I am thinking about adding a GM folding tonneau cover to my truck when I pick it up in a couple weeks. I live in Michigan, I like to keep the cover on the bed, but I constantly need to use the bed for hauling. And whenever I took the soft cover off the old one in tthe winter time, I had to warm the cover up before it fit properly. Anyone use the folding cover? Any opinions would be greatly appriceated.


Thanks


-Burge

The GM cover is made by Fold-A-Cover. I installed a Fold-A-Cover LS for my buddy. He likes the cover a lot. He's had it for over a year now and it looks great. Works great for hauling things and you can remove the whole thing in a couple minutes.

i got one from foldacover.com direct for about 600 shipped. i love it,had to retighten the rails yesterday. geuss i did not get them tight enough first time. it kept everything dry for about 2,000 miles in snow and rain at christmas

I have one - works great and looks good. My only complaint would be that it gets kinda hot to touch in the summer sun. I'll be curious as to how long the rubber seals between the panels will last. Other than that, it seems to be very well made. I bought mine from the dealer with the truck and so its covered under the 5 year ext wtty.


BTW, it does not leak any water into the bed - even when I wash the truck.

I know the soft covers are a PITA to snap when cold, but have you looked at the covers from Access or Truxedo? I have an Access cover, and I love it. Soft cover, but is flat, uses no snaps. Fellow Michigander here and on my second winter with it, it performs flawlessly. Still works like new, and when (if) it wears out, I'll get another.





Mike

I put a fold a cover on my 2004 longbed, so far I like it and I can still pull the 5th wheel,I had a snap cover on my old truck and in the cold weather it was a bear to snap. I'll attach a pic of the truck

I got my folding cover as a dealer installed factory option on my 04 longbox. Had a problem with bending the keys at -40 but fold a cover sent new cylinders ( which appear to have a stronger key ) right away at no cost. The dealer ordered parts from GM as well but is still waiting for his parts. I got the parts directly from fold a cover, the dealer did all the install work. love the cover, considered a roll type but it looked like a real pain to remove come fifth wheel season.

I like my fold-a-cover. The only negative I have is the folded-up cover blocks the view of the 5th wheel hitch, and it's pretty hard to hitch up without being able to see it. I can prop up the folded cover with a appropriately-sized 2x4 and see the hitch head under it, but it's a real pain and I'd probably try a different cover if I had it to do over. With a taller hitch or a shorter cab this might not be a problem. Other that this one issue, I think it's a great cover.

http://www.torzatop.com/torzatop.htm

Take a look at this cover. It is a soft cover but I've had mine for almost a year now and love it. It folds into 3 large sections and clamps under the rail. It installs in 2 minutes just like it says. I looked at the foldacover, but settled on this one because quite often I'm alone when I take it off to use the bed.

I have had the Access Roll-up cover on since the spring of '01 and it has performed very well. Works great and you don't lose much area up front of from the side rails, maybe a couple of inches. We live in the snow belt getting about 175 inches a year and I've had no trouble with sagging, etc. The entire system comes off in about 5 min, but takes about 15 minutes to completely re-install all the rails again. It does not leak water either.

I have had the Access cover for 2 years now, (and sell them for $450). They are the best all around roll up cover. They are strong enough to walk on. Which means, if you wanted to load something on top of one (as long as there isn't anything that might penetrate the top [ie sharp objects]), you could do so. It's easy to open and close whether it's hot or cold out. I open and close mine at least once to twice a day, and it's still holding up.


I wanted a paint matched hard top cover (because they look so nice), but realized that I use the bed too much for such a thing. I went with the Access cover after a suggestion, and have loved it ever since. Now I am a dealer. I also think my truck looks nice with this usable top on it.

I would love to see some pics of a dealer ordered cover because when I order mine I might want one! I'm just a little werry that it could eventualy hold water against the truck paint on the bed rails and cause rust over time. Maybe somebody could put my fears to rest about that? Please post pics, I am very intrested! Thanks!Edited by: TheMNkid

Check the Access cover out here --


http://www.tpcarguy.com/IBS/SimpleCat/Shelf/ASP/Hierarchy/0104.html

I have an Extang XT roll-up cover. It looks great works great, and installed in 20 minutes. Best of all bought it for $278. on line delivered. I did a fair amount of research before I bought and I'm happy about the results. No leaks even in the car wash.

