Hi,

I have a 2004 Screw and I am looking for a bed cover. It needs to be lockable, lightweight and somewhat watertight. I have narrowed it down to either a undercover or a foldacover. I like the idea of folding part of it back when I need to cary tall items but i'm not sure of the durability of a folding cover. I don't want to lose bed space in my allready tiny bed with a rolling cover. Anybody with pro's and con's on each and which one do you have or would buy???

Thanks
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I too am looking at folding covers. The one piece covers are nice, but you have to know in advance that you need to remove it and leave it at home. I also have a reason that I can't use a roll-up cover due to the space it requires when stowed away.

I've narrowed it down to either the Fold-a-Cover or the Advance Cover, but I haven't actually seen either one in person to help me decide which to buy. There is not enough price difference between them for that to be a factor, but there isn't any detailed installation info that I've found on the internet for the Fold-A-Cover. If anyone knows where I could get more info on the Fold-a-Cover, I'd sure appreciate it.

 

dswenger,

Is there a difference between the Fold-A-Cover and the Advance Cover? I thought that they were the same cover or atleast the same design. I might be wrong though, which happens often

 

OK, I have a little more info about Fold-a-Cover as I just got off the phone with their sales support department. By the way, if anyone wants a PDF fiel of the Fold-A-Cover installation instructions, I now have them, just drop me a note.

Yes they are two different covers , similar in appearance and function, but different in how they attach to the truck, and from looking at the installation instructions, they also differ in how they seal water out of the bed.

I'll try to explain what I have learned so far, but reserving final opinion until I see a working demo of the Fold-A-Cover at a local dealer.

Fold-A-Cover

This unit supplies rails/tracks which sit on top of the bed-rails and are attached with clamping hardware through the stake pockets. The folding panels then sit/ride in the supplied rails. The front most hinge is mechanically secured to the bed with clamping hardware which allows the front panel to open backwards and the three rear panels to open and fold forward. The other hinge points have what appears to be spring loaded latches which secure each hinge point to the bed rails. Rain water etc. would appear to be routed or follow the supplied rail to the front or rear depending on slope.

Advance Cover

This system does not have any outer rails. The panels sit on top of the bed rails and there is latching hardware attached to the inside of the bed rails. There are good pictures of the Advance Cover installation at this link -http://www.kcovers.com/hardware-images/index.htm
It looks to me that they supply two rubber gaskets which try to prevent the water from getting insode the bed-rails. It seems that this system may be a little more water tight than the Fold-A-Cover, but I am not sure that the latching system is quite as sturdy.
As it turns out, there are dealers for both products about 25 miles from here and the dealers are only 3 miles apart from each other. I hope to make a run this weekend to look at the demonstrators of both products.

 

i have the k cover and it works quite well. fairly water tight, only minimal water in the bed liner with a heavy rain. quick and easy to install and very adaptable. i picked the k cover over the other types because it was similar to the bed cover in my avalanche that my 250 replaced. You can carry the cover around in one arm, very light and not noisy or rattley, if that's a word, even at 70 mph.

 

dswenger,

I'm nowhere near any dealer for either cover so i'll have to have one of them shipped. Can you post your impressions if you get a chance to look at them in person this weekend.

Thanks

 

Sure thing.

 

OK. Made trip today to look at covers.

Unfortuately, nobody in my area has a demonstrator for the Advance Cover. The one dealer (who had a Fold-A-Cover demo ) said that he sells both brands about equally. He said that at this time, Advance is the only one with a folding cover for the Explorer SportTrac so that is obviously the choice for those folks.

Before I looked at the demo, I was concerned about how the panels would seal to the side rails. Now that I've seen how it goes together, I think it will be reasonably weathertight. There is a seal both under the panels on the top edge of the side rail and there is also a wiper type seal along the edge of the side rail to help control leakage between the side rails and the edges of the panels. This provides two places on each side to help keep water out.

