Tonneau Covers revisited

T-Dubya

T-Dubya

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Sold my Silverado HD and picked up this awesome ZR2. I am now overthinking what tonneau cover I want for the new truck. I had a Truxedo Sentry CT on my HD. Best tonneau cover I’ve used to date. It is best described as a rolling hardcover.

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I am now trying to decide if I am going to repeat this purchase. I am also considering the Retrax or Roll-n-Lock with the intention of grabbing a rack system. I have no experience with the retractable systems or racks. Looking for some real world opinions!
 
I had a Leer HF350M on my 2019 Z71 LTZ. It functions well, doesn’t leak and locking points worked fine. I liked it so much I put the same model on my 2022 ZR2. You can get one on Amazon delivered for about $950 and put it on yourself. It’s not a difficult install. I should’ve pulled the old one off before I traded it in and reused it. It still looked great after 4.5 years.
 
I have a Retrax on mine and am happy with it. It’s very smooth and really easy to use, locks securely, and after some adjustment resists water. But the box that it rolls up into takes up almost a foot of bed space at the top to the box. You can still slide things under so it’s not terrible and hasn’t caused me any trouble yet but is something to consider if you might need the full bed space often.
 
How much depth when folded does it take? I have a decked drawer system and want to know if the Paragon will work with it.
 
I was in the same place when I bought my ZR2. My previous experience with bed covers was on my Avalanche and I liked that system (3 panel) a lot. I wanted security so soft cover was out of the question. I looked at the retracting but I really hate giving up more of the tiny bed that the ZR2 mandates. I went with a BAK BAKFlip 4 panel cover. Love it so far and have no complaints.
 
Bjo221 said:
How much depth when folded does it take? I have a decked drawer system and want to know if the Paragon will work with it.
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I did a little looking at the decked system measurements. It looks like about 64.5. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for any of the common retractable systems, it appears. The rolling hard covers like the one I mention in my original post could be a good option.
 
I've got a Retrax Pro along with a Yakima overhaul HD rack. I love my setup. I installed them the night I picked up my truck. 13k miles and about 10 months later I'm still happy with it. I didn't love the idea of losing some bed space. But the retractable has worked out well. I've also used my rack a bunch and I've pretty much decided I'll have one on every truck from now on lol. If you want a rack the flip up covers like the bak flip won't work. Honestly though the retractable covers are just easier if you get in your bed very often. Having to flip those panels every time gets kind of old. I also rigged my Retrax to lock and unlock with the truck locks. So every time I lock the truck the cover also locks.

I had a Decked in my last truck for years. They are kind of cool, But they have lots of drawbacks. They are pretty limited in space. The back 1/3 of the drawers are hard to access. The drawers are good size, But often times stuff just doesn't fit. There were times I'd load certain tools or a chainsaw in my truck and they wouldn't fit, even with the drawer empty. This leaves you strapping it on top of the decked. So now not only is it not covered or locked. It's also poking up above the truck rails basically advertising to everyone it's back there. When we would take trips to the lake or something coolers and gear had to go on top of the decked. Which also stuck up way above the truck rails. And stuff is harder to load because once it's on the tailgate you then have to get in the truck and lift it up on top of the deck. Forget about any luggage going in the bed also with a decked. About the only thing that will fit in a drawer is a back pack. A pretty small one at that.

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8ball_99 said:
I've got a Retrax Pro along with a Yakima overhaul HD rack. I love my setup. I installed them the night I picked up my truck. 13k miles and about 10 months later I'm still happy with it. I didn't love the idea of losing some bed space. But the retractable has worked out well. I've also used my rack a bunch and I've pretty much decided I'll have one on every truck from now on lol. If you want a rack the flip up covers like the bak flip won't work. Honestly though the retractable covers are just easier if you get in your bed very often. Having to flip those panels every time gets kind of old. I also rigged my Retrax to lock and unlock with the truck locks. So every time I lock the truck the cover also locks.

I had a Decked in my last truck for years. They are kind of cool, But they have lots of drawbacks. They are pretty limited in space. The back 1/3 of the drawers are hard to access. The drawers are good size, But often times stuff just doesn't fit. There were times I'd load certain tools or a chainsaw in my truck and they wouldn't fit, even with the drawer empty. This leaves you strapping it on top of the decked. So now not only is it not covered or locked. It's also poking up above the truck rails basically advertising to everyone it's back there. When we would take trips to the lake or something coolers and gear had to go on top of the decked. Which also stuck up way above the truck rails. And stuff is harder to load because once it's on the tailgate you then have to get in the truck and lift it up on top of the deck. Forget about any luggage going in the bed also with a decked. About the only thing that will fit in a drawer is a back pack. A pretty small one at that.

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Looks good~ those photos are useful. My buddy has the decked system in his 1500 - he uses his for hunting and dog gear. I think that they make the most sense with a truck cap for those purposes.
 
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T-Dubya said:
Looks good~ those photos are useful. My buddy has the decked system in his 1500 - he uses his for hunting and dog gear. I think that they make the most sense with a truck cap for those purposes.
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Don't get me wrong they work well. Really depends on how you use your truck. They do give you quick and easy access to a lot of your stuff. The drawers only pulling out about half way sucks a little. You have to unload everything in the front of the drawer to access the stuff in the back. I think they are good if you don't ever haul much in your bed. I have a buddy with one and a camper shell. He likes it for the most part, Other then having to crawl on it between it and the cap to get stuff that slides to the front of the bed. He also has the same complaint as me when it comes to loading coolers and stuff. Basically anything large and heavy is harder to load in the bed. You can't just set something on the tailgate an then slide it into the bed. You have to get on the tailgate and lift it up onto the decked. Then you need to strap it well, because stuff will slide on the plastic easy. With it up so high it can easily fall out of the truck or hit the trucks back window. Tonneau cover and pack out boxes just work better for me. Those molle panels probably hold 90% of what my decked did, and my old truck was a standard bed vs the zr2 short bed.
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