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You can install this retractable, hard tonneau cover on your vehicle in about 10 minutes, and you can completely remove it just as quickly for full bed access. Aluminum and vinyl deck has strength of a hard cover and seamless look of a soft cover.
Features:
Specs:
The Switchblade retractable hard tonneau cover provides you with security and weather protection for your truck bed, easy accessibility to your cargo, and the flexibility to haul large items that require full bed capacity whenever needed. You can install the cover without assistance in approximately 10 minutes, and you can completely remove it from your vehicle's bed just as quickly. The tonneau deck is constructed of a vinyl fabric top sheet that is bonded to rigid aluminum panels, combining the seamless appearance of a soft cover with the security features of a hard cover.
Simple, 1-Person Installation
To install the cover, set the canister on the bulkhead of your truck. Make sure that it's square with your bed. Bolt the side rails to the tabs on the canister.
Secure the rails to your truck bed side rails using 2 clamps per side. Slide the clamp onto the rail, flip the pivot arm up so it is under the bed rail lip, and tighten the clamp in place with the twist knob. Shims are included for trucks with tapered beds.
Each clamp at the tailgate end of the rails has a supplemental kickstand to help level the rails and prevent overtightening during installation. To install the kickstand, simply slide it into the grip handle at the bottom of the clamp. Rotate the kickstand so the foot rests squarely against the side wall of the truck bed, and tighten in place.
Mount the top cover plate to the canister with the included hardware. Attach the drain tubes to the canister and route each tube out of the OEM drain holes in the floor of your bed.
To hold the pull strap off the floor of your truck bed, apply the adhesive hook-and-loop fastener strip onto the underside of a rail at your desired location.
Remove or Reinstall in 10 Minutes
After the initial installation, the tonneau cover can be completely removed or reinstalled in approximately 10 minutes. The Switchblade is great for whenever you need to haul large items that require full bed capacity from front to back and side to side. After your large haul is complete, you can easily reinstall the cover to protect your truck bed again.
To utilize your entire truck bed, detach the canister from the side rails by removing the bolts on either side with a wrench. Then take the side rails off your truck by removing the clamps with the same wrench. Wrap the pull-strap around the canister and use it to lift the canister off your vehicle.
Retractable Cover with Built-In Pull Strap
To retract the Switchblade, simply squeeze the pinch grips located underneath the cover near the center of the tailgate to activate a heavy-duty tension spring. The spring automatically retracts the cover into the canister at the bulkhead of your truck bed. This provides quicker, easier access to your truck bed when compared with manual retractable covers that have no spring-loaded assist.
A built-in pull strap helps you extend the cover over your bed. As you pull, the tonneau will glide smoothly along tracks in the side rails until it reaches the tailgate and secures in place. You can also use the rear plate of the tonneau cover to pull it closed.
Compact, Angled Canister
The cover retracts into a canister located at the front of your truck bed, giving you unrestricted visibility out of your rear window. The canister also protects the stored cover from the elements. And the compact, angled design allows for maximum clearance for your tools and cargo.
Water Management System
The Switchblade rails feature a water management system that channels excess water into the canister. This prevents water from getting into your bed or freezing in your tonneau cover rails during cold temperatures. Drain tubes attached to the bottom of the canister remove water through the OE drain holes in the floor of your truck bed.
Flush-Mount Design
The black powder-coated side rails sit 1/8" above your truck bed rails for a flush appearance. This low-profile design is aerodynamic to reduce wind drag, and it helps to improve gas mileage when the cover is closed.
Stylish and Heavy-Duty Construction
The Switchblade deck is constructed of a vinyl top layer bonded to heavy-duty aluminum slats. This ArmorTek deck looks like a soft tonneau cover with no visible seams, but has the strength and security of a hard tonneau cover. A large seal at the rear of the bed closes the gap between the cover and tailgate to create a barrier to prevent water from entering the truck bed.
Security
The Switchblade provides excellent protection for your cargo when used in conjunction with a closed and locked tailgate. Both the pinch grips and pull strap are located underneath the rear plate, which makes them inaccessible when your truck bed is closed. The heavy-gauge aluminum panels are better at preventing theft when compared with soft covers that can be cut or punctured with a knife. The panels are also more effective at preventing theft than tri-fold hard tonneau covers because the panels cannot be pried open at any point along the rails.
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Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hello neighbors, it's Brad here from etrailer and today I'm with Greg and he is from the Leer Truck Group and that's gonna cover a few different products. Most of the time you hear Leer, tonneau covers comes to mind. Yep. But also we're gonna cover Pace Edwards as well as BedSlide. And these are all great applications to really get security and the most usability out of your truck. Exactly.
