I put together this tonneau cover buyer’s guide to help some people find what they are looking for in a truck bed cover.

When buying a tonneau cover for your pickup truck, one of the first things you should do is ask yourself, what do I use my truck for? By this I mean do you use your truck bed often, do you carry high cargo loads or low loads below the truck bed rails or do you use your truck bed very seldom. Are your pockets deep or like many others shallow and you need an inexpensive cover. Do not just go out to buy a tonneau cover because you seen one on another truck and it looked great. That truck may have a cover that takes time to open and that would be no good if you use your truck bed often. Below I will throw some of my personal ideas at you just to get you thinking.

Inexpensive:

If you are looking to get a one that protects your cargo but is inexpensive or so called cheap, The Mile Maker by Tonneau Masters is about the cheapest you will find with runners up the Slant Side also by Tonneau Masters and the Seal N Peel and Snap Soft both by Lund Genesis.

Quick Roll Up:

You may want to get at your truck bed quick and easy but still want to keep the price down, I would suggest the Extang Express. This is a great cover if you use your truck bed but not continuously.

Inexpensive and fast:

If you are looking for one that is inexpensive but allows you very fast access to your truck bed I would suggest the Hinged Tonneau by Lund, the hinged Slant Side by Tonneau Masters or FullTilt by Extang. These are all great products, if you use your truck bed often and want quick, easy access to your truck bed and you are carrying low loads.

Inexpensive, Quick and High Loads:

You are trying to keep the price down but you need to be able to get at your truck bed fast, often and maybe with high cargo loads. If this is you then a soft folding bed cover would be a great way to go. The Extang Trifecta or the Trifold by Lund. These lids fold open allowing you to drive with them open for full access to your truck bed when hauling higher cargo loads.

For a more expensive product and more security for your cargo I will make the following suggestions.

Easy access:

If you use your truck bed often or just want a truck bed cover that can be matched to your trucks paint, the fiberglass hinged lids by Gaylords will do very nicely as long as you aren’t carrying high cargo.

Easy Access and Higher Loads:

The Bakflip by Bak is an ABS plastic folding tonneau which is very popular. Reds Beds make a folding aluminum diamond tread plate cover which will give you great security and full access to your truck bed quickly and easily.

For a class all on their own, not cheap, allow you quick access to your truck bed and open up completely allowing you to carry higher cargo loads any time.

Retractable Tonneau Cover:

These covers retract into a canister behind the cab of your truck. Pace Edwards has the Roll Top, JackRabbit, Full Metal JackRabbit and even one that opens and closes electrically with a remote called the Bedlocker. Bak offers the RollBak and Truck Covers USA offer their American Roll.

If you are not concerned about access to your truck bed they are many more tonneau covers available in roll up, with snaps or with velcro to secure them.

When asked recently “What tonneau cover would fit a Honda Ridgeline?” I really had to dig but there are a few covers that fit the bill. First of all not being familiar with the Ridgeline by Honda I had to investigate. The Honda Ridgeline looks sort of like a cross between an SUV and a pickup truck. I certainly am not knocking this vehicle I think it looks absolutely great. Unfortunately at the time I wrote this article there are not a lot of tonneau covers manufactured to fit this pickup truck. I do hope that changes in the near future.

The first and my favorite for the said automobile that I did find is the BakFlip folding tonneau cover by Bak. This is a lockable hardtop tonneau cover made from an ABS plastic laminated over a honey comb core for extra strength. This tonneau cover allows you quick easy access to your truck bed by folding up in sections and when folded back all the way, it protects your rear window from large loads. The cover is easily removed by loosening a couple of wing nuts. This cover would add a great look to an already great looking automobile.

The next tonneau cover I found for the Honda Ridgeline is the Lo Pro soft roll-up truck bed cover by Truxedo. This soft roll-up tonneau has no snaps, it uses large velcro loop system for great sealing. This tonneau cover has a patented tension control so it will keep a snug fit on your Honda Ridgeline in all types of weather conditions. The Lo Pro rolls up and out of the way for easy access to your complete truck bed.

The last tonneau I found to fit the Honda Ridgeline was the Access Roll-up tonneau cover. The roll-up by Access also uses a hook and loop system to seal the tonneau. This cover uses an easy dial tensioner to keep the tonneau snug. The frame of this tonneau is made from aluminum and everything rolls up quickly to get at the bed of your Honda Ridgeline.

Whatever your choice is you will be getting a quality tonneau cover with any of these three truck bed covers. There are not a lot of tonneau covers for the Honda Ridgeline but these three would all look great on this pickup truck.

At first glance you might think the spelling is wrong for this tonneau cover. This is the way it was intended to be spelled. It is made by BAK Industries hence the spelling. Bak is also the creator of the RollBak tonneau cover . Bak Industries say “Our belief is that just because a truck is used for work, doesn’t mean it should look like a work-truck. It is possible to elegantly craft rugged and strong products and still maintain a clean look of sophistication and style.” Their company is located in North Hollywood California.

The Bakflip tonneau cover is a real nice piece of work. This hard truck bed cover is made of an automotive grade exterior UV Resistant plastic which is also scratch resistant. The cores of the panels are filled with a very sturdy resin based honeycomb structure which is waterproof. These panels are made not to crack, warp or fade. The panels are framed with a powder coated aircraft quality aluminum. All of this makes a light weight very durable tonneau cover.

The cover folds up in sections, and in seconds, all the way up to the cab of the pickup truck. This gives you easy access to your truck bed while still having the security and gas saving qualities of a tonneau cover. It sits flat on the truck bed and leaves the stake holes uncovered to allow you to use different types of racks. Great for a ladder rack, canoe rack and more.

There are testimonials of this truck cover saying it is shipped, very well packaged. This is good to ensure that your truck bed cover arrives to your door as it was sent from the warehouse. Many say the cover installs very easily. You can even go to the Bak industries website for an installation video.

Some say that the cover is water tight while others say that some water will get in. It seems that sometimes there is a sealer problem with some applications. When they contacted Bak Industries, Bak sent them some different thicknesses of sealer, which did solve the problem. It seems that the two screws which hold the front of the tonneau cover secure were made of steel and rust would show after a short time. Some changed these to stainless steel or galvanized Overall most people were very satisfied with their purchase. Even the one’s that had slight problems. The look of the Bakflip tonneau cover and the easy installation and how easy it was to get access to their truck bed made them very pleased with their purchase.

It seems the tonneau cover becomes very secure with the addition of a tailgate lock. The way the truck cover latches you need to open the tailgate to open the truck bed cover which is great to keep unwanted people from getting at your cargo.