When I took delivery of my Lariat last summer I started looking for a bed cover. After reading many threads I decided that the bakflip HD would best fit my needs. I ended up buying it from the same dealer that SteveVFX4 is aggressively promoting. I thought it was odd that Steve always wanted members to contact him by email rather than just posting the dealers contact info. After I purchased the cover I understood why. The last six months have really been a learning experience & I now know more than I ever wanted to about the bakflip design, factory & dealer. This is a long read, but if you are considering a bakflip or placing an order with the same dealer you might find this helpful.

Ordering the cover
I contacted the dealer & placed an order for a bakflip HD to fit a 5.5’ bed. The dealer does not stock the covers and has them drop shipped directly from the bakflip factory. After receiving the tracking number, I went on line to determine the delivery date. While looking at the tracking info I noticed that it was for two boxes. I recalled that covers for the 5.5’ bed ship in one box & the covers for 6.5’ beds ships in two. I called the dealer & confirmed that he had indeed ordered the wrong cover. We agreed that I would refuse delivery of the first one so that it would be returned to the factory. In parallel he would order the correct cover. On the appointed delivery day, my wife stayed home so she could explain the situation to the UPS driver. I arrived home that evening to find that UPS never delivered the cover. However the web site indicated that it had been delivered. It was at this point I discovered that the wrong size cover had been shipped to the wrong address! I called the dealer & he confirmed that he had shipped it to the wrong address. He asked me to check at the incorrect address to see if it was there. I found it at a house a block away. He also confirmed that the second cover was going to the same incorrect address. Frustration was getting pretty high at this point so I called UPS to make sure the second cover did not end up at the same place. UPS said they could not change the delivery address until after the first delivery attempt. So the second cover got delivered to the wrong address also. Since no one was at home at the incorrect address UPS did not leave it. After a couple of more days the 5.5’ cover finally arrived at my house.

Unpacking
The first thing I noticed was that two holes had been punched through the shipping box. After photographing the box I carefully unpacked it & inspected all of the contents. There were a lot of aluminum burrs & chips on the cover panels & rubber hinges. Both rails were bent as shown below.




One of the rubber hinges had multiple cuts marks as shown below:




Since this is a high stress area, I wanted no part of this cover. I called the dealer & he acknowledged that the factory has had some quality issues. He was concerned that the replacement cover may have other unacceptable issues. He suggested that I was a perfectionist & should personally take the cover back to the factory so I could inspect the replacement cover. If expecting the right cover delivered to the right address, free of obvious damage & defects is a perfectionist, then guilty as charged. Although the factory is a four hour round trip from my home, it was becoming clear that this may be the most expedient solution.

Factory visit 1
I contacted the factory to setup an appointment. I specifically asked that the replacement cover not be boxed up, so I could inspect it. Unfortunately the owner, Julian Maimin was going on vacation & was unable to meet with me. So I met with Jessie from customer service. The cover was already boxed up so we opened and inspected it in the assembly area. As I inspected the replacement cover it became clear why these covers arrive with so many burrs & aluminum chips. The chips that are produced during the cutting of the extrusions are tracked throughout the assembly area. This coupled with the black finish in low light; it is easy to see why the covers arrive with many burrs, chips & the associated scratches.

As I inspected the cover I noticed something embedded in the paint. I pointed it out & was told that they are all like this. We boxed the cover back up & I headed toward the freeway for the 2 hour trip home.

Wrong cover
After installing the cover I put the shipping box out by the trash can to be cut up. A couple of weeks later I got around to disposing of the box. As I was cutting up the box I noticed a label on one end with a part number. The number was not the same as I recalled for my truck. So I checked & sure enough it was the wrong number. The HD cover I had returned had been replaced with the cheaper G2 model. I contacted Julian when he returned form vacation & explained the situation. He was cooperative and said that if I would bring the cover back he would replace it with the OE cover that they provide to Ford dealers. I reluctantly agreed to use another day of vacation & make another 4 hour round trip to the factory.

Factory visit 2
I met Julian at the factory & found him to be sincere & cooperative. While the G2 cover was removed from the truck, Julian showed me around the factory & explained that the foam densities and thicknesses specified on web sites are not necessarily what a customer would receive. Apparently the design of the bakflip cover is evolving and the model designations do not change when the construction changes. He said that the OE cover being installed on my truck incorporated the latest product improvements. They included new rail extrusions with front & rear drains, improved seal design that allowed the tailgate to be closed without opening the cover & molded trim pieces that covered the raw cut edges around the release cables.

