Elevate Kayak Rack and BAKFlip MX4 Tonneau cover installed

[JBMAV24]

i have been looking for a compatible tri-fold tonneau for my Elevate rack system. Every aftermarket truck parts sales outlet is telling me a tri-fold is incompatible with the Elevate racks. Do you have a pics of the width/clearance of the tonneau at the rack base/mount surface on the bed side rail? I would much prefer a tri-fold rather than a soft top or retractable.

I called several local installers and they all said "it can't be done." But people at Real Truck were very supportive and this works fine. I will get some clearance pics, but at the moment my truck is loaded down. But will try to take some later today. Note for my 14 foot kayak to center it means sticking out back more than I like. But I am not a fan of roof racks. This is really easy to load from the rear. I will try and adjust to haul farther forward, but this works.

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[JBMAV24]

i have been looking for a compatible tri-fold tonneau for my Elevate rack system. Every aftermarket truck parts sales outlet is telling me a tri-fold is incompatible with the Elevate racks. Do you have a pics of the width/clearance of the tonneau at the rack base/mount surface on the bed side rail? I would much prefer a tri-fold rather than a soft top or retractable.

Attached are pics showing plenty of clearance. About 1/2 inch clearance from the tonneau cover lip. And with kayaks on in the middle setting of the elevate system I can access the entire back. Works great. I was nervous because all the installers near me said there was no such system. But people at Real Truck were great to talk me through it. I ended up talking to two people at Real Truck to be convinced Both were great to put up with me. They also talked me into doing this myself and saving the money from having it installed. It was a pretty easy install. Just take your time to line up everything like the instructions...I watched a couple YouTube videos before starting and I would do that for sure as the instructions alone are a bit unclear. But Real Truck has great help if you need it.

 

[TomD]

Hi all,
New Maverick owner and thought I would share pics of kayak rack that works with tonneau cover.

Elevate TS Rails TRX-1118414
Elevate CS Rack TRX-1118513
BAKFlip MX4 Tonneau Cover (trifold)

I do a lot of invasive plant removal on the water, and needed a rack that would allow for a tonneau cover. A nice solution so far.

Jeff

Can you lower those racks when not in use? Do the racks themselves affect gas mileage? A friend has an F150 with something similar. When he has the rack in the down position it cost 5 mpg.

 

[TomD]

Me too! The tonneau cover can only flip back 2/3rds unfortunately on the lowest telescoping setting, but I intend on using the trunk for storage while camping so I don’t really need to open it all the way anyways. My use case is for a pop up camper ontop. Even installed a hoist in my garage to help make taking it on and off easier. Haven’t given it a spin yet but it sits purty.

(Mamba 3 clam shell roof top tent if anyone was wondering)

You didn’t dent the drywall did you?

 

[JBMAV24]

You can take the 8 bolts out and remove the rack, (this is not fast because you need an allen wrench and a socket wrench), but I keep them handy. You could also take off the full rack with another 8 nuts. It would be nice to have a quick release... for at least the upper supports.
Not sure yet how much the rack alone will lower mileage, but with the kayaks on it drops a lot, (mid to low 30's) but then my canoe is not very aerodynamic. I haven't had this system long enough to really tell, plus I mix and match daily with 1-3 kayaks or canoes depending on the site I am going too. But in any configuration it is much better mileage than my old stick shift Tacoma with similar setups.

 

[billbillw]

I have a similar setup with the Sentry CT roll-up and I use a couple set of older Yakima Bow Down folding J-mounts. The Yakima's just barely fit around the cross-bars. The nice thing is I can also fit my daughter's 12' hard fiberglass SUP in between the two sets of J-mounts. Looks pretty crazy with a 14' kayak, a 12.5 kayak and a 12' SUP on top, but everything fits nicely, if I remove the whip antenna.

 

[JBMAV24]

Can you lower those racks when not in use? Do the racks themselves affect gas mileage? A friend has an F150 with something similar. When he has the rack in the down position it cost 5 mpg.

See above for comments. But I forgot to mention that you can lower the racks when not in use, but still have to deal with 8 bolts to do it...but not a major issue. With the rack alone in the down position I think I was still getting 39.3 mpg but that is with a tonneau cover which helps mileage when closed. Having the higher rack setting might start to make a lot more drag? My kayaks clear the roof in the lowest setting, but my canoe has to be at middle setting to clear the roof of the cab. So I am still experimenting with different set ups. But ease of use is great.

 

[billbillw]

I should mention, I don't keep these on all the time because of the noise and reduction in fuel economy. I keep the t-slot bolts in the side rails, and cap them with some painted nylon grommets and the lock nuts and washers that came with the package. They come on/off pretty easily with just eight 1/2" nuts and washers to remove/replace.

I drove for a week or two with the full setup on and it was a a noticeable 3-5 mpg reduction (more on the highway) with my Ecoboost AWD.

The Elevate racks stay out of the way with a couple sets of wall mounted hooks.