So jumping right in, Leer tonneau covers, everyone's heard the name. Where did it begin What's kind of the background of it Well, Leer developed their own tonneau cover line with four different tonneau covers probably about 15 years ago. We we inchesre late to the market because we wanted to do it right. And when we entered into the market and we've got four different tonneau covers. Two are which the hard folding covers and two are the soft folding covers.
We've got the HF 650, the HF 350, the Latitude and the SR 250 roll up. Why would someone want a soft versus a hard tonneau cover Well, it depends on how the customer uses their vehicle, how they access it, you know, whether they're wanting more security into the tonneau cover, covering the bed. It's just application and individual requirements. So I guess pros and cons versus soft and hard. I know the hard ones that I've done, they fold up really nice, but sometimes they do block a little bit of rear view visibility, correct They do, they do.
We've got a HF 650 that was engineered with all four panels that when it's folded up, it doesn't sit on the cab of the truck. It stands straight up with a prop mount and the other thing it does, which nobody else does out there, it doesn't cover the third brake light. So you're able to drive legally with that thing open. That makes sense. Yeah.
Now something that people might be concerned depending on where you live, we mentioned, or we were talking off camera about snow and the snow sitting on there. With the soft covers, that can stretch it a little bit, yeah. It definitely can, yeah. You want to kind of keep those clean, you know, continuously during a heavy snowfall without letting it pile up. Okay. The hard covers, they're more apt to take a little bit of load, especially if it's spread out over, we're looking at about 400 pounds so it works out real well. That's really impressive. Particularly In those winter states. Yeah, absolutely. As it builds up, you know, you don't wanna have to worry about that collapsing down. Yep. And that's accomplished by the design of the deck surface, right Exactly. So, explain a little bit how that works with the surface. Well we've got an ArmorTek vinyl over aluminum panels with all of our units. And it's designed in such a way where our canisters are smaller up front by the bulkhead that when that rolls up it's able to roll a tighter circle to keep the canister smaller so you've got a lot more room under the, in the bed of that truck behind the cab. Makes sense. So yeah, just kind of looking at, you know, the extrusion here, that's where you get that structure. But also being aluminum, it's lightweight. These, they're not terribly heavy. Exactly. Lightweight. They're replaceable. If you ever tear one up, they won't rust obviously because it is aluminum. So it's a durable, it's been out there forever. Yeah. So a one and done tonneau cover then. Yep, I say that. Yeah. That's awesome. And so a soft one does protect the things, the contents inside from weather, but with soft, unfortunately someone could cut through that. Yeah, kid with a pocket knife could open it up. Yeah. Our four covers all have the sink latches on there, which is fully patented by Leer. And that enables the customer to either get out passenger driver's side open one side, which automatically unlocks the opposite side. So it's easeability of accessing the back of the truck. Yeah. That's really nice. And that's, you know, you don't have a trunk on a truck normally. No. Some of these electric vehicles have fronts, whatever it may be, but when it comes to a truck bed, you store a lot of things that aren't in your cab that are equally as important. Yes. And you want the protection not only from elements but security. And this is definitely a great way because if the tailgate is closed and locked, there's really no easy access to open 'em, correct Exactly, and out of sight out of mind. You know, it might be empty inside, nobody knows. But the other thing real nice about our tonneau covers no drilling whatsoever. Allen wrenches all the way and finger bolts, it was really engineered very well. So yeah, no permanent marks left on your truck- Exactly. after it's installed. Yep. So breaking down the different models, why would someone choose one model versus the other Where do they kind of fall into place Well, if the HF 650 is a low profile, it's sleek, it's pleasant looking to the eyes. Sure. The HF 350 is a three folding panel, it's the same process as far as installation, no holes whatsoever, but it's a little bit taller and stouter on the bed truck and has solid rails on the side. It doesn't have the rubber gasket rails on the side. Okay. As far as the folding covers. And then if you go into the soft Latitude that we sell, it's a tri-fold that folds up again with the sink latches to access the bed. And if you want full accessibility more into that truck bed, you go to the H, sorry, the SR 250 and that rolls all the way up against the cab of the truck. So the guy that's in it or the gal is in it a lot generally will go with that one. Okay, that makes sense. And then as far as some of the accessories that go along, if I have maybe some racks or anything that I might want to install with a tonneau cover, does it play ball with those Right now, nothing with our tonneau covers. with our Pace Edwards line we've got racks that we can install on top of those, yes. Okay. So