best retractable tonneau?
Thread Starter
|
Senior User
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 493
Likes: 0
best retractable tonneau?
looking to buy the best all around retractable tonneau cover. picking from the pace edwards bedlocker, retrax, truck covers, rollnlock. i would prefer a small canister and the best durability. what do you guys think
Post Fiend
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 10,626
Likes: 7
From: Plano TX and Brentwood TN
Trending Topics
Post Fiend
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 6,245
Likes: 1
From: IL, USA
FTE Stories
Ford Trucks for Ford Truck Enthusiasts
10 Things Every Truck Owner NEEDS (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Most Expensive Ford Trucks Ever Sold on Bring a Trailer
Joe Kucinski
2027 Ford Super Duty Buyer's Guide (Every Model, Engine, & Package)
Brett Foote
Top 10 Ford Truck Tragedies
Joe Kucinski
AEV FXL Super Duty - the Super Duty Raptor Ford Doesn't Make
Brett Foote
Lobo Vs Lobo: Proof the F-150 Lobo Should Be Even Lower!
Michael S. Palmer
Ford's 2001 Explorer Sportsman Concept Looks For a New Home
Verdad Gallardo
10 Best Ford Truck Engines We Miss the Most!
Joe Kucinski
Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 1,053
Likes: 11
From: Central NJ
I have had a pace jack rabbit with tool box for 3 years on my 04 sd 4x4 cc lariat work truck and it worked great. I wanted to put one on my new 08 and they stoped making them. Glad to hear of the Retrax.
Post Fiend
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 10,007
Likes: 4
From: Central Florida
I prefer Pace Edwards as well. The retrax I have seen in person has some kind of glossy vinyl covering and I don't like the way it looks. I have had and sold both pace edwards and roll-n-loc, roll-n-loc is a good cover, but it's a little finicky. If the rails aren't exactly aligned and the bed in the same orientation as installed the cover will try to hang up. My record time for getting the RNL perfect is 6 hours, install, run the cover back and forth a few times and loosen/tighten the clamps until it rolls smoothly. Then about 8 months later repeating the process and it's good for years.
The pace Edwards I have installed and owned, I set up in 2 hours and I haven't had to tweak my bedlocker since I installed it. I believe their tolerances are much looser, plus the not touching it is a very cool feature. My bed locker is one of the old ones that can pulse ground to lock the doors and uses a ground pulse to move the cover. These are nice features, when my alarm died I used my PE fob for keyless entry and now, I have it wired into my new alarm fob. When I lock my doors with the fob, the cover closes and when I use the trunk pop on my fob, the cover opens.
The pace Edwards I have installed and owned, I set up in 2 hours and I haven't had to tweak my bedlocker since I installed it. I believe their tolerances are much looser, plus the not touching it is a very cool feature. My bed locker is one of the old ones that can pulse ground to lock the doors and uses a ground pulse to move the cover. These are nice features, when my alarm died I used my PE fob for keyless entry and now, I have it wired into my new alarm fob. When I lock my doors with the fob, the cover closes and when I use the trunk pop on my fob, the cover opens.
Post Fiend
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 10,007
Likes: 4
From: Central Florida
I never sold on. As much as I like Pace Edwards, I wouldn't do another vinyl covered retractable. I've had two (first gen PE and a RNL), I've had the vinyl fail on both and had to replace the RNL cover once. The staples used to hold it down into the aluminum substrate are ferrous and rust eventually. The Full Metal Jack Rabit is the way to go if you want a manual PE.
I don't have an 08 catalog, but they used to make a very nice integrated unit called a tool top. The space in the tool box is somewhat small, but I liked it better than the way RNL added their cover to an existing tool box. If it's still the same, you can have any of them custom built two work with an existing tool box. It was something like a $20 engineering fee and a freight charge for the few I had done.
I don't have an 08 catalog, but they used to make a very nice integrated unit called a tool top. The space in the tool box is somewhat small, but I liked it better than the way RNL added their cover to an existing tool box. If it's still the same, you can have any of them custom built two work with an existing tool box. It was something like a $20 engineering fee and a freight charge for the few I had done.
Post Fiend
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 10,007
Likes: 4
From: Central Florida