A new truck showed up, so first thing first, time to get a tonneau cover for it. On my 2012 Ram 2500, I had a Truxedo roll-up tonneau cover, which did what it was supposed to do. But one of my complaints is that the velcro part won’t stick very well in high winds, and you can see and hear it flapping in the back. So I wanted something a little better.
A friend I had met last summer at an event in Wichita, KS was going to be at another event I was going at Disney, and I knew I had to talk to him since he sold these type of covers every day. After discussing for a little bit about what I wanted, he mentioned if I had ever looked at the Revolver X4 or Sentry CT covers. Since I had not, I headed over to RealTruck.com to check them out and see what he was talking about.
I had never seen one like this before, but I had not looked either. I knew about the soft roll-ups, like the one I had, the retractable covers, three-piece folding, and the solid one-piece covers, but I knew I didn’t want any of those. The retractable ones take up to much bed space, and with a 6ft 4in bed, losing 12-14 inches is a lot. I have never liked the three-piece folding, and the solid won’t work for what I need.
I watched videos on the BAK Revolver X4 and Truxedo Sentry CT, and I could see why he mentioned and recommended those. They are basically a hybrid between a soft roll-up and a retractable. At least, that is how I look at them. So why did I choose the BAK Revolver X4? It came down to the fact that there was no velcro and the sides lock into place. Now comes the fun part, installation.
Overall, the installation is relatively straightforward, with one little caveat, the RamBox makes it a little more complicated than most trucks. One thing I appreciated about BAK is they sent the supplemental instructions with the cover. Sometimes with companies, you have to look on their site for specific extra instructions. I knew my vehicle would be one of them since the truck has the RamBoxes. But thankfully, BAK sent the supplemental instructions with the kit.
The instructions are simple to follow and easy to follow. What makes it more difficult is how the side rails attach due to the RamBox. I am one to look at instructions online, and I have seen how most are attached. They use some form of clap to attach the side rails to the bed. With the RamBox, you install the side rails in the existing rail system. This seemed like it would make it even faster to install, but I found that getting those all the way in was a royal pain in the ass.
They become extremely tight once you start guiding the side rails into the existing rail system. I tried some grease to see if it would help, but it didn’t. The instructions mentioned using soap and water. So I filled a spray bottle with soap and water and tried that. It could help a little. But I ended up using a short piece of 4×4 wood and a 6lb sledgehammer. Probably not what they had wanted me to use, but it is what got the job done. For those who don’t want to mess with installing it yourself, RealTruck does have a nice dealer locator that is easy to use and can direct you to your local installer.
After you get the rails in, it is time to lay out the tonneau cover itself. It is rolled up opposite of how you would unroll it, but once you got it unrolled, it was easy to put into place. After installing a tailgate seal, you start to unroll the cover to line it up. It went well getting it squared up, but it took a couple of adjustments to get the depth correctly. But once I did, it was time to tighten down the bolts. Once everything was secure. I closed it and opened it several times to make sure everything worked the way it should.
At the time of writing, I have only had this cover on for about four days, but I love it so far. I love how the sides lock into the rails when you snap it down in the back, making it almost impossible to get into the bed when the tailgate is shut and locked. I love how you can even put up to 400 lbs of cargo onto the cover. I probably never will, but it is an option. We will see if it improves fuel mileage, but that isn’t much of a concern for me. One drawback is that it does not fold up as tight as a traditional soft roll-up tonneau cover. But for me, the added security makes up for that. I am delighted I went with this cover and can’t wait to start taking my new truck on some adventures.