maybe that's a good time. We actually have Pace Edwards We do. Yeah, out on his truck. So we're gonna take a look at that so you can really see it in person and see some of the cool features of it. So here on Greg's truck there's quite a few cool, some of their lines on the truck that we can actually take a look at and handle. So the first one, UltraGroove electric. I installed one of these on a truck and I was kind of blown away. It's got some pretty cool features that you normally don't see on a tonneau cover. So really at the push of a button this can open. Yep, it's an electric tonneau cover. Brad, I'll let you do the honors. Alright. Go ahead and push open on the key fob. And as you can see, it rolls down the track in a steady motion roll up into the canister up front. And then if you push it closed you can actually stop it by pushing it again and start it and it has hundreds of different intervals of range. That's awesome. So Bluetooth technology, so it does come with this collector, correct It does come with two of those key fops. Correct. Okay, excellent. And then also it can be controlled via Bluetooth It can, yes. You can download the app to your phone and you can push it, push the button right on your phone with the Bluetooth. No more having to lean over your dirty truck to flip it over. You can just simply, push of a button. That is really cool. Now while we're out here as well, taking a look at the fit and finish of these tonneau covers is something that really stands out. We get to install quite a few of them here at etrailer and I love the fit and finish on the end caps. All the seals, everything just fits really well with these and they just look like they're OEM. Well there's a lot of thought process that went into it a lot, a lot of engineering, there's stabilizers in the inside holding up the rail 'cause you want that rail on a straight plane. So it does retract in and out constantly at the same speed and it's all thumb screws. There's no tools again. That's easy. Again, the installation is you know, for something that you're gonna have on your truck for a while, it shouldn't be that big of a deal to but saving the headache when installing it, it's a huge difference. And just as Greg said, you know, there's thumb screws and there is gonna be some adjustment to really get it perfectly dialed in. So to be able to do that without having tools, that's really nice. And that's a low maintenance product. It's lithium grease in the track every six months and that's really it. That's easy. And as far as power, I remember there's wires that you guys give a harness that runs directly to the battery. Exactly. And so super easy. Goes right to the battery. There's a 15 amp inline breaker switch. Fuse. Fuse. Yeah, there you go, thanks. That comes with it also. But yeah, it's very easy to use. Now you also have some accessories that we have here from Leer as far as racks. Exactly. We offer two sets of racks in two heights. One, this is the lower set. Most of the outlanding people go with this to carry a tent. You can go above cab for the longer items. A canoe, a ladder, contractors love it. Now having powered any accessory on a vehicle is great. But a lot of times people wonder, okay, well my battery's dead or key fobs dead, I'm stuck, right You know, I can't do anything with this. Well normally you would be, but we did take care of that issue that if it does come up, there's a handle back here onto the canister that will disengage the motor from the rolling platform. So you can manually push that up and manually pull it back so it still works until you get the battery fixed or rejuiced or charged. Awesome. Now something else that when they take in consideration of design, things that I really liked when doing specifically the Pace Edwards line, I remember the drain tubes on this backside on the rail and normally you're gonna get them up in the front to be able to drain out any water that builds up in the canister you know, obviously. So it's not causing any buildup or any damage to any of the accessories. But having one here in the rail, that's really nice because water is going to kind of get in here but as long as you're extracting it and not getting it in the bed, that's the main thing. No, great point. Where there's air, there's water and we try to keep everything dry just so water doesn't freeze up in there when it, colder climates. But yeah, you're right. We've got one, two of 'em in the back and two of 'em up in the front and it keeps it as dry as possible. Of course nothing is 100% watertight but we we're working on that. Yeah, you're getting real close. We're getting close. Yeah. Enough to at least protect the stuff in the bed. Yep. Now with tonneau covers or camper shells, sometimes you don't have the accessibility to maybe reach into something heavy. Even if you fold it back, you don't want to have to crawl in that truck bed. And you guys have a solution for that We do. We recently, or not recently, a while back, you know, acquired BedSlide company, they're out of Oregon. We've got one installed in the back of the truck. It's got a 30 inch grab bar here. So it's real user friendly. And then the disengage it is right here. So you just grab the bar, pull back on the lever and there's a locking point that brings it back to about the tailgate and you'll hear it click into the first locking stage. So if you also want to get more usability out of it, you can pull it back and it gives you about 70% of the use right there. It makes it easy to get and unload everything you need to unload. 