When the installation was completed I asked why the rear drain lines emptied into the bed as shown below.




He said it was only because I have a factory bed extender. In other cases the lines exit the bed through existing holes. The other observation was a bump in the plastic bed side caps. I asked if it was from the clamps holding the rails & was assured that was not the case.

Leaks
A couple of weeks after the OE installation it was time to wash the truck. After washing it with just a garden hose (no pressure washer) I opened the cover I found the bed to be soaked. I expected a small amount of water to come from the rear rail drains, but not this much. To determine the source of the massive leaks, I checked from inside the bed with a flashlight while my wife gently sprayed the cover from a ladder to simulate a light rain. There were a few leaks along the rubber hinges, but by far most of the water was coming in between the tailgate cap & the new rear seal.

Upon closer examination I found the new rear “D” seal was not even touching the tailgate as shown in the picture below.



This allowed water to pour into the bed. I notified Julian of the issue & he said that he would send me a new improved rear seal that would solve the leakage.

I also discovered that the bumps on the plastic bed side caps were indeed caused by tightening the rail clamps. When the clamps were loosened the bump would dissipate. The root cause is a gap between the plastic bed cap & the bed sheet metal flange. When the clamps squeeze this gap it pushes the plastic cap toward the outside of the truck. This causes the pin that is molded on the bottom side of the plastic cap to become bent which results in a bump on the cap’s surface. To resolve this I placed a .030 mylar shim between the plastic cap & the sheet metal flange so the rail clamp would squeeze a solid stack-up without an air gap.

New wiper seal
The new seal arrived in a coil. As it was uncoiled the wiper seal became very wavy. I hoped that after installation that it would relax and the wipers would straighten out. After a few weeks the wipers were still distorted as shown in the picture below.




It was doubtful that this seal would actually keep water out, so I tested it with the flashlight approach again. The new seal allowed water to pour into the bed just as did the previous “D” seal. When I notified Julian that the new seal still leaked, he suggested that I return to the factory and they would just replace the cover with the newly released F1 cover.

Factory visit 3
The OE cover was removed from the truck so the F1 could be installed. Apparently the rails are different between the OE & F1 so Julian decided not to install the F1, and try to fix the issues with the OE. The wiper seal was replaced, but it still did not make good contact with the tailgate. The lack of contact was attributed to the rails being tilted. Apparently BAK uses the same aluminum extrusion for the rails regardless of truck make. To compensate for the angle of the plastic caps used on the F150 beds, plastic shims are glued to the back of the rails so they will sit straight. Even with the shims the rails were tilted which caused the cover to sit high as shown below.




Extra shims were added at the back of the rails to remove the tilt as shown in the picture below.



I would have preferred that the extra shims were added the full length of the rails, because just adding them at the back introduces a twist along the length of the rails. The extra shim also produces a air gap between the rail & bed cap. When the clamps are tightened the bed flange sheet metal gets bent to close the gap. Once the rails were shimmed, the back lip of the cover sat down against the tailgate cap. This provided more compression on the wiper seal. The down side to this design over the original rear seal design is that it produces direct contact between the painted cover extrusion & the tailgate cap. This will result in chafing of both surfaces. The prior seal design separated both surfaces with rubber preventing damage to both surfaces.

When the side seals were trimmed with a razor blade, they inadvertently cut into the plastic tailgate cap.




I also found a dent on the underside of the cover that was not there previously. Remember the burrs? It appears that one of the burrs left on the end of an extrusion gouged the rubber side seal when the cover was folded up as shown in the picture below.




Hopeful that all of the issues had been resolved I headed out for my 2 hour ride home. When I stopped for gas I opened the cover & noticed that the plastic spacer under the left hand-**** was missing which caused significant twisting of the rail in that area. I turned around & went back to the factory. The person that had reinstalled the cover told me that the spacer had fallen off & he threw it away. About half an hour later he finished the install he was working on, retrieved the part from the trash & reinstalled it without glue. Once again I headed home hoping all was resolved.

First rain
After the first rain I found that the bed still was getting soaked. So as before, I checked it using the flashlight technique. You guessed it, still major leaking between the wiper seal & the tailgate. After losing all hope for the wiper seal design I contacted Julian one more time & asked if he would send me the older style rear seal that was used on the HD models. This has a large surface contact & overlap with the tailgate. Since I did not want to make another 4 hour trip to the factory, I offered to install the seal myself. After four weeks I still had not received a response so I sent a follow-up email. It has now been 10 weeks with no response. I can only conclude that the old style seal is incompatible with the OE design & that BAK does not have a solution to the tailgate seal issue.

