Both these covers may look same but they are made very differently. And it would depend on your needs which one to get.
On one side, we have the BAKflip G2 which middle of the road product, provides you with good overall protection and design.
And on the other, there’s another trifold in town but its not made out of hard folding panels. And so it’s very light in weight and provides you with great ease of use.
Let’s find out which cover is more suitable for you…
Table of Contents
Looking at their designs
The G2 from Bak Industries is their middle of the road cover in its trifolds lineup. So the cover is not composed of all aluminum and instead its a composite material which is then wrapped with aluminum (which is of air craft grade).
So because of this the cover is not as durable as say all aluminum panels, but they still get the job done and save you a few bucks as well.
So yes, considering BAK’s other models, you can say it come in the budget category.
The cover comes with EPDM seals and drain tubes along with automatic latching panels as well as dual tail gate sealing (so you can close the tail gate over the closed cover and vice versa).
The cover also has a coating on top. It’s not FRP but its still provides with some sort of UV protection along with giving the cover a textured glossy look.
The cover has cable latches and you can secure your cover in a partial or fully opened position (with the help of prop rods).
If we look at the Extang’s Trifecta, the cover is not as durable as it is made out of a canvas material.
This cover basically has an aluminum frame (of industrial grade) and that frame is warped with a sheet of leather grain fiber with a vinyl finish giving it a matte black look.
The cover of course, because of this, is very light and helps with the priority of the company here, which is its “ease of use”.
That’s why this cover is very easy to install and remove, as well as operate.
It has Jaw grip latches underneath (lever/handle instead of cable latches), and they are more effortless to operate.
Note: These handles are only underneath the first folding panels and after that it has the same cable pull latches mechanism.
Nonetheless, the cover can be opened and closed with in 30 seconds, literally.
The Jaw grip handles are also located on both sides of the cover so you can access them from both ends.
Other than this, the cover has almost similar rest of the features, where you can secure the cover partially at 2/3rd position with the help of buckle straps. And the cover also has dual tail gate sealing like the BAKflip G2.
The cover also comes with multi lip sealing and provides a good prevention against water leakage as you’ll see in the section below.
Note: You can’t access full bed with this cover on. There are rods in Trifecta that would prop these panels up.
Also this things going to cost you almost same as a premium soft roll up cover.
And also note that the cover comes in just 2 sizes (5 foot 7 inches and other 6 foot 4 inch bed).
Protection and Durability:
Stating the obvious, with hard folding panels, the Bakflip G2 comes with more durability and provides you with more weight bearing capacity of 300 lbs, where the Trifecta with its softer material provides you with 175 lbs.
Note: 175 lbs is enough to take on hailing/ snow weight as well as heavy rain.
Both covers also have coating on top of them and they both provide you with equal protection against UV rays.
Actually, there is no special coating here and it’s simply a finish on both of them so equal protection is seen here.
And although both covers come with rubber seals, dual tail gate sealing and drain tubes, the BAKflip G2 provides you with better efficacy, due to being a hard cover.
Trifecta 2.0 resists a lot when it comes to harsh weathers, but its softer material tends to get wet and it has more tendency to leak in comparison.
But this cover can still handle hailing and storms like a pro, with it’s weight bearing capacity similar to premium soft covers as its fabric is made out of marine grade material.
And the cover has also upgraded a few things over its previous generation. It now comes with more rigid hinges and frames with sturdy corners which keeps the cover in its place.
And it has 2 pivot hinges now with exclusive snap on seals, so there is no adhesive that can wear off with heat (as it usually happens), providing this cover good weather protection capability.
Working and Installation:
Starting with G2 by BAK industries. Like mentioned above the cover comes with cable latches, but this cover has a tiny bit of an issue with it.
It’s cables really like to hide themselves underneath the panels. And I fixed this problem with zip ties, but before I always had to fish for them underneath.
The Trifecta 2.0 does not show this problem (from 2nd panels onward) as only those have the cable latches, and the first one comes with the handle which is much more easy to use in comparison.
But the Trifecta can not be propped up all the way, as G2 does, and if you wish to use your whole bed with it, you would have to remove the whole cover.
And like all other trifolds which block the rear view, the G2, still does not block the third brake in the middle, which is nice and neat feature to have.
And with rear bumpers, the panels also rest on the truck’s cabin and you can lean any heavy cargo with the opened covers, and they would take any impact, if any, saving your truck.
But when it comes to working, the Trifecta provides you with better accessibility and ease of use, they are very easy to remove and of course install as well.
The cover comes with everything and does not require any complex tools to get assembled.
I think it took me less time to put it on my truck then taking it out of the box.
So What’s the Verdict?
Well both covers are fine when it comes to overall protection. But the BAKflip G2 being a hard folding cover, would give you more security and durability then the softer cover of Trifecta.
But if you don’t want as much protection and simply want the back of your truck to look nice, while giving you an ease of use, then Trifecta is for you.
The cover is really a step up from the soft folding covers and provide you with a slightly more protection than them.