'Cause you know darn well whatever you put on the back of the truck ends up at the front of the truck. 100%. It brings it back a lot easier. And that's really nice. Not only, I've seen it in a lot of overland applications, obviously they load these trucks up and you have a rooftop tent so to climb in there you're having to duck. This makes it a lot easier. And even just normal applications. My dad has a Tacoma that he drives around with a camper shell and he plays a lot of music jobs and he has drums. Yeah. And he's 70 years old. Oh there you go. He doesn't wanna have to go back and forth and grab his stuff in the truck. So a BedSlide like this, he can simply just draw this out, have it ready to go. Yep. Yeah, every every person that has a cap and that has a BedSlide or a tonneau cover, this combination, they get another one, truck cap or tonneau cover, they'll get a BedSlide as well. Yep. It just makes sense. It makes the truck bed just more accessible. Yes. And that's really huge, especially if you are on job sites or whatever and you have all your tools, whatever you need, you can really gain access to it quick. And as far as weight capacities, these are pretty heavy duty. They are. And we have three different weight capacities as far as what they'll hold. This one's a 1,000 pound, we have a 15,000 pound and a 2,000 pound for the heavy duty big trucks, so. And going along with that, to get this mounted up, are you drilling holes into the bed or anything like that Well we do have two options. We've got the drill, the standard drilling of the frame and then we've got a no drill option for a lot of the trucks that are out there. So it's best of both worlds. Yep, that's great. And it's got nice texture here so nothing should be sliding around. But also you have movable, you know you have rails here but you can also move these attachment points and really strap everything down. Exactly, you got the tie downs, you can put 'em on the rail here on the side. I don't have the bed bins that are also an option, the storage, but they'll utilize the space over the wheel well so you can stack this thing, you know, in different configurations for the use you need out of it. That's awesome. And relatively, it's not that tall so you're not losing a ton of space. No. So that's really great too. You gain all the access and you're not really losing anything. No, not at all. So the UltraGroove is going to be a year make model specific for a truck, correct Yeah, it's correct. Yep. Okay. So you can use our fit guide here at etrailer.com to make sure you're getting the proper fit for your vehicle. And something that you may or may not notice is if you have an eight foot bed, you long bed guys, not super easy to find a tonneau cover. No, the electric one on the market, our UltraGroove electric is the only eight foot tonneau cover that's made to fit the eight foot beds, so. That's pretty cool. So for you long bed fellas, that's what you're gonna wanna be looking for, UltraGroove. I have videos on the installation of these, super easy but awesome product. So huge thanks to Greg from the Leer Truck Group for taking the time to break down their product lines and hopefully help you all at home, make a deciding purchase on the product that you may want for your truck, just to be able to protect it and use it a little bit more. Thanks Greg. You're welcome. Thank you.
Average Customer Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars (284 Customer Reviews)
You can install this retractable, hard tonneau cover on your vehicle in about 10 minutes, and you can completely remove it just as quickly for full bed access. Aluminum and vinyl deck has strength of a hard cover and seamless look of a soft cover.Was a mixup in the first cover delivered, was for a Chevy not my Ford. It took one phone call and a couple text to get the right one set out which I received in about a week.
Great fit for an eight foot bed. The Pace Edwards switchblade retractable bed cover was easy to install and adjust. This cover allows you to store items in your bed and still retract without blocking your rear window or folding in on your stuff in the bed. Very low profile cover.
This cover survived and protected sports gear in the July heat of Tucson to the frozen cold of winter in northern NV. Noticed there was no bowing with a foot of snow sitting on it. Water resistance is good. The only major issue has been user error as folks will grab the tailgate seal and pull the cover towards the tailgate instead of the using the strap. Doesn't take much to pull the brackets apart and reset the seal in the T groove. Overall I'm happy, bed when needed and out of sight coverage and weather resistant when closed.
Within three months the seals along the rails warped in the sun making it nearly impossible to slide the cover open or closed. I have upgraded my cover to a Bakflip MX4. I can’t share photos because I discarded the whole cover.
The bad:
1. The product showed up with damage. Box looked to be taped to fix it being dropped.
2. The metal parts that rest on the bed rail were bent.
3. They talk about shims in the instructions and the video but do not show where the shims are. I did have to remove them to help even out the distance the rails are between the front and back.
