25 Ford Hard Roll Up Fitment Issue

[Dnel29]

Tried installing my factory Ford Hard roll up last night and had some problems.

1.) the tonneau rails don't seem to go on flush to the truck rail, they angle down into the bed slightly. Do I have to remove the angled shims from the rails?

2.) because of that the middle of the cover near the tailgate doesn't overlap, it bows inward and hits the tailgate causing a sealing/closing issue.

Anyone have similar issues?

Sponsored

 

[Mabcim]

I have the BAK X4S, which is basically the same cover. My rails came with the shims (the ones stuck on the back side) attached near the top, I had to move mine to be at the bottom.

You also want the rear of the rail (at the tailgate) to be close to the tailgate, but not so close the tailgate hits it when closing. I added a little foam, to the foam already at the front end (the box end near the window), to get it closer to the tailgate.

The other trick is to make sure the clamp is over the area where the shim is. For the front shim, I could only get part of it, because the bed metal has a bend in that area, and you want to stay away from that.

Also you want the clamp as high as possible. There are little ribs on the clamp, the inner one (the one closest to you and towards the inside of the box) I had 2 ribs of the clamp ribs below the rails lowest rib. And watch for the little tabs holding the bed caps on, make sure your clamp is not hitting those.

That was on my ’22. Fast forward to my ‘25; I swapped it from my ‘22. I had one side that was too low, at the back, and the tailgate was hitting the cover. I ran into a similar issue when trying the Pro X15 (which I exchanged for the X4S), so I knew what to look for. The trick there is at the very rear of the rail, the metal part of the bed (the equivalent of where the clamps attach too) doesn’t extend all the way to the tailgate; and is not rigid. So when you push the cover, to latch it, the rail flexes downward. You need to put a shim behind the bed metal to prevent it from flexing too much, which at the same time ‘raises’ the rear of the cover slightly. The side of the bed has a bump out for the tailgate it rest against, I put stuff in line with that; as that is where the end of the bed metal is.

I had to do that to both sides on ‘22 when I had the Pro X15, but neither side with the X4S. Now with the ‘25, I just had to do just one side. As I learned with the ‘22 (and reading many forum posts), not all things are equal, and bed covers just need different tweaks per vehicle.

Hope that helps.

 

[Dnel29]

I have the BAK X4S, which is basically the same cover. My rails came with the shims (the ones stuck on the back side) attached near the top, I had to move mine to be at the bottom.

You also want the rear of the rail (at the tailgate) to be close to the tailgate, but not so close the tailgate hits it when closing. I added a little foam, to the foam already at the front end (the box end near the window), to get it closer to the tailgate.

The other trick is to make sure the clamp is over the area where the shim is. For the front shim, I could only get part of it, because the bed metal has a bend in that area, and you want to stay away from that.

Also you want the clamp as high as possible. There are little ribs on the clamp, the inner one (the one closest to you and towards the inside of the box) I had 2 ribs of the clamp ribs below the rails lowest rib. And watch for the little tabs holding the bed caps on, make sure your clamp is not hitting those.

That was on my ’22. Fast forward to my ‘25; I swapped it from my ‘22. I had one side that was too low, at the back, and the tailgate was hitting the cover. I ran into a similar issue when trying the Pro X15 (which I exchanged for the X4S), so I knew what to look for. The trick there is at the very rear of the rail, the metal part of the bed (the equivalent of where the clamps attach too) doesn’t extend all the way to the tailgate; and is not rigid. So when you push the cover, to latch it, the rail flexes downward. You need to put a shim behind the bed metal to prevent it from flexing too much, which at the same time ‘raises’ the rear of the cover slightly. The side of the bed has a bump out for the tailgate it rest against, I put stuff in line with that; as that is where the end of the bed metal is.

I had to do that to both sides on ‘22 when I had the Pro X15, but neither side with the X4S. Now with the ‘25, I just had to do just one side. As I learned with the ‘22 (and reading many forum posts), not all things are equal, and bed covers just need different tweaks per vehicle.

Hope that helps.

Ended up going back and trying to fit it a little better. I just want it to be as water resistant as possible and this seems to be a major issue with this cover. It doesn't actually overlap on the back tailgate at all, leaving a gap for water to come in. Also near the back tailgate their is massive holes where water will enter.

Might just get a hard trifold...

 

[Dnel29]

Ended up just ordering a trifold cover. It seems to seal a little better. Especially on the tailgate.

 

[Jeff D.]

Ended up just ordering a trifold cover. It seems to seal a little better. Especially on the tailgate.

Dave, I also have the Ford hard roll up cover and mine looks very similiar to what you shared in your pic's. Mine is not "water tight" or anything close, given the gaps around the tailgate area. I've had several different styles over the years, and don't know any were water tight, but I never thought they were either. Perhaps my expectaions were too low? Maybe they should be decently watertight?

I think you made the right choice if there's a cover that is known to be better in that regard and that's important to you. I know you only expected "water resistant", but I can't see how the Ford hard roll up design could do very good, given it doesn't have any overhang over the top of the tailgate. That gap is just itching for water from the cover to leak down inbetween the tailgate and into the bed area.

I do like it for the snow load it can handle and decent protection it offers for items stored in the bed from theft, due to the design that includes alot of metal, rather than just fabric like some.

In those areas it is pretty decent.

 

[Mabcim]

Ended up going back and trying to fit it a little better. I just want it to be as water resistant as possible and this seems to be a major issue with this cover. It doesn't actually overlap on the back tailgate at all, leaving a gap for water to come in. Also near the back tailgate their is massive holes where water will enter.

Might just get a hard trifold...

That looks like the previous revision of the BAK, the X4. Mine has corner caps that partially cover that tailgate gap.

The very end of the cover has a seal that goes against the gate, but it take a little bit of adjusting to get that as best as possible.

No matter what, water will come in at the sides of the tailgate. To minimize that, you want a tailgate seal. Here is a great video showing how to add it to a Maverick; this is what I did.

There is also the small gap on the bed caps, towards the front, that you want to put something in.

Sponsored