Conclusions
As you can imagine this has been a very educational & frustrating experience. The dealer, Julian & the staff at BAK industries are good, sincere people. The bakflip cover is a clever concept with great potential but has some challenging quality issues. For the bakflip design to move from a good idea to a mature high quality product, the following issues really need to be resolved:

1. Water must be channeled out of the bed regardless of whether the truck is going uphill, downhill or setting level. This requires rail drains at the front & rear that that do not dump into the bed. A cover that allows cargo to get wet is not really a cover.

2. The tailgate seal must accomplish two things. First it cannot allow water to pour into the bed. Especially when the truck is pointed downhill. Second it must prevent chaffing between the tailgate & cover painted surfaces.

3. Rails should fit properly with out relying on glued-on plastic shims.

4. The installation of the cover should not damage the truck. Three areas where this occurs are the deformation of the plastic bed caps, deformation of the sheet metal bed flanges & chaffing between the cover rear extrusion & tail gate cap.

5. The aluminum extrusions need to be properly deburred to prevent damage to the rubber hinges & seals.

6. Aluminum chips need to be eliminated to prevent damage to rubber parts & paint scratching.

I apologize for the long post, but I hope it is useful. If you would like more specific information on the cover or dealer just drop me an email through the forum.

 

Good post - sorry for your issues. It looks that new rear tailgate setup is a good idea in theory (ie, on a chalkboard), but not so much in reality. Not sure why they are re-engineering that area - mine works just fine!!

I would agree that the overall engineering on the Bakflip (my generation model at least) is not perfect, but I have been quite happy with mine. Holding up very well after a year... looks great... minimal water in the bed (only after major rain or a car wash). I have had to use a black sharpie pen to cover up a few scratches, but I caused them myself by a load of unruly limbs I loaded in the bed.

From this and previous posts, its obvious you put a lot of time and energy into your truck. Are you keeping the Bakflip, or moving on to another product? Either way, I hope it works out for you.

 

Good Post. Thanks for the write up describing your experience.

 

Probably one of the better product reviews I have ever read through. The writing is excellent and the pictures are also of high quality and allow the reader to see exactly what you are talking about. This review is fair to the company and shows to me that they are doing their best to try to help out, but their best just doesn't seem to be good enough. It also seems that many people would probably be satisfied with their product. If you are a perfectionist, however, you may not be fully satisfied with the product.

 

Wow - truly sorry to hear about those issues and a little surprised. I'm working with my second Bakflip and have experienced none of those problems. Neither of my covers arrived with anything that remotely resembled burs, shavings, etc. Nor were there any cuts in any of the rubber and my tailgate fit - even with a Roush spoiler is very tight.

I can vouch for BakFlip's customer service and Julian's being exceptionaly concerned about his clientele. Last October, while traveling thru west Texas, my original Bakflip was literally blown off the back of my truck while driving along at 70 mph. Now that will get your attention!

The situation was a crosswind of about 30mph hitting the truck at about a 45 degree angle. The real culprit, my speculation here, is that the star nut on the right side of the truck had, over the course of more than a year of use, vibrated off. This allowed the wind to get under the right corner of the cover and eventually lift it like a wing and rip it from the truck like a tornado takes the roof off a house.

After the incident an inspection showed neither the right or left side retaining bolts had locking washers that are supposed to be supplied with the cap. I will say it is possible the star nut had been removed at some time and not replaced, i.e. human error not prodct default, but I doubt that as my cover had never been removed from the truck after installation, butit had been folded up and down and driven cross country in the full up position with a golf cart against it. (vibration?)

When I contacted Julian they assured me they had never heard of such happening. I emailed photos of the damage. Bakflip immediately offered to send a new F1 model replacement if I would simply pay the shipping cost. I agreed.

that cover has now been on my truck since November and again has performed flawlessly. I did, in both cases, install my rails using the shims that are provided for my model, 06 Lariat. These are 3 shims per side so that each clamp location is shimmed, not just the rear as the OP did, so there is no twist introduced along the rails.

From the OP's post and others it does sound s if they may have some quality control issues, espcially in the final check/pre shipping department. I did not order thru the dealer promoted here, I purchased my original from a source I found online and obviously my 2nd direct from the factory.

I can't and would not dispute the OP post, I can only say my experience with Bakflip has been much different and I've been completely satisfied with my units. I get almot no moisture in the bed, in fact the only place water enters is a small opening where the end rail meets my spoiler. (see pic) It's about a 1/2 inch opening that I can, and eventually will plug with a simple piece of weather stripping.