The good:
1. All parts were still in the box.
2. I was able to straighten the metal parts and install the product.
3. The installation video was very helpful.
The Pace Edwards Switchblade has performed well after a year. It's still holding up and is a great way to protect your bed and belongings. I use a slider hitch from Pull-Rite to tow and as long as the upper hitch plate is removed there is absolutely no interference. Also the cover does NOT interfere with towing when it's retracted. I would buy this again and recommend it for its durability and good looks.
This item was not satisfactory when I installed it, but it wasn’t bad enough for me to take it off and choose something different 3 years ago. Now, after just 3 years, this expensive tonneau cover fell apart beyond repair and is now useless. This unit was well cared for and never abused.
Dear Ranger owners. This product is one inch short. Be aware. If you got a one inch thick liner, this is perfect. If not, this product will not be flush with the front bed. If you make it flush, then it is one inch short. etrailer tells me to return it with xxx return fee. And they would charge me for restocking fee. Haha what an amazing policy. Now that customer received it, they know customers wont return with heavy return fee. STAY AWAY.
After searching for a bed cover I came back to etrailer because of the service and quality of my 5th wheel hitch that I purchased from them when I bought my new truck. I received my new bed cover and it is awesome just as described and fit perfect and took about 30 min to install it. etrailer is the place to buy all your truck or trailer needs . As you can see from the pictures it covers up my diesel tank and the 5th wheel hitch when not in use and when you pull the 5th wheel then just roll in into the canaster.
A bit of a pain to install in the drizzle, but had it in and working within an hour. So far, happy with it!
this was our 2nd Pace Edwards Retractable cover..1st one lasted 17 years great quality great service
This is my second switchblade, I like the security and look. It allows more water in the bed than expected. The packaging could be better this unit showed up with serious damage to the box and the drain tubes were broken due to placement under the canister in the box. Etrailer sent replacement drain tubes soon as I called. Great service!
The cover looks great and DOES work on a 2020 Ram 3500 8'bed. It was easy to install. It was missing 2 hex bolts to connect the rails to the canister but a few dollars at the local hardware store fixed that. The only concern I have is the canister cover is a little warped, either from shipping or manufacturing, allowing the cover to retract in the canister without touching the brush on the canister cover. This could allow dirt and dust into the canister later as well. All in all great looking cover that does what its intended to do.
Just installed this afternoon, so not a lot of experience yet. I installed by myself in about 1 1/2 hours. The instructions were clear and brief. I had a little trouble getting the front clamps in place, but that was due to the thickness of a brand new spray-in bed liner, it was pretty thick. Once everything was in and adjusted the cover works good and looks like it will keep most of the weather out.
Does not fit entirely flush with the trucks bed as the picture shows. Called customer service for help with the order and they tried to upsell me on another cover. I specifically stated that I didn’t see the cover with the matte finish. Website has poorly posted pics. Buyer beware. I’ll pay $[XX] to return the cover and will buy from [online vendor]
Not worth the money I spent ($[XX]). Looks nice . Easy to install. This will offer limited security . The cover itself is super light weight. If you wanted to gain entry, all you would have to do is stand on it .
Looks great. Should be durable enough for me and my application. Appears to be well made and was fairly easy to install. I was replacing an older well used cover for my truck that was a dealer installed after market cover that was merely worn out. My brother and I installed this Slingshot in a little less than an hour. A person with with average skills should be able to install this cover with minimal issue. Certainly is easier with two people but not difficult.
Item's box is well made and sturdy, however UPS shipping still was able to damage the item. Metal supports that hold the canister were bent. Was able to straighten them and installed it on my Ram 3500. Everything works like it is supposed to and you can't even tell it was damaged in shipping. Would have given this a 5-star rating but shipping and receiving the item in good order is part of the process.
Received my bed cover last night in a wore out beat up box. parts hanging out of it. When I opened it it was full of returned items from other customers. When I asked to discount and speed up shipment on the replacement I was told nothing he could do. I have been a loyal customer and I'm not happy with the way this has been handled.
easy install, works great, allows me to keep the bed cover on while using my 5th wheel.
The buying process - is very easy, and shipping - is sooner than expected at my door. Installation of the cover is also very easy. The quality is very good and it looks good.
E trailer has been awesome! They got me the exact cover I wanted. It looks great on the truck and is very secure. As for Pace Edward's this cover absolutely lousy keeping water out. Leaks through the container and fills the bed with more water than not having a cover at all drain tube are mostly for show don't work on a canister that's not sealed at all. Don't buy this if you want to keep things dry!
Seals didn’t last long. I had to replace the tailgate seal twice and finally siliconed it in place. Other than that it’s been a good bed cover.
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