Just installed the Bakflip VP on my 15 F250. I looked at a lot of different tonneau options, but chose this one over the Peragon because I really like the low profile look. That and I didn't like the idea of having to take it out to avoid using up what precious little bed space I have in my short box.


Anyway, I thought I would start this thread, because I didn't find a lot of useful feedback on this model when I was shopping and searching.


I know, I know: THIS THREAD IS WORTHLESS WITHOUT PICS. It's dark out. You can find lots of pics of the VP on the web, just not much real world, un-compensated feedback. I'll try to take pics in the next few days.

INSTALL: So when you get your cover, it'll come with install instructions for another model. No biggie. This thing is stupid-simple to install. It's easily a one-man job, except for getting the two bolts in that hold down the front edge, and that's IF you do it the way I did--with the cover fully closed. I chose to do that because I didn't want to take the chance of knocking it out of alignment while folding it up, so I crawled underneath and had the wife hold the bolt heads in place from the top while I tightened the ***** underneath.

Kit comes with everything you need, and no holes to drill, no real assembly of parts. Just set the rails in place, install the three clamps per side, lay the cover down, tighten two *****, and you're done. Oh, it comes with drain hoses, which I haven't hooked up yet. My truck came with a drop in bed liner, and it's too tight to get the hoses up in the gaps and behind the liner, and if you do, the hoses hit the pockets for the bed tie downs anyway. So I'm running a little experiment to see how much water actually accumulates in the rails. It's the rainy season here in FL, so I should know pretty soon if the hoses are a necessity.

I also installed the tailgate seals, to try to keep dust and water from getting in the bed that way. While this truck will work when necessary, the bed is more of an oversized trunk than a work truck bed, so I'm hoping to get it as watertight as possible.


Fit and finish seems to be very good, and the cover looks fantastic. Folding up against the back window seems to be a pretty good setup. I haven't driven with it like that yet, but I think it will work well. The cover did come with three strips of rubber that you can attach to the top edge when it's folded up, to provide padding against your back window and keep the cover off the paint on the back of your cab. THAT is not covered in the instructions, but I had read it on a post somewhere else, so I figured it out.


I did about 30 miles on the highway, and as I expected, the top was rock solid. No significant improvements in mileage to report, but my truck only has 1300 miles on it right now, and from what I've read it takes about 5k for the mileage to settle down on the 6.2.


OBSERVATIONS:
1) Not sure about other covers, but this one you have to have the back panel up to close the tailgate. I think some others you can close the tailgate without opening the panel. That's going to take me a few days to get used to, but I'm sure it won't be too big of a deal.


2) I read somewhere that some folks were concerned about thieves being able to pull the pull cables and open the cover even if the tailgate is locked. I guess they could, but truthfully, for a thief to put in that effort, I'm guessing he is going to be someone that KNOWS what's in the bed. I doubt it's going to be a big problem.


3) Some of the other Bakflip models advertise that you can put up to 400 lbs "evenly distributed" on the cover; the VP only says 250 lbs. I was mainly interested to know if I could sit on, and walk on, the cover. I don't have an answer yet, but after having installed it, I'm going to recommend against it. I think some of the other covers have thick panels that sit on top of the bed, so the bed rail is supporting the weight. The VP sits on the rails clamped to the side of the bed rail, so whatever weight the panel is supporting is only going to be held up by 1-3 squeeze-clamps per side. I am not willing to do destructive testing on my cover or my truck bed to find out what this thing can take. It's not weak or flimsy by any means, but it's not engineered to be a load-bearing surface, so I'm not going to use it that way.


More to follow, as I use it. Hopefully this thread will help others.

 

I just found this forum while searching for others who have installed the bakflip VP on their F150. I really like this tonneau however about six months ago (some 15 months after purchase) the black vinyl covering started to peel along the right side. See pictures here: https://plus.google.com/photos/10028...COqb-sDlnvbwTg

Even though it started peeling after the 12 month warranty period, I feel this is an issue you should keep a close eye on over the coming months.. Good luck.

After emailing Bakflip's warranty department they responded saying they will replace my Bakflip VP even though it's well past the warranty period. Can't beat that!