Fold-A-Cover G4 Elite Hard Folding Tonneau Cover Review

[ember1205]

I had a BAK Industries F1 installed on my last truck and was exceptionally happy with it. It NEVER left any water inside of the bed because it has a drain system integrated into the rails - water either runs down the channel and out at the back, or it runs forward and down through plastic tubing that you route to the drain holes of the bed.

 

I also liked the relatively flush mounting (not exactly flush, but definitely not above the rails like the FAC. I've purchased another BAK for my '15 Sierra (the HD this time) and will be installing it as soon as my liner situation is squared away. One thing that I ran into with the BAK, that might not be an issue with the FAC, is that the drainage tubes at the front of the rails are interfered with by the GM drop in liner. So, I'm having that taken out and a spray-in liner done instead.

 

From a price perspective, the BAK can be gotten for much less than the FAC (at least for what they charge on their factory store site). And, the fact that they're still advertising the "tonneau covers increase your gas mileage" stuff turns me off to them as a company. This myth has been debunked for a long time.

[PhilB]

From a price perspective, the BAK can be gotten for much less than the FAC (at least for what they charge on their factory store site). And, the fact that they're still advertising the "tonneau covers increase your gas mileage" stuff turns me off to them as a company. This myth has been debunked for a long time.

 

FWIW, I saw this on the BAK website: "All BAK hard folding tonneau covers ensure a superior fit, function and operation and our patented NO PROFILE, rather than just low profile fit ensures better aerodynamics and improved gas mileage".

[ember1205]

Ugh. They all graduated from the same Moron Marketing school. Hadn't seen that.

 

Have to admit - not terribly impressed with BAK's customer service overall, although I really haven't needed much from them aside from information.

Edited March 14, 2015 by ember1205

[Z71-sierra367]

Wanted to resurrect this thread. How is everyone still liking this cover? I am really interested in your experience aboutwater tightness. If you get water in....is it from the perimeter or through the hinge seals in the middle? I am on the fence between this cover and a undercover hard folding tonneau which I had and loved on my last truck. I really like the way this looks, operates, and the flexibility of a folding cover but really like the security and how waterproof my undercover was.

[Z71-sierra367]

Sorry. Didn't mean to repost.

Edited September 28, 2015 by Z71-sierra367

[captfrank]

Wanted to resurrect this thread. How is everyone still liking this cover? I am really interested in your experience aboutwater tightness. If you get water in....is it from the perimeter or through the hinge seals in the middle? I am on the fence between this cover and a undercover hard folding tonneau which I had and loved on my last truck. I really like the way this looks, operates, and the flexibility of a folding cover but really like the security and how waterproof my undercover was.

I hate fold a cover!!!!

Well today I change the rear seal on the fold a cover, It took almost 3hrs (yea go ahead Steffens bash me. But I grew up with tools, my dad was shop teacher and I worked in a machine shop while going, to college, rebuild engines etc. So I’m way better with tools then your normal Joe.). It was not nearly as easy as the video made you believe. First the pop rivets did not drill out, they just spun with the drill bit. Thus had to use screw drivers, plyers and a punch to get them all out, this took forever. The stainless ones did drill out as per the video. Then the next issue was the holes to put the pop rivets in. They did line up on the ends where the stainless ones and first aluminum ones but the rest where real hard. Needed to remove the cardboard and use clamps to press the 2 sections together and again use the punch to help line the holes up.

 

Bottom line, unless you love this cover and want to spend like 6+ hrs and $60 every 3 years I would say stay away from this cover. I hate this cover, it has always leaked a little (but at least they tell you that) and is a maintenance nightmare. I wish I did what I did with my other truck and get a fiberglass cover. It lasted the life of the truck with zero maintenance, only issue was a bear to remove. But worth it compared to this POS. I got the fold a cover as a recommendation from a friend (he’s on my you know what list now).

[jonboy77]

I hate fold a cover!!!!

Well today I change the rear seal on the fold a cover, It took almost 3hrs (yea go ahead Steffens bash me. But I grew up with tools, my dad was shop teacher and I worked in a machine shop while going, to college, rebuild engines etc. So I’m way better with tools then your normal Joe.). It was not nearly as easy as the video made you believe. First the pop rivets did not drill out, they just spun with the drill bit. Thus had to use screw drivers, plyers and a punch to get them all out, this took forever. The stainless ones did drill out as per the video. Then the next issue was the holes to put the pop rivets in. They did line up on the ends where the stainless ones and first aluminum ones but the rest where real hard. Needed to remove the cardboard and use clamps to press the 2 sections together and again use the punch to help line the holes up.

 

Bottom line, unless you love this cover and want to spend like 6+ hrs and $60 every 3 years I would say stay away from this cover. I hate this cover, it has always leaked a little (but at least they tell you that) and is a maintenance nightmare. I wish I did what I did with my other truck and get a fiberglass cover. It lasted the life of the truck with zero maintenance, only issue was a bear to remove. But worth it compared to this POS. I got the fold a cover as a recommendation from a friend (he’s on my you know what list now).

