Tonneau covers, motorcycles and quad bikes
There's no question that when it comes to a weekend of fun, throwing your dirt-bike, motorcycle or quad in the back of your truck and heading up to the trails is just the best! What can totally ruin a weekend of fun like this is to return from agreat 2 ride, only to find that you ramps, tent and gear are no longer in the back of your truck. The problem with tonneau covers is that if they are the kind that can keep your cargo secure, i.e., hard, they generally need to be removed in order to get your bikes and gear in the back of your truck. As such, you run the risk of having your stuff stolen, unless you spend the time to load the inside of your truck with all your gear and then unload it again and eedless to say, none of us want to do that!
This age old problem was finally laid to rest w bed ith the advent of the patented BakFlip feature that allows you full access to your truck without removing your tonneau cover. The BakFlip does 3 cool things when it comes to dirtbiking which make it the absolute unrivaled king of tonneau covers for offroading:
1. It allows you to haul your bikes without removing your tonneau cover.
2. The BakFlip protects your cab from being damaged by pulling your bike into the back of your truck. You cannot imagine how many rear windows have been blown out buy doing just that.
3. You get to unload your bikes and lock up your gear under a solid, water tight, secure tonneau cover.
Tonneau covers for the seasons
Depending on where you are from, your reason for owning a tonneau cover may vary considerably. I know that where I live in LA, it rarely ever snows and only occasionally rains, so the elements are not as important for me as perhaps someone living in Michigan. What I do love about the BAK tonneau covers though, is their ability to have such wide appeal to so many different people, regardless of where they might live. The fact that they do so well in freezing conditions has seen the BakFlip become the most popular hard tonneau cover in Canada, and the reason it sells so well in the Northwest is because of how well BakFlip tonneau covers fare in the rain.
BAK Tonneau Cover in snow
Some things that should be considered if you live in a climate that gets a lot of snow is how much weight your tonneau cover can handle, how well it operates in icy conditions and how well it keeps water and moisture out of the bed. If your tonneau cover is more a tarp than a tonneau, then it will likely do well in rain, but won't handle much weight, so be careful of heavy snow falls. Also, even if you have a soft tonneau that is designed to carry weight, note that you'll still have to roll it up which can be tough if a ton of snow is on it, It's better to err on the side of a hard tilting cover or better yet, a hard folding tonneau cover like the BakFlip, that'll still give you access to your bed and offer the security you need from a hard tonneau cover.
For those of you that live where snow is rare, you best be aware that certain tonneau covers can get super hot in the summer. be careful if you're going with an aluminum tonneau cover, because in the middle of summer they can get really hot, almost to the point that you can't touch them. A good fiberglass folding tonneau like the BakFlip F1 would probably be a great option for you.
If you live in an area that is very leafy, be careful of retractable tonneau covers in the fall. You don't want a ton of leaves getting into the canister which will prevent your cover from retracting and perhaps even draining water.
For a real education on what tonneau cover would suit your needs best, from security, to climate, to style, to performance, get hold of a BAK Industries tonneau cover expert at (818) 365-9000 or visit www.bakliner.com.
One thing I am excited for is Spring. It's my favorite season in LA, and when I get to thinking about my BakFlip and spring, I think of how cool it is to be able to kick back at the beach or a park and tailgate. One the coolest thing a BakFlip cover can do is turn into a tailgating bench.
BakFlip used as a tailgating bench
BakFlip for Chevy Avalanche is here!
The new BakFlip tonneau cover is now available for the Chevy Avalanche and if I may say so myself, is a real step up from the OEM version of the Avalanche tonneau cover. For one, it costs less than half the amount. For two it will never fade. For three you get far better function out of your truck by being able to operate it easier than the OE cover, by getting full access to your truck when you need it and by not having to deal with loose panels on your truck. The BakFlip won't fade like that OEM part either.
Take a look at the BakFlip for the Chevy Avalanche in this video and let me know what you think. I love it, because it not only demonstrates how cool the cover is, but shows that BAk Industries is more forward thinking than OEM's and honestly, in my opinion, smokes them on the design.
Customizing Tonneau Covers
I get a ton of calls every week from folks looking for custom made tonneau covers for all sorts of reasons. Whether it be a fire department looking for a custom retractable tonneau cover to fit on a new fire truck or a guy with a 1972 International Scout who simply can't find a tonno to fit his truck. Despite it not being consistent with our business model at BAK Industries to produce custom tonneau covers, I always love the challenge of creating a brand new product and seeing it come to fruition and working well as a solution. No matter what the requirement, I always find myself attracted to helping people out with custom tonneau covers.
Custom BakFlip on an International Scout
Some of the more common custom truck bed covers we produce are for people with toolboxes on the backs of their pickup trucks. For starters, toolboxes, depending on the brand, are always different in size. Some are 18 inches wide, some are 22 inches wide etc. And so, to have a tonneau cover fit perfectly on a truck behind a toolbox requires a custom approach. The distance the toolbox is mounted from the cab wall of the pickup truck is also always a factor in producing a custom tonno. The great news, which most folks don't really realize is that BAK Industries is a company that is fully vertical, with all the tools, machinery, manpower, design skills and in-house capability to produce pretty much any custom tonneau cover very very quickly. Let's say you need a BakFlip tonneau cover to fit behind the toolbox installed in a 2010 Chevy Silverado, we would simply need the distance between the back of the toolbox and the closed tailgate and we can turn a custom tonneau cover out for your set-up within 24 hours! We can do the same with a custom retractable tonneau cover as well.
Custom RollBak Tonneau Coverwith toolbox
Take a look at this Utility-BAK tonneau cover for utility truck that we made. Do you have a Utility truck that needs a fully accessible tonneau cover that locks?
If you have a need for a custom tonneau cover, let us know what it is and let us try to help you. You may be surprised at what we can do for you. Just post me a message or email me at julian@bakliner.com