 

[JohnnyH]

I called several local installers and they all said "it can't be done." But people at Real Truck were very supportive and this works fine. I will get some clearance pics, but at the moment my truck is loaded down. But will try to take some later today. Note for my 14 foot kayak to center it means sticking out back more than I like. But I am not a fan of roof racks. This is really easy to load from the rear. I will try and adjust to haul farther forward, but this works.

That's exactly what they're telling me as well. The Elevate installation video says you need to install the thinner tape on the bed rails of the tonneau and it will work. I believe the truck custom shops are simply quoting the notes from the Real Truck webpage, which state: "Elevate has engineered a reliable, spacious, and easily-adjustable bed rack that perfectly complements tonneau covers that mount inside of your pickup’s bed rails, such as the Extang Xceed, BAK® Revolver X2 and X4s, and TruXedo Lo Pro. The Elevate Rack System also integrates with T-slot-compatible truck bed covers, such as the Retrax® XR and Roll-N-Lock® XT."

 

[JohnnyH]

Attached are pics showing plenty of clearance. About 1/2 inch clearance from the tonneau cover lip. And with kayaks on in the middle setting of the elevate system I can access the entire back. Works great. I was nervous because all the installers near me said there was no such system. But people at Real Truck were great to talk me through it. I ended up talking to two people at Real Truck to be convinced Both were great to put up with me. They also talked me into doing this myself and saving the money from having it installed. It was a pretty easy install. Just take your time to line up everything like the instructions...I watched a couple YouTube videos before starting and I would do that for sure as the instructions alone are a bit unclear. But Real Truck has great help if you need it.

Perfect Thanks !

 

[JohnnyH]

Attached are pics showing plenty of clearance. About 1/2 inch clearance from the tonneau cover lip. And with kayaks on in the middle setting of the elevate system I can access the entire back. Works great. I was nervous because all the installers near me said there was no such system. But people at Real Truck were great to talk me through it. I ended up talking to two people at Real Truck to be convinced Both were great to put up with me. They also talked me into doing this myself and saving the money from having it installed. It was a pretty easy install. Just take your time to line up everything like the instructions...I watched a couple YouTube videos before starting and I would do that for sure as the instructions alone are a bit unclear. But Real Truck has great help if you need it.

Great pics for a detailed veiw. Thanks so much !

 

[ksh58]

I have the Ford hard tri-fold cover and have seen posts here that say the Elevate TS racks will work. I called Real Truck to ask a couple questions, and the support person told me he wouldn't recommend because they were getting lots of complaints about significant leaking issues. I know some of you are running that setup - any thoughts on this leaking? I don't want to spend another thousand or so to replace the Ford cover...

 

[JohnnyH]

There is a published list of compatible covers that work with the elevate racks. Check the links on Real Truck website. Here is list as of 2 years ago, I would expect it’s been updated since then.

I spoke to the reps. at RealTruck.com and while the Backflip models will work with the Elevate system as far as compatibility, they don't recommend it due to water intrustion issues. The local truck accessories sales outlet would not sell a Backflip tonneau to me for that reason. They told me the manufacturer is working on a fix by designing a different style siderail. They advised me that a fix is at least a year away. I'm not sure whether they're waiting for the 2025 model to ensure fitment for all years. I ended up going with a hard trifold brand callled Bison. It has slight water intrusion at the drain hose connections so I ran 2 drain lines along the the top rail to the tailgate, rather than drill holes in my bedliner. That seemed to solve the issue.

 

[JBMAV24]

I spoke to the reps. at RealTruck.com and while the Backflip models will work with the Elevate system as far as compatibility, they don't recommend it due to water intrustion issues. The local truck accessories sales outlet would not sell a Backflip tonneau to me for that reason. They told me the manufacturer is working on a fix by designing a different style siderail. They advised me that a fix is at least a year away. I'm not sure whether they're waiting for the 2025 model to ensure fitment for all years. I ended up going with a hard trifold brand callled Bison. It has slight water intrusion at the drain hose connections so I ran 2 drain lines along the the top rail to the tailgate, rather than drill holes in my bedliner. That seemed to solve the issue.

I have only had my system up and running for the summer, but have had no issues so far with water. But it is a bit tricky setting up the siderails so I could see where there might need improvement. For anyone going the Backflip route, might be worth the wait or at least take caution to follow instructions about seals carefully. So far I am loving my setup. And I was still getting 40 mpg readings with the Elevate system installed (so I think the tonneau cover really cuts down drag) and the Elevate doesn't hurt mileage much. Of course with kayaks and canoes you can expect to drop to around 35 mpg or less in some wind directions. But I love this setup.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Hi all,
New Maverick owner and thought I would share pics of kayak rack that works with tonneau cover.

Elevate TS Rails TRX-1118414
Elevate CS Rack TRX-1118513
BAKFlip MX4 Tonneau Cover (trifold)

I do a lot of invasive plant removal on the water, and needed a rack that would allow for a tonneau cover. A nice solution so far.

Jeff

Hey, Jeff! We hope you've been enjoying your Maverick. Thanks for sharing this with the community.

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