I still believe that I like the latching hardware on the Fold-A-Cover better than the mounting/latching arrangement on the Advance Cover.

I'm not concerned about the loss of the stake pockets, so that is not a concern.

A disadvantage to the Fold-A-Cover is that you must have the key to open a panel. You cannot leave it "unlocked" for quick and convenient access when there isn't anything in there you need to secure.

In short, I still haven't completely made up my mind. Most likely, either one would be fine for my purposes, so now I'll just have to shop around, think about it, and make a spur of the moment purchase.....

 

I was in the same boat you were, dsweger, and was only able to see the mock-up of the fold-a-cover in my area (no advance cover dealers). I was stuck between going for a soft cover (access or truxedo were my top choices) or the hard folding cover (advance or fold-a-cover). I didn't like how the roll-up hard covers take room from the front of the bed, or how the one-piece hard covers have to be stored somewhere when you carry large loads. I think for the difference in money, the folding hard covers are not much more in price and should hold up better and put my mind more at ease than the soft covers whenever I carry valuables in the back. I also like how the folding hard cover can be removed and set somewhere in the bed or cab if needed when carrying large items.

My current truck is not a Ford (It's a Dakota Quad cab) and Advance only makes a 2 piece cover for the Dakota QC, so it was either a 2 piece from Advance or a 4 piece from fold-a-cover.

Initially, I liked the looks of the hardware of the fold-a-cover (looks more professional) but the closeup photos on the K-cover website make it look like the Advance cover hardware is actually pretty sturdy, and doesn't take as much room under the hatch. As you pointed out, I also like the idea of being able to open it without a key when I want to, so that leaves me with the Advance cover as my best option.

For my purposes, I think the Advance cover will be more suited to my uses, so I ordered one last night. I'll post an update once it arrives and let you all know how hard (or easy) it is to install.

 

Radar,

I'd greatly appreciate if you would post your opinions after you receive your Advance Cover. I was gonna order a Fold-A-Cover just based on the fact that I had seen it, but now I'll wait until you check it out.

Looking a the photos is never as good as seeing the real thing.

Thanks,

Don Sweger

 

I have the undercover on my 2000 F150 flareside. The only down fall is not being able to haul tall loads with cover installed. Although i have occasionally hauled lumber with cover on (drove slow to limit wind force on cover). I would get one again if given the choice. Never had moisture in the box.

 

My Advance Cover arrived via UPS this afternoon. I unpacked it and I'm impressed with the quality of the hardware. Hopefully, I'll be able to install it this weekend and will provide an update on how the installation goes. The instructions for putting it on the truck seem pretty simple and straightforward, so hopefully it will go on pretty easy.

 

I actually got time to put my new cover on the other day, and took some photos in the process.
The quality of the hardware and panels is high. The instructions were pretty clear for the most part, and easy to figure out. It took about 2 1/2 hours to install the cover. This was the 2-panel cover, which is what Advance Cover supplies for my particular truck. Fold-a-cover has a 4-panel cover for my truck, but I liked the 2 panel, since the bed is so short (only 5'3"). If I had a longer bed, I would prefer a 4-panel cover.
Installation was pretty easy, and the cover looks good on the truck. I think this cover will be just fine for my use.
We'll be getting some rain next week, so I'll get a chance to see how water repellent it is then.
If you want to read the full story and see the pics, you can check my website here;
http://members.***.net/terpster/

JPH

 

I have a fold-a-cover on my '97! Bought the truck from a friend and he had it installed! Probably4/5 years ago! Works great! Not too bad on being "weathertight"! Sure is nice to get it out of the way for taller loads!
Mine has these "sliders" along the side rails that hold tabs on the panes down! Therefor I don't need to lock it for use! Easy open/close!
Personally I like the clean/smooth look of the 1 piece covers! But it is a truck and I use it as a truck! I sold my show truck!

 

Radar,

Thanks for the great post on your cover. The write-up you did with the pictures is outstanding.

I hope to have my Advance Cover this coming week.