Other than Wayne's problem are there any other complaints or concerns about the Fold a Cover. I have a crew cab and can't see my gooseneck hitch anyway. I need the cover to keep my luggage safe and dry on my next cross country trip. One more thing what are you guys using to seal the tailgate?


Thanks for the Helphttp://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Big Smile.gif

I'm not sure what you mean by 'seal the tailgate', so this might not be answering your question. The fold-a-cover comes with a plastic strip that sticks on to the top of the tailgate, the full width, and hooks under the rear of the cover. So when the rear panel of the cover is down, the tailgate can't be opened. The plastic strip and adhesive look robust enough to provide reasonable security. That said, I don't have much experience using it because I'm using a 5th-wheel tailgate and it isn't tall enough for this latching mechanism to work unless I modify it. When I want to open the cover I just reach in and push on the locking bar to release the latches. Not very good security, but I don't have to mess with the key, either.

You mentioned keeping things dry. My experience with this is that usually no water gets in, but if the rain is really heavy a small amount will get in right at the sides. What do I mean by a small amount? Maybe half a cup, total. But I also mean really heavy rain.

I installed my GM cover right after I bought the truck Nov 2002. It looks similar to the Fold-A-Cover <font color="blue">(http://www.fold-a-cover.com/index.html)</font>

The rear lock on mine locks on the tailgate. In JCWhitney, I've seen the same cover (but I'm pretty sure that mine is called Advance Folding Cover) and it looked like it had been redesigned it to lock on each side in the rear.
<font color="blue">(http://truck-bed-covers.com/Advance_hard_tonneau_covers.htm)</font>


I have 2 complaints on mine:
1) in the summer, the folding parts stick to the seal so well that it takes a lot of effort to "unstick" them and fold them up
2) if my truck isn't sitting level, since the rear lock/unlock mechanism hooks to the tailgate, it can be difficult to unlock and worse to lock (if it's not sitting level).

I have a concern with mine and that is that the track that mounts along the top of the sides is plastic and my concern is how strong they are ... I can see that maybe someday I might either drop something on them (with the cover off) and they would get damaged, or lift something over the side and damage them. So far, haven't had this misfortune, it's just that when I installed them, I figured they should have been made out of aluminum.

Otherwise, it works good and seals well. It's not waterproof, but I would call it weather tite.
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Approve.gif

re: rear seal ... on mine, there is a hollow rubber tube that is stuck to the bottom of the rear cover that "squishes" against the top of the tailgate.

Don't know how much weight the top will handle but I carry a broom along to sweep off excess snow.

At work, I've had a lot of comments & questions & inquiries about it until they found out how much it cost. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Dead.gif

Hope this helps,
Bill Edited by: KansasBill

Thanks guys for the feedback. I ordered one over the weekend, it will be here on Thursday! The $500.00 price tag was hard to take, but it will be nice to lock up the bed.

Are any of you guys using the Pop Lock for the tailgate. I installed my fold a cover today and the plastic tailgate lock that came with it is pretty "cheesie"!!! Cabela's has them for $29.00. What do you guys think????http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Disapprove.gif

Are any of you guys using the Pop Lock for the tailgate.
I have a Pop-n-Lock along with the lock on my Retrax Rolltop.. They both work great. Keeps the bed secured and dry. The Pop-n-Lock is also nice when you have a bed cover since it's not easy to pull on the tailgate to make sure it's latched (these tailgates have been known to drop open when going down the road). The only problem I've had is that the Pon-n-Lock will freeze up if it gets wet… So I carry a little bottle of like deicer in case it freezes.

http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/smileys/Geek.gif Edited by: jbplock

I'm not sure what you mean by 'seal the tailgate', so this might not be answering your question. The fold-a-cover comes with a plastic strip that sticks on to the top of the tailgate, the full width, and hooks under the rear of the cover. So when the rear panel of the cover is down, the tailgate can't be opened. The plastic strip and adhesive look robust enough to provide reasonable security. That said, I don't have much experience using it because I'm using a 5th-wheel tailgate and it isn't tall enough for this latching mechanism to work unless I modify it. When I want to open the cover I just reach in and push on the locking bar to release the latches. Not very good security, but I don't have to mess with the key, either.