My experience to date has been all positive.

 

Wow.tons of patience on your end,perhaps to much.That stinks ,especially when you mess with a guy truck.Having a few issues myself with the f1 recently (tons of alum chips and scuffs nd bent rails) I finally contacted Lauren with satisfactory resolve(a new cover).The cover was a night and day difference,almost like it came frome a nother companyShe was friendly and prompt.So far all is good but have not ran water on it yet.If you can ask them to swap out for a f1 I think you would be much happier.Getting write ups like the one you posted is the last thing a company needs.It never should have gone as far as it has.If i were to read this before i ordered mine I am certain I would have gone with my other choice which was basically decided by the flip of a coin.I will be ordering another cover for my older truck and was going to order the HD but not after your post,and don't want to go the extra $ for a f1.IMO,the bakflip concept is awsome,2nd to none.they just need to adress quality control issues and continue refining their product.Hope it all works out.BTW,excellent post.

 

I just ordered the Ford OEM one through my dealer so hopefully they've addressed the issues you had with the current version.

 

Thanks for taking the time to write this and post the pictures. I bought a Bak-Flip three months ago and ran into many of the same QC problems you did. Whoever runs this company does not understand what it takes (or how valuable it is) to build a stable brand reputation. It is like they are more focussed on quarterly profits.

The company provides grossly inaccurate specs for their product (weight). The product is relatively well-designed but built to a very shoddy standard and could use some better clamps. I do not consider this being picky. A new product should not be full of metal shavings that can damage the expensive synthetic rubber seals. It should also fit properly. The over-sized clamps they supplied did not fit my 2010 F-150 properly. When I called them they said they would have an engineer call me back. I gave them my phone number but the call never came. I figured it was easier to fix the problem myself rather than rely on a flakey company. I also had to file the burrs off the aluminum extrusion cut-ends so it would not cut through the vinyl coating on the latch release wires.

When the time comes to replace my cover I will be hoping there is a similar product made by a company that is a little more detail oriented and that can provide their potential customers with accurate weights and dimensions. I found I could not rely on info provided by Bak-Flip and their rather odd dealer network. And how hard can it be to vacuum up the manufacturing debris before packing the finished product?

 

Thank you for this report. On something used I can deal with a few problems but with a new purchase the product should be right from the start. I always thought it was strange where you had people e-mailing for where to purchase this thing. It was almost like a cult where you had to drink the kool-aid from Julian for special deals.

 

Thanks for the great writeup. You are a very, very patient man!

From what I was told there is a financial reward for a person directing potential leads to the vendor. This is nothing new or unusual and I don't have any particular problem with the practice, as long as the vendor is honest and the product a good value. This type of referral "bonus" is very common in I.T. consulting, at least in this market. I briefly dealt with the BakFlip vendor and had no issues or problems whatsoever.

I almost ordered the BakFlip but changed my mind at the last minute and bought an Undercover SE instead. This was mainly because I decided the Undercover would better fit my needs than the BakFlip and I'm very happy with the result. The bed remains bone dry even after going through a car wash. Of course I don't need to unexpectedly carry tall items in the bed so the BakFlip's main selling point was not important to me.

Good luck with getting everything squared away!

 

Whoa! Glad I did not get the BakFlip product. I was considering it, but got an Access roll up cover instead. I'm very happy with it so far.

 

I had one on my 08 f150 and it was terrible. I got the right one and it fit but it didnt work at all like they advertised. the cheap plastic latches didnt close without getting hit down hard. the back ones didnt latch unless the tailgate was down and what good is that? It only got significantly worse the longer i had it. It got so bad i just took the whole thing off and didnt look back. I recently traded my f150 for my f350 which came with a previously installed pace-edwards jackrabbit and it is so nice. I looked up prices and the 8 ft bed cover for my 350 is only about $100 more than the 6.5 ft bakflip g2. money i wish i invested to save myself a ton of aggravation and wet cargo. the g2 is a great idea but needs major material overhaul and some minor design change.