 

Man that sucks....I had one little problem with the cover when i 1st got it and Customer Service was easy to work with and sent new parts out like ASAP....They did treat me like i did not know what a wrench was but thats expected when the probably deal with DAs all the time. I will lokk at mine this evening but i am trying to figure out why you are drilling rivots out. I will figure that out when i look more closely tonight. keep in mind i have only had mone a few months but it still looks new and is the best design i have seen out there.

[jonboy77]

I installed a Fold-A-Cover G4 Elite w/Personal Caddy on my 2014 Sierra about four months ago, and absolutely love it. It leaked a few drops of water after the first rain, but I haven't seen a drop since. Highly recommended.

+1 it keep water out as good as any fold cover imo

 

Installed this cover on my truck too, along with the 'personal caddy'. The caddy comes in real handy for my wife when she get's groceries. I've used it for placing items under the cover that you don't want moving around. There's also a expandable metal tray built in that is also very handy to have. Love this cover!

the caddy is awesome. i got it also... The only problem was i got mine through the dealer and they CAN NOT and WILL NOT (its not a part the dealer is offered by stephons) add the liding trey. I had to have it so i ordered one for a EXTRA $100 shipped. It was a PIA to install in the caddy. the caddy has to come out and the side has to come off and then the trey is installed with rivots. so if you are installing one new GO AHEAD AND GET THE SLIDING TREY. It will be cheaper and easier to install.

 

Wanted to resurrect this thread. How is everyone still liking this cover? I am really interested in your experience aboutwater tightness. If you get water in....is it from the perimeter or through the hinge seals in the middle? I am on the fence between this cover and a undercover hard folding tonneau which I had and loved on my last truck. I really like the way this looks, operates, and the flexibility of a folding cover but really like the security and how waterproof my undercover was.

I would do it over again no regrets...Get the tri-fold if you are not going to put the caddy.

 

I hate fold a cover!!!!

Well today I change the rear seal on the fold a cover, It took almost 3hrs (yea go ahead Steffens bash me. But I grew up with tools, my dad was shop teacher and I worked in a machine shop while going, to college, rebuild engines etc. So I’m way better with tools then your normal Joe.). It was not nearly as easy as the video made you believe. First the pop rivets did not drill out, they just spun with the drill bit. Thus had to use screw drivers, plyers and a punch to get them all out, this took forever. The stainless ones did drill out as per the video. Then the next issue was the holes to put the pop rivets in. They did line up on the ends where the stainless ones and first aluminum ones but the rest where real hard. Needed to remove the cardboard and use clamps to press the 2 sections together and again use the punch to help line the holes up.

 

Bottom line, unless you love this cover and want to spend like 6+ hrs and $60 every 3 years I would say stay away from this cover. I hate this cover, it has always leaked a little (but at least they tell you that) and is a maintenance nightmare. I wish I did what I did with my other truck and get a fiberglass cover. It lasted the life of the truck with zero maintenance, only issue was a bear to remove. But worth it compared to this POS. I got the fold a cover as a recommendation from a friend (he’s on my you know what list now).

 

 

Had been searching for a hard folding tonneau cover and eventually decided on the Fold-A-Cover G4 Elite, purchased from their factory store. This will cover a couple of the criteria that I was looking for in a cover and why I chose the G4 Elite and my thoughts on the cover after installing it and having it for a grand total of 2 days so far. I will try and post an update in a couple weeks after I get some more time with it.

 

When searching for a cover I was wanting a hard cover that allowed quick access to the entire bed and I had to be able to pull the cover/panels off anywhere as I often end up with impromptu purchases(dang craigslist) that are large enough to need the entire bed. After initial searching I had narrowed it down to likely either the BAK Fibermax or Roll-X, however after seeing several positive comments here on the Fold-A-Cover I took another look at it as I had intially ruled it out due to not being able to get full bed access as quickly as the BAK line or some others. After reading the manual and seeing that the Fold-A-Cover did come completely off by simply removing (4) easy to access bolts I took a deeper look at this cover.

 

Main reasons I chose this cover as opposed to some of the other options:

• Front and rear opening-I like to keep a couple bags with tools/straps/trailer accessories and other truck stuff with me and this way I can keep those bags strapped toward the front of the bed for easy access
• Mounts on top of side rails-The stuff I find on craigslist generally tends to be large so getting the rails up on top of the bed means more room in the bed and less chance of damage to the rails

This cover was roughly $175 more than the other one I was strongly considering and I'm sure that I would've been happy with it, but I felt that for me the features this cover had over some of the others were worth it to me.

 

 

Installation was pretty straight forward, well documented with pictures and instructions that were clear, easy to follow and accurate for my model(2014 Double Cab). I had watched the various installation videos on their website prior to purchase(and again prior to it arriving) so I had a good idea of what to expect. I am not going to review step by step install, just my thoughts on packaging, installation process and initial impressions of the cover, if you want step by step instructions hit their website up.

 

Cover was shipped in (2) packages, a box with the panels and hardware and a tube with the rails. Packaging was good, panels were well protected from common shipping damage with a heavy cardboard box, foam corners and inflated air pockets. Open up the box and the cover panels come out easily and fully assembled ready to place on the truck once the rails are installed.

