like the pinch release instead of the pull wire. it comes off in a couple minutes if needed, and it stands up giving you 95% bed access. you can also still use the utility rail and attach some stationary anchor points. If i used some silicon in some strategic places i could probably even further reduce the amount of water infiltration, but i went down that rabbit hole with the OEM trying to seal it up and i don"t really feel like chasing this one.

 

Sounds like A Undercover Elite is the way to go. (If I win the lottery)

 

i had a solid one piece on my '06. kept the bed dry as a bone obviously because it covers the rails and tailgate. i wanted to explore the trifolds for their convenience but will definitely go back to a 1 piece if i cant find a trifold with an acceptable amount of water infiltration.

 

Thanks Frank for all your work keeping us informed on the new Leer trifold. Your review has helped me with my decision. I'm now looking at a soft roll-up from Access.

 

Just some further updates. I was able to get the rails and the corners pretty much sealed up so that no water came in around those spots. But once I was able to observe the cover during a rainstorm, I saw a bunch of water dripping in around the joints, where one panel connected to another. I decided to return it since it still let in too much water for my needs. Leer was pretty cool about the whole thing. They used my pictures and comments to take to their corporate engineers and I am told they are actually pulling this model for Tacoma installs until they can re-engineer the rails, and some of the issues I pointed out. I moved over to the Undercover Ultraflex based on some recommendations that I got here on the forum. Had it installed on Friday so I will update this after I have some time to live with it and it goes through a few rains.

 

Hi, did you ever get the undercover ultraflex? Im looking at tri-folds now, dont know which one to get

 

I have the third rail installed in the front of the bed with two bike hub locks (the ones where you take the front wheel off...). I can't really tell but guessing I would have to relocate those. Can you advise?

 

Any updates on the Ultraflex?

 

Awesome description. Just had the Leer HF 350 Installed on my '21 Tacoma Double Cab. It's a great cover so far and with this post I was able to expect that the cleats would not fit the rail. Do you have any OEM links to cleats or tie downs that will fit after the Leer H350 is installed. Not sure about the grinding of the OEM cleats.