A tonneau cover is a great accessory to have on your truck, especially when it comes to trifolds. But with so many options it may get overwhelming sometimes. But if you’re already down to these 2, I think I can help you out here.
Here the Lomax with its flushed design provides you with durable panels and a great finishing on their top.
And the Extang’s Solid Fold provides with thick panels which don’t sit as flushed but they sure bring in better durability.
Let’s check out if they are up to the mark.
Table of Contents
Let’s check out their designs:
The Solid Fold 2.0 is really solid with a thick cover design which I don’t think any other company offers.
And you may think its fat panels may weigh a lot… well, that’s not the case, they only weigh just 50 pounds (this is the weight of the box they came in).
And an average trifold cover would weight 20 pounds more.
But that’s not the main thing, the main thing here is its weight bearing capacity, and its greater than almost all the trifolds in this budget. It’s 600 lbs, (the BAKflip MX4 offers you 400, just in case, you need a reference).
The Lomax Stance also sits with 400 lbs and weighs about 80 pounds. So you know what I mean.
So how come these panels light and still pick up such great weights?
That’s because Extang choose another path instead of traditional aluminum. They used plastic and polypropylene.
Almost 80% of the tires material is this organic materials core and its sandwiched between 2 thermo grade plastic layers.
The molecular structure of this material has a lot of gaps in it but they make a very strong bond, that’s why this cover is so durable and light weight at the same time.
The cover also has the powdered coating on the top and besides adding additional strength, it also adds to its beauty as well, as the color matches to (most of trucks) OEM bed caps.
On the other side, if you want a more flushed looking design, look no further than Lomax Stance. This cover really wins the “how low can you go?”.
The cover barely sits above the bed caps and is as low profile as it gets, and it simply looks great (especially with its more expensive coating).
It actually comes in 2 different upper coating designs, Diamond mist and the Utherane Black, where the Diamond mist provides you with more protection and gives more life to the cover, hence, its the more expensive one. (But it’s really worth it).
The cover look very premium too, although really miss the underneath cushioning on this. As with such price, they should have provided such neat little features.
FYI: Underneath cushioning of panels dampens the noise, improving ride quality and of course protects the panels from scratches (from any sharp cargo for example), and they look bad when you drive around with them open.
The cover has rubber feet (like Extangs) so the panels don’t rub against each other. (It also helps with less rattling when you drive with them secured at 2/3rd position.
Both covers don’t offer drain tubes and they both come with weather tight seals and vinyl coated hinges which still do the job.
Also both cover automatically lock themselves on every closing (of the panels), but its more firm/rigid in Lomax, where it provides you with 10 locking system with molded storage brackets.
What about Protection & Durability?
In case of Lomax stance, the panels are too thin and they feel flimsy (despite having a weight rating of 400 lbs).
I mean at first, I wasn’t too sure, whether I can walk on these panels…
But then again they feel weaker than they actually are, and that’s because of their thin design as they sit very flush and flat as a pancake.
Also out of the two covers, the Lomax is more prone to leakage overall.
Despite the fact that you you get flush hinges (between each plate) with this cover, so the panels sit straight and don’t bow in the middle (and don’t make a pool of water).
But still the lateral seals between the panels would be the first one to leak. As the seals there go loose with time.
Also, the area along the tail gate is also another spot where you’d see leakage too.
But no cover is 100% waterproof, I mean I haven’t seen one, If you’ve, let me know.
So the cover’s rubber seals and gaskets are still fine. Just don’t put any rain sensitive stuff in your truck, especially along with the tailgate and under first lateral sealing area.
Other than this, the cover can be fully opened but its safe not to rest any heavy cargo against the panels as I am not too sure about their hook system (on top of the truck). But they do have safety clips in case anything fails.
Also I really like the locking on this thing. It’s very firm and durable, and it really gives you confidence that your truck is secured.
If we move towards the other cover here, the Solid Fold is really “Solid” with its weight rating of 600 lbs.
So here Lomax is no match against the Encore’s EnduraShield Panels, (as they like to call it).
But the Lomax still provides you with good resistance against UV, with its Diamond Mist coating. So it makes a good heat insulator keeping your cargo underneath cool (in summers). This also prevents corrosion.
Where on the other side, on Extang Solid Fold, you don’t have to worry about corrosion at all as they offer you with hard automotive grade plastic.
Like mentioned above the structure of polypropylene has a lot of gaps b/w its molecules and that does not allow heat to get transferred easily, that’s why it makes such a good insulator to heat, keeping your stuff cooler underneath.
Another benefit that comes from its composition is the overall ride quality. As it dampens the noise better, so less overall “rattling” is heard (from any cargo that you may carry).
This cover just like Lomax also does not provide you with drain tubes.
And overall, there’s not much difference when it comes to weather protection overall.
Performance/ Working:
Working with both covers is easy. But overall, I think its better with Extang’s Solid Fold. Mostly because of its installation time.
These covers can be installed / removed with in 5 minutes.
On the other side, it takes abut 30 to 40 minutes to get Lomax installed. It comes with bed rails with draining system and 3 clamp system and of course hard panels and you have to set those all up separately.
Both covers provide you with cable pull latches.
Other than this, both covers have dual action tail gate locks, where you can lock your cover even when the tail gate is open.
And yes, both covers also have automatic latching mechanism and they lock automatically on closing panels.
Both covers can also be be locked at 2/3rd partially open position (with the help of buckles/straps and you can safely drive your truck with partially.
To secure your cover in a 2/3 folded position, you are can use the cords on both sides (In case of Lomax Stance, where these cords get connected to the molded storage bungees provided at the front border). And in case of Solid Fold you use buckle straps.
But here the bands in Lomax Stance which are made of elastic, are very sturdy in comparison.
And in Solid Fold 2.0, for complete bed access, there are no prop rods but, you can easily remove the panels within minutes and use the whole bed that way.
So Whats the verdict?
Both of these covers are a great pick. Their mechanism is almost same, but there are no prop rods in Lomax Stance and the Extang’s Solid Fold can’t be opened to the last position but you can remove the cover easily within 5 minutes.
So installation and overall working is a win for Solid Fold. And of course durability too.
But the design, finishing award goes to Lomax Stance. Come on down.