You mentioned keeping things dry. My experience with this is that usually no water gets in, but if the rain is really heavy a small amount will get in right at the sides. What do I mean by a small amount? Maybe half a cup, total. But I also mean really heavy rain.


Does the tailgate locking strip glue to the plastic edge protector on the tailgate - or do you have to remove the edge protector? This setup sounds a little bit flimsy - but maybe I'm missing something?


Cracker

Does the tailgate locking strip glue to the plastic edge protector on the tailgate - or do you have to remove the edge protector?* This setup sounds a little bit flimsy - but maybe I'm missing something?


Cracker


*

It goes onto the edge protector. It's self-stick, but sticks really well. I imagine that somebody who wants to get in bad enought could do so, but I think it will stop somebody who's not willing to damage something to get in. I didn't have any motivation to test how hard it was to rip my way in :-)

Wayne:


It sounds to me like this is the cover I'm looking for! One of the advantages of not having any windows (---like on a cap) is that someone has to "imagine" what might be hidden - and it may not be worth the risk! I'm still trying to figure out a way to raise it off of my bedrails about 4" or so to give me more cargo room. I like the idea of being able to flip the back panel open to load and cart groceries and the like. I would want to put a removal cargo net or bulkhead right where the rear panel hinges.


Cracker

Anybody try E-Bay? I bought a folding cover made by Advance Cover Corporation, for $370 it was a second, had two dents on the underside, looked like a towmotor or pallet jack did the damage. No big deal the top looks fine. (shipping cost $85) I had an Extang snap on cover before and it was a real pita in the winter. I run my truck through a no touch high pressure carwash once a week and there is very little water that gets in the bed.

I got the Folding Cover from GM. I dentical and actually made by Fold-a-Cover.


Nice unit. Pretty easy to install too. A bit pricy but works nice.


IMHO all covers have bad side, it's just a matter of which one has the "least" bad sides for your needs.

I got the Folding Cover from GM. I dentical and actually made by Fold-a-Cover.


Nice unit. Pretty easy to install too. A bit pricy but works nice.


IMHO all covers have bad side, it's just a matter of which one has the "least" bad sides for your needs.
I'm curious as to how the rear part of your cover locks. Is it to a bracket on the tailgate (like mine) ... or are there rods that hook under the top rail on either side?
I'm going to be adding a 5'er tailgate soon and will want to change how mine locks.
Thanks,
Bill

Mine has a pair of slider bars at the front and at the back, that latch into hole at either end of the bed rails. The tail gate gets "locked" by the folding cover "capturing" a plastic strip with a lip on it.


Looks just like:


http://www.fold-a-cover.com/images/slam.jpg


http://www.truckaddons.com/images02/exterior/foldacover/foldacover1.gifEdited by: Xsta Z 28

Xsta Z 28,

Thanks for the info. I'll contact the company to see if parts are available to retrofit mine to the newer style of locking. Mine has a short "leg" or "tang" at the bottom of the lock that engages with a bracket that is mounted at the front to the front bed rail and at the back with a bracket that mounts on the tailgate.

Thanks again,
Bill

No problem. Glad the info helped. I had to get a new latch thing, for mine which I accidentally broke. Shipped it out real quick!

I contacted Fold-A-Cover regarding upgrading my cover and got this response ...

"We do not suggest using a fifth wheel tailgate, or driving with out a
tailgate when the cover is in the flat position. The air that wraps around
the truck would charge into the box area.

Our LS-Series locking system would not work very well with your cover. The
rods go on an angle, and it would be very difficult to find that angle. Let
me know if you have any other questions.

So, back to the drawing board!

Bill