I have the Extang BlacMax. It has snaps, but they can be reversed depending on the time of year and temperature, so they'll work fairly easy in cold weather. And the bows have two height adjustments to accomodate cold weather. when it's hot, bows high, cold, bows low. Works well enough.

 

Here is a link to the sales video. It demonstrates its use pretty well. You can even set the front in a "lock" position if you want. When it's in that position a person would have to roll the cover all the way to the front to "unlock" the front panel. That gives you extra security when you need it. So someone can't come along and just open the front portion.

 

http://www.truxedo.com/maingallery/video/trx-deuce.wmv

 

Looks pretty nice. I'd still like a split hard cover though I will consider it. Thanks Kellie!

 

I've been looking at one of these for a little bit now and when I was telling a co-worker about it yesterday he almost puked with disgustment. He said I'd be lucky if it opened 2 feet and that it would be too flimsy to haul anything like a large box with it cracked open. I would think if you properly bungeed it down so it isn't flapping you could haul larger items without taking it off, IDK. I'd enjoy your input seeing you've had a few.

 

I'd still like the tri or bi-fold hard lockable. Case in point, I had to pick up a TV from a store the other day and had to peel back part of my roll up cover to get it in the bed. I was worried that because it was so cold, the cover wouldnt snap back on(luckly it did)

I didnt need to take the whole thing off, just a portion to fit the TV box in the bed. Still, I was worried that the unsnapped portion was going to flap in the wind and possibly do damage to the side of the bed or the TV box. A Bi or Tri- fold would have been great for this!

 

A significant portion of the damage to the one I had resulted from flapping in the wind on a cold day- we were hauling something big, it was cold, and we got lazy. Drove maybe 5 miles with the cover flapping, and it got a lot of cracks in the vinyl. I'm not sure if rolling it up would have been worse, though, since that would have forced the whole thing to flex more.

 

Like I said I have 3 of these on 3 different trucks of mine and love them all. The oldest one I have is 3 years old on my wifes 2004 S-D, when opened up there is approx 6 feet of clearance at the tailgate and is hinged at the cab end of the box. You can not walk or stand up straight when its open but it sure makes accessing items that are up in the front of the box possible and easy. It has snaps also, so if your gonna haul something that will not fit under the cover in the closed position, I would recommend unsnaping it and rolling it up or removing it completly. It has a "frame" that is attached to the front half of the box sides and the "tarp" part has a hinged "frame" that once the 2 gas lifting shocks are removed from box frame (unsnap with your hand) you can raise up 90* and lift the tarp and frame assy out of the hinged frame to completely remove it. Now you have your box back to haul anything you could have hauled without the tonneau cover. As far as damaging the tarp by wind whiping, I have never let mine whip in the wind, I'm sure it would destroy it in short order. If I am hauling something that only requires the tarp be removed half way I just make sure the loose part of the tarp is held down some how ( put item your hauling on the coner of the tarp to prevent from whiping, etc...) I have always refered to the manufactures instructions and have been very happy with the function and quality of these tonneau covers. I will buy another one when it comes time to replace one or install one on my 91 ranger. -Ed

 

Like i said i do have the Factory ford bed lid, and i've had to shoot the latches with WD40 a couple times cause they were hangin up, which is normal. The main issue that i think most owners would have a problem with, is that the finish is not maintenece free. About every 1-2 months i have to treat it with Mothers Back to Black, to keep the plastic from fading. It looks awesome still, but i highly doubt most guys with the cover will want to take care of it. It's actually pretty easy to take off in my opinion. I fold it in half and and can lift it off by myself. It's a little struggle but i can do it without damaging my truck, but i'm a pretty tall and strong guy, so a shorter smalleguy would have some trouble removing it himself.

 

Thanks for the responce 77460f150. I think I'll be getting a hinged extang for sure at tax time.

 

I installed a Pace Edwards Jack Rabbit Roll Top Cover on my F250. Its kinda of high in price, but really like it. Low profile, rolls back into canister, and can be locked. I've owned a snap on vinyl cover and a hard plastic trifold in the past, but prefer the Jack Rabbit. Be cautious if ordering online, dealer I ordered from didn't include the rails so I had to pay extra. Contacted Pace Edwards and they stated that rails should have been included. Expensive lesson, disappointed that Pace Edwards wouldn't take action against seller. Ronny
-------------------------------------------------
1998 Ford Explorer
2002 Ford Ranger
2002 Ford F250 Power Stroke