I have my F350 on order and looking at the rolling bed covers. Do any of you have issues with them in the winter time with snow and ice? I am really looking at the electric ones and don't want to have any issue with the winter time as we do a lot of hunting and use the bed constantly that time of year. I have a tri-fold on my F150 and I am happy with that style, but eventually I want to get a 5th wheel and don't want there to be clearance issues, so I am looking at the rolling style. I am also debating about getting the styles that have the T-slots built in to add racks above. Anyone have experience with those?

 

I have experience with two:
Retrax - This was a really nice cover. It is very secure. I didn't like having to use a key to unlock it but I see they are coming out with one that'll work with the truck locking. The only down side of retrax is it takes up bed space. In my truck it was just high enough to store three milk crates of "stuff" under there.
Truxedo - I went with this cover next because I wanted my bed space back. Sadly, this thing fell apart just a few months past the warranty date. It just doesn't hold up. The hinges come apart and the cover separates from the aluminum. What's even worse is when I called in for support they said I was out of warranty and they don't make parts for it and then hung up the phone without another word.

In either case, I doubt you'd want to have a bunch of snow and/or ice sitting on top to roll them up.

I'm going to go with the BAK roll up cover next. They offer a five year warranty and it's a little cheaper than the Truxedo and much cheaper than the Retrax.

 

Please don't believe that BAK has any kind of warranty. Mine was assembled wrong from the factory, the dealer fought with them for 6 months. When they finally sent a replacement they made it clear that there would be no more warranty left. The second had major defects straight from the box, Bak's reply to bad.

 

Well that's not bringing on a warm fuzzy feeling. Thanks a lot!

 

I have had both soft roll covers and hard cover. Hard cover constantly leaked. Soft cover on both my trucks now. Never any water issues.
Truxedo is what I use.

 

My '07 Flareside (has tie downs along sides seated in silicone, good screws too) had a Truxedo Lo Pro QT soft roll up when I bought it in 2009, looked great, worked great ... but I got worried about snow loads as it was coming on to winter. I took it off in the fall, rolled it up, it's stored now in the basement .... I bought a "Undercover" hard cover (#2090), and it works great, ... but now I have a carport and so I do think about putting the Truxedo Lo Pro QT back on the truck ... but I talk myself out of it soon enough. I've carried furniture pieces, ladders shelving, old Singer treddle S-M, ... and even a whole drop in bed liner tied on top of the Undercover, (with padding, I also have 6 rope loops to use on the tie down ends at the bed side hook). I've walked on it too. I did get a scratch on it once from a shelving unit, but light sanding and another coat of wipe on dressing eased that "pain". It has it's own two latches that can lock. I can unhook the two gas cylinder lifts, pull two clips at front, and wife and I can hang it on a pair of wall hooks 32" apart, it weighs 54 pounds with cylinders. As it is, on the truck, I can carry 2 or 3 loaded blue plastic trash cans to the dumpster with the cover raised (just limit speed for that short distance), then lay the cans down and lower the cover, latch, and go on wherever.

I never saw signs of leakage with the Truxedo ... but this Undercover will never leak either as it extends over the sides and tailgate and turns down, and the front has a flex seal that extends between the cab back / bed front. I don't see the Undercover rotting or tearing either.

I never had the flip type hard cover that folds up and has hinges.



Below is the Truxedo QT

It used Velcro along the sides on aluminum extrusions that clamped to the bed ... but it rolled up, and the tailgate had to be opened to open it. Once rolled up, it had straps to keep it rolled up and a slider to remove it totally from the bed.