 

As with any products out there. It's very difficult to ensure that all folks will always be happy all the time. There's little doubt that the BakFlip is indeed a great product. It is well designed, well built and in the vast majority of instances, works exceedingly well. Granted, I'll be the first to say that the cover has undergone changes throughout the years, all of which have been intended continuously strive for perfection. The truth is that BAK never ever quit trying to help Mr. Pontius (who wrote this thorough review). I personally oversaw 2 of the installs, all of which were done courteously and meticulously. The truth is this: BakFlip is a tonneau cover. It is not an ornament that sits on a table in your lounge. It is not an expensive picture that hangs on a wall. It is a tonneau cover that is built to withstand daily use and provide security, overall great aesthetics and maximum protection from the elements. I't is not built for those that walk around the cover for endless periods of time inspecting it for tiny imperfections. With this said, if any of the covers we make are not up to standard, we will replace them. Mr. Pontius, I'm sure you'll at least concur that I was very patient, very courteous and very willing to help. I just reached a point eventually, that I felt that I could have delivered the queen herself and this would still have not been sufficient. I will say with certainty that whilst the BakFlip is good enough for Ford Motor Company to include as part of their branded offerings, it is not good enough for Mr. Pontius. In my deduction in dealing with you, I could have very well given you my first born and it would still not have been enough. I will say to all you forum loyalists, that I was as patient as any person could be in putting up with the **** attention to detail that caused us to replace this man's cover multiple times. There was clear confusion in terms of buying an aftermarket product vs. the OEM product we produce as well. If we had simply installed a regularly designed BakFlip (That currently works well for most of the world), we would not have run into the issues of the real seal which seems to be at the root of all of the issues Mr. pontius had. Unfortunately the new seal which he insisted on, required more R&D as was simply not ready to put out, despite our efforts. In retrospect, I should have just insisted that this was the way the BakFlip is built and if he didn't like it, should have bough a different kind of product. I have little doubt that the manufacturer of this "different kind of product" would now be writing this posting in defense of their product.

In closing I will say that I am bent on consumer satisfaction. I will stop at nothing to try and help wherever I can. This should be evident in my relentless effort to help Mr. Pontius, all to no avail.

I understand if someone is not entirely happy with a product we make. Some folks are just too difficult to satisfy 100% and that seems to be the case in this instance. The However, it can never be said that we make bad product or that we'll ever stop honoring our commitments to helping all those folks that have trusted in BAK to produce the worlds most functional cover for them.

We all have problems in business. It what makes the world turn and what keeps us all striving for better each day. Even Mercedes Benz and Rolls Royce have service departments. Nothing is ever beyond perfect. Please don't allow one overly meticulous persons account of our great product ruin your opportunity. I would only ask that you call me or anyone of my helpful staff at BAK if you have any doubt that you're not getting the best product available period!

All the best,

Julian Maimin
BAK Industries
julian@bakliner.com

 

Darrell:
I have been dealing with the public in a customer service capacity now for over 10 years. Maybe 1%-2% of the customers I have dealt with fall in to the category of "impossible to please no matter what you do". I am the original dealer who sold you your cover back in July. I did make a mistake with your address and correct model on the 1st order, which I worked diligently to correct. I also set up the 1st factory visit for you to show the factory your issues. Since then, I have not been involved.

My 1st comment on your lengthy post is that it appears that NOT all of your pics are from the same cover. I do not believe they are. I believe that you have "cherry picked" your pics to support your negative point of view from the different covers you have had.

My company sold almost 1,000 BakFlips in 2009. We only sell Bak tonneau covers because I, as the owner of tonneaucoversfortrucks.com, believe they are the best tonneau cover of all covers in their category. I work very hard for all of my customers and am dumbfounded by your dissatisfaction with the BakFlip. I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED A BAKFLIP CUSTOMER WHO WAS AS SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE AS YOU SEEM TO BE.

In my opinion, I and Bak Ind. have been more than reasonable with you. As Julian pointed out in his post the BakFlip is an after market tonneau cover that is even offered by Ford as an OEM option. I believe your expectations of the product are just not realistic. I am sure that there are many other very satisfied BakFlip owners on this forum who have already started to make positive posts about their experiences with their BakFlips.

I am not sure why you have so much time and energy to continuously keep repeating your negative comments over and over again with ever more detail, but it seems like you are just one of those customers who make a career out of being unhappy. This has been going on now for almost six months!

I will discuss your situation with Julian in the morning and try to come up with a solution that will finally satisfy you. If you truly want to be satisfied, then contact us directly and stop this obsessive compulsive need you seem to have to apply your "perfectionist" view of the world on those of us who have a more realistic way of looking at every day life

Thank you,
Morrie Eisenman

 

I've purchased a Bakflip and couldn't be more happy with it. The truck has been through numerous heavy rain storms and there is minimal to no water in the bed. I bought this cover knowing that there are no roll up are flipping covers that will keep the bed 100% dry but this one has exceeded my expectations so far.