Tonneau Covers and bedliners. What’s right for you?
Tonneau covers come in all shapes and sizes and so too do America's favorite and most commonly added truck bed accessory, the bedliner. The problem is that not all tonneau covers and bedliners seem to be a match made in heaven. So let's consider which bedliner to opt for before buying your tonneau cover. Recognizing that there are a few fundamental basics that most people require when shopping for the perfect bedliner for their pickup truck. The most popular bedliners are drop in bedliners that are made from Polyethylene plastic. They are black and can be picked up at any dealership for somewhere between $130 and $200, depending on how savvy a shopper you are. the fact is that very few features separate the most expensive drop in bedliner from the least expensive. No matter how you might try to persuade me otherwise, a drop in bedliner is simply a piece of plastic, vacuum molded to fit the shape of a pickup truck bed. Most of the drop in bedliners like these will offer no obstruction to being able to install a tonneau cover, except of course if it's an over the rail style of bedliner. To complicate matters, even drop in bedliner companies offer two styles of bedliners. One that fits neatly inside the truck bed and snaps under the side rails and one that is supposed to protect your top edges of your truck rails. The problem is that they really don't do that, but rather actually end up wearing the paint away and warping in the sun. The latter is a terrible idea if you're going to add a tonneau cover to your truck, as most tonneau covers install by way of clamping or attaching to the side rails of your truck bed and when you have an over the rail drop in liner installed, you lose access to the side rails. hence, a messy tonneau installation.
The spray on bedliner is a great choice when it comes to tonneau covers. They work perfectly with any tonneau cover that fits over the rail like a TiltBak, Undercover or ARE tonneau cover. They also work perfectly with any BAK Industries tonneau cover. Sometimes however, when a spray on bedliner is sprayed over the rail it can complicate installations on tonneau covers that a critical to the size of your truck beds inside dimensions. BAk Industries tonneau covers all work great, regardless, because BAK makes accommodation and leaves tolerances to ensure a perfect fit, but tonneau covers like Agricover rolling covers do not and you should be careful not to add bed rail protection if you're considering a tonneau cover like that.
If you install an under the rail bedliner and still need bed rail protection, ProCaps ABS bedcaps are contoured to fit your truck rails very precisely and are always an excellent choice. They will work with almost any tonneau cover and will not flair out when clamped to. ProCaps follow exact contours and will offer you side rail protection from your tonneau wearing on your paint as well.
Another bedliner which I like is the BedRug. Although it looks like carpet, Bed Rug is actually a synthetic plastic which is soft to the knees, well insulated, hard wearing and compliments a tonneau cover very nicely.
Other solutions are rubber bed mats that needless to say are inexpensive and will work with any tonneau cover.
There are a few tailgate protector issues which plague certain tonneau covers. Specifically, one piece tonneau covers like Undercover, Leer, SnugTop, ARE etc., all require that you remove the factory spoiler-type tailgate cap that's found many Chevy and Dodge Trucks.
The good news is that if you're considering buying one of these types of truck bed covers and you have a Chevy or Dodge truck with a spoiler type tailgate cap, BAK Industries makes a great, smooth replace tailgate cap in the way of their ProCaps tailgate caps. These are very accurate fitting, cover any holes that are left after removing the factory piece and are guaranteed for life!
Tonneau Cover locking systems
Over the years there's been much debate on which tonneau cover locks the best, which tonno cover offers the best security, why some truck bed covers come with key locks while others don't seem to etc. Being somewhat of an expert on tonneau covers and the way they secure your cargo, I figured I'd drop my two cents into the hat and clear up some confusion:
If you cannot get into your truck bed when your tonneau cover is closed, it means that IT IS LOCKED! I once got emailed the definition of the word lock by a competitor of ours, insisting that our tonneau covers didn't lock, because we preferred to use the OEM tailgate lock as a means to secure our covers, rather than rely on an aftermarket set of keys. Not being one to argue over semantics, I responded merely by saying that by our measure, if a tonneau cover remains closed and cannot be opened unless you can open the tailgate, it is still locked. I never heard from them again. The reason I mention this episode is to clear up some misnomers that exist because some tonneau cover companies choose to confuse consumers by trying to justify an old school approach to a modern day solution.
The fact is this; Many years ago there was no such thing as a locking tailgate. If you wanted to lock your tonneau cover it would need to be equipped with a set of locks. One old school image that we can all relate to is the one piece tonneau cover that hangs over the tailgate and then locks from the top. These are pretty secure tonneau covers, but are nothing short of awful in terms of practicality, unless of course you want to turn your beautiful truck into a station wagon.
Back then, you could also find the first attempt at hard folding tonneau covers employ the use of large, clumsy looking locks that were so bulky they actually took up bed space and while you could lock the tonneau cover, you could actually still open the tailgate. Which genius came up with that idea? I mean come on folks! So now, companies like Fold-A-Cover could say that their tonneau covers locked, but fail to mention that you can still access the bed through the tailgate. So what exactly is the point of a lock on top of the cover that doesn't offer security, tends to break more often than not and is directly subject to the rain, snow, dust, dirt and thieves to try and pick? It must have been intriguing to some, because wouldn't you know it, retractable tonneau cover manufacturer Pace Edwards began employing the same useless system on their covers. I say give them all a raise!
A few years later, Roll-n-Lock, a company that makes retractable tonneau covers decided that drilling multiple holes into the tailgate by installing a bar to which their cover could lock would solve the problem. It worked, but I for one don't want to drill tons of holes into my brand new pickup truck.
Then came the avalanche of soft tonneau covers. Soft rolling tonneau's, soft folding tonneaus, tonneau covers, that no matter how you diced or sliced them, could frankly speaking, still be diced and sliced. I don't care how secure your truck or tailgate is, a soft vinyl tonneau cover cannot be deemed lockable if security is at the heart of the matter.