 

IMG_20140103_174424_614 (720x1280).jpg

 

Installation was straight forward, hardware worked as expected without any problems. In a couple spots they could probably swap out the hex head bolts for button heads using an allen wrench to give a little cleaner look but the included hardware does the job. I did not install the additional tailgate seal yet, I had enough other things I wanted to get done the night I installed this that I put that one off for later. The lock strikes took a bit of work to get adjusted, the locks have (2) latch points in them and if your latch strike is too deep(far away from teh panel) it can get the first latch point but not have enough downward travel to completely lock, once I realized that completing the lock strike adjustment was straight forward.

 

First impressions, I'm happy with the cover and they appear to have done a nice job on all aspects of it. The fit/finish is very nice, everything aligns like it should. Materials are cut cleanly, no burrs, ragged cuts, offset screws etc. They put several extra items on the cover that help position it as a "polished" product that was well thought out and executed, even though they're primarily aesthetic and really don't have an impact on function. Example is the weatherstrips they used(shown below) to cover up the cable linkage used to actuate the locks, this has a bit of a functional purpose as it helps limit the ability of someone to "slim jim" the panel lock with a coat hook.

 

IMG_20140103_201431_846 (720x1280).jpg

 

It's not water proof by any means and I'm not expecting it to be, but should definitely keep 95% or more of mother nature out, allow me to store some of the common truck stuff in the bed instead of under a seat and still allow quick conversion to full bed capacity.

 

IMG_20140105_165958_316 (1280x720).jpg

 

 

I installed a Fold-A-Cover G4 Elite w/Personal Caddy on my 2014 Sierra about four months ago, and absolutely love it. It leaked a few drops of water after the first rain, but I haven't seen a drop since. Highly recommended.

[captfrank]

Well I called Steffens/fold-a-cover to voice my disappointment with their cover (was day after thanks given so they were closed) and that the video did not cover what to do about the strap latch from the rear section. I just drilled that rivet out also like the others.

Well when they (Kyle) called me back the next week man this guy was clueless. Was like talking to a 2 yo, just plain not smart. He reflected very poorly on the company. Made up every excuse in the book and seemed to not understand about the rivets spinning with the drill bit. First he said my bit must be dull lol. It's spinning, does not matter how sharp I explained. In fact bit was gripping quite well and drilled out the stainless one quite easily. but the bit was like new anyway lol. Then he said just push harder lol. The rivets where spinning like a ball bearings at the end of the bit. I certainly pushed hard but nothing short of using as much force as say a punch would not stop them. i.e. knocking them out not drilling them out.

He said he had covers last 6 years with no treatment and no issues and stated that mine must have failed due to environment. Since I guess I spend a lot of time at the shore (have a boat in DE) he used that as an excuse. He also said they used top materials/OEM etc lol. I said dude these are cheap aluminum pop rivets and you only used the good stainless ones on the end to save money lol. A better design would be to have it screwed together but that would cost even more money. But would make replacing the seal much easier.

[Dnt]

Hate to resurrect such an old thread but I am interested in the fold-a cover G4 Elite and captfrank seems to have an issue. I just am not clear as to what he is doing drilling out pop rivets and why? Oh and if you tilt the drill bit angle a little the pop rivet will catch and you can drill it right out, drilled out about a million of them in my 38 year sheet metal career LOL

[jwc10400]

Fold a cover is the one and only company I was forced to report to the better business bureau. Beware their customer service. 

[Dnt]

If I had listened to the negatives on this thread then I would have missed out on a great bed cover.  I bought the FAC G4 Elite from the factory website for my 2017 CC Std bed Denali Ultimate (about this time last year) and just moved it to my new 2018 CC Std bed Denali Ultimate. It is a great cover, still looks and functions just like the day that I installed it. I did not use the FAC tool box I incorporated a Bakbox into the front of the bed and it is perfect for me as it is smaller and I can open the front leaf of the FAC bed cover and still reach items laying on the truck bed at the front. This where the TriMode steps work out perfectly.  I have NEVER deal-ed with customer service as I have never had a problem, that might be a legit item to research more on.   

[Philipgonzales3]

On 7/7/2018 at 9:38 AM, Dnt said:

If I had listened to the negatives on this thread then I would have missed out on a great bed cover.  I bought the FAC G4 Elite from the factory website for my 2017 CC Std bed Denali Ultimate (about this time last year) and just moved it to my new 2018 CC Std bed Denali Ultimate. It is a great cover, still looks and functions just like the day that I installed it. I did not use the FAC tool box I incorporated a Bakbox into the front of the bed and it is perfect for me as it is smaller and I can open the front leaf of the FAC bed cover and still reach items laying on the truck bed at the front. This where the TriMode steps work out perfectly.  I have NEVER deal-ed with customer service as I have never had a problem, that might be a legit item to research more on.   

How did it hold up?

[Dnt]

Was still good when I traded for my 2019 but the cover would not fit on the 19 since they changed the bed size from 18 to 19. I have not installed a bed cover on the 19 yet, it only has 1000 miles on it but i will be looking at a G4 for sure............