The reality is that we are living in an age where truck tailgates lock. Whether you drive a Chevy, Ford, Dodge, Toyota or Nissan truck, the tailgate is lockable. If it's not, companies like 
, Bully or Dynolock all produce very good tailgate locks that will turn your non lockable tailgate into one that locks for very little money. So, BAK Industries, being the most progressive tonneau cover manufacturer in the world, has totally revolutionized the way a tonneau cover locks, but employing the use of slam latches to the underside of its tonneau covers. 
SImply put, this patented technology allows the tonneau cover to automatically engage the rails on which it sits, merely by being closed. Close a BakFlip panel and the panel is locked down. Retract a RollBak tonneau cover and the tonneau cover automatically latches shut. No more need for redundant aftermarket keys, no exposure of keyholes to the elements. Just lock your tailgate and your tonneau cover is locked.
If you're like me, then you want the key you drive with to be the same key you lock your tonneau cover with. It's a matter keeping up with the times.
Tonneau covers and lumber racks
There was a time where a person that needed a lumber rack or ladder rack could only consider a toolbox as a way to lock up their valuables in their trucks and still get to use their all important lumber or ladder rack on their truck. All across the America you'd see plumbers, electricians, handymen and average Joe's driving their pickup trucks with a solid rack on the back and a cross the bed toolbox mounted on top of it. The problem however, is that most of their tools didn't fit in the cross the bed toolbox and the lions share of their bed remained exposed to the elements and worse yet, thieves. So, it made sense for tonneau manufacturers to consider solving this dilemma by producing a tonneau cover that would work in conjunction with a lumber rack.
At first we saw a company called ProRack take the lead on the issue, but they only made racks to work with soft tonneau covers that rolled up. The problem is that soft tonneau covers don't really offer security as they can easily be cut through with a blade. Consider this: Would you be content if your front door was made of thin vinyl? Neither would I! We then saw companies like Pace Edwards take a stab at a solution with their retractable tonneau covers by introducing something called the Explorer rail system.
This solution provided a unique set of rails to be installed with their retractable tonneau covers, but alas, their rack system was extremely expensive, their tonneau's took up half the space of a toolbox in the back of the bed and covered valuable assets of the truck bed such as corner tie downs in the bed as well as stake hole pockets. The rails tended to follow the truck lines and therefore didn't run parallel either, which is a significant problem as well. To be honest, they get an A for effort, but score less in terms of function, design and price.
The ultimate solution would lie in a product that offered total security in the way of a hard locking tonneau cover, seamless integration with a sliding ladder rack or lumber rack, full access to your truck bed when you required it, the ability to remove or add the rack in seconds, full access to assets like stake hole pockets and tie downs, no drill installation and a price that would be kinder to the pocket than if you had to buy an old school rack and toolbox. The solution.........the BakFlip CS.
The BakFlip CS hard folding tonneau cover and ladder rack combination flips, stacks, slides, locks and does pretty much everything but wash the dishes. It's truly the ultimate solution for anyone that needs a ladder rack and the security provided by a solid tonneau cover.
BAK Industries also produces a retractable tonneau covers that works extremely well with stake pocket mount ladder racks. One of the best selling racks on the market is the Trac Rac.
This particular lumber rack is favored by contarctors around the world for its sturdy nature and sleek looks. Companies like DeWalt as well as other OEM's use this ladder rack system because it's regarded by many as the best. So, BAK Industries decided to make their RollBak all aluminum, heavy duty retractable tonneau cover work seamlessly with the TracRac. The way we did it was to ensure that the RollBak lay flush inside the bed so that it didn't interfere with the TracRac, as well as ensuring that it allowed full access to stake pockets. The idea worked and RollBak retractable tonneau covers have now become the choice retractable tonneau cover for TracRac users everywhere.
Tonneau BAK covers is to love BAK covers.
This weekend I went skiing at Big Bear with my family. I was amazed at how many pickup trucks I saw up in the mountains. I suppose when it comes to skiing, a pickup truck bed and 4x4 cannot hurt. The problem was that over half of the trucks I saw were filled to the brim with snow. To be honest, It makes you question how smart people are. I did however come across a guy that had a BakFlip tonneau cover on his truck and I couldn't help but stop and ask him how he liked his tonno. I was amazed at how much he liked his BakFlip. I can actually go out on a limb and say that he didn't like his BakFlip, he LOVED his BakFlip. For one, he had no snow in the back of his truck and being an avid skier, felt confident and comfortable locking up his skis and gear in the back of his Toyota Tacoma. He went on to tell me that he frequents the mountain during the summer months as well and how awesome his BakFlip tonneau cover comes into play when he and his wife load their mountain bikes into the back of their truck by simply flipping their BakFlip out of the way. We spent about five minutes or so chatting and couldn't help but make mention of a Dodge Dakota pickup truck parked right next to us that had a silver one piece Snug Lid tonneau cover on it. It looked great, but wouldn't do much good for the guy that loved his BakFlip, because he actually used his truck for his bikes in the summer, among other things. It was at that moment that I realized that people who have owned a one piece tonneau cover like a Snug Lid would probably really love a BakFlip so much more, if only they knew about it when they were faced with the decision of what hard tonneau cover to buy. For one thing, they would be able to use their truck like a truck, instead of a station wagon, not to mention saved a considerable amount of money. I suppose that to know BakFlip is to love BakFlip, but as they say in life, all to often, ignorance is bliss!
If you've ever been faced with t tonneau dilemma or had a BakFlip save the day, let me know about it by posting your comment below.