Buyer's Guide 8 min read
MX4, F1, G2 or Revolver X4s? The BAKFlip line-up is not a quality ladder — each model answers a different question. Here is how to pick without overpaying.
BAKFlip shows up as the top pick on more of our truck guides than any other name, which makes it the brand people trust and the brand people get wrong. The line-up looks like a ladder — cheaper to dearer, worse to better — and it is not one. Three of the models solve genuinely different problems, and buying the expensive one when you needed the odd one is the most common mistake in this catalogue.
Brand Review · 18 min read · Editorial team · TruckBedCoverFinder · Bought, not gifted · No paid placements
A BAKFlip truck bed cover is a hard folding cover from BAK Industries, and for most truck owners the MX4 is the right one and the argument ends there. Go up to the F1 only for the fibreglass-faced finish, drop to the G2 to save money on a cover that latches and seals the same way, and step sideways to the Revolver X4s if you load over the side rail and want a roll rather than a stack.
| Model | Pick it when | |
|---|---|---|
| BAKFlip MX4 | Default answer: matte aluminium, sealed, folds and props upright | See the spec |
| BAKFlip F1 | You want the fibreglass-faced look and a smoother top surface | See the spec |
| BAKFlip G2 | Same core cover, less money, plainer finish | Where it ranks |
| BAK Revolver X4s | You load over the rail — hard roll-up, no stack behind the cab | See the spec |
The honest part: the jump from G2 to MX4 buys you finish, sealing refinement and warranty. The jump from MX4 to F1 buys you appearance. If your budget is tight, a G2 on your truck beats an MX4 you talked yourself out of — the fundamental architecture is shared and so is most of the real-world performance.
Bought, not gifted. No paid placements. At no extra cost to you.
It is not marketing spend. Three things keep putting BAK at the top of category tests:
None of that makes BAK untouchable — Extang, UnderCover and Retrax all win specific comparisons on our site. It makes them the safe default, which is a different and more useful thing.
Matte-finish aluminium panels, bulb-sealed hinge lines, drain channels routed out at the corners, folds forward and props upright for full bed access, and it will take light loads on top without complaint. It is our default recommendation across most truck guides for the boring reason that it is very hard to find the buyer it disappoints.
What it is not: a load deck. Light gear on top is fine; a rooftop tent is not, and no amount of forum optimism changes that. If you carry weight above the bed, you want DiamondBack or a proper rack pairing. Full spec.
Fibreglass-faced panels over the same fundamental design. Smoother top surface, a more finished look, a price above the MX4. Buy it if the appearance matters to you and you can see the difference in person — plenty of owners cannot, which is the most useful thing anyone can tell you about the F1.
Functionally you are not gaining capability over the MX4. See the spec.
The plainest of the aluminium folders: same fold-and-prop behaviour, same clamp-on install, plainer finish and shorter warranty coverage. In cold climates especially, the G2 has been our standing “spend less, lose little” recommendation for years, and we have never regretted making it.
What you notice over time is finish wear and seal longevity rather than any day-one shortfall. That is a fair trade at the price, and it is exactly the trade the price is asking you to make.
Different architecture, same company. Aluminium slats that roll to the cab instead of folding into a stack, each carrying its own seal. Two reasons to choose it over the MX4: you load over the side rail regularly and the folded stack is in your way, or you want more usable bed height when the cover is open.
It gives up a little to the MX4 when water sits on the closed cover — a roll-up has more linear feet of joint than a three-panel folder — but it seals far better than any vinyl roll. See the spec, and our waterproofing guide explains why joint count is the number that matters.
BAK’s under-cover toolbox mounts at the bulkhead and works with the folding covers, which is one of the few clean answers to the “cover plus toolbox” problem — most combinations force a compromise on one side. If that is your situation, work through the toolbox compatibility tool before you order either half, because clearance is decided by your bed rail geometry rather than by the brochure.
| Question | If yes |
|---|---|
| Do you load over the side rail more than through the tailgate? | Revolver X4s |
| Is the cover’s appearance a significant part of the purchase? | F1 |
| Is the budget genuinely tight? | G2 |
| None of the above? | MX4, and stop reading |
The wider category context — where BAK sits against Extang, UnderCover and Rough Country — is laid out in our best hard folding covers guide. If you have not settled on a folding cover at all yet, retractable vs. folding is the decision that comes first.
All of these are clamp-on installs, no drilling, and a first-timer with basic hand tools finishes inside an hour. The problems that do occur are almost never the cover’s fault:
The MX4 for most people. The others are answers to specific situations — appearance (F1), budget (G2), side loading (Revolver X4s) — not steps up a quality ladder.
Panel facing and finish. The F1 uses fibreglass-faced panels for a smoother, more finished top surface at a higher price. The fold, the seals and the way you live with it are the same.
If the price gap matters to your decision, yes without embarrassment. You lose finish quality, some seal longevity and warranty coverage. You keep the fold geometry, the security and the weather performance that make the brand worth buying at all.
Light loads are fine; treating it as a deck is not. Distributed weight is very different from a boot heel or a rack foot. If the cover needs to carry things, buy a cover built to carry things.
Sealed, not waterproof — the honest word for every hard cover. Cargo stays dry in normal rain; seams get damp; the drain channels matter. Details in our waterproofing guide.
The aluminium panels outlive the seals. Expect to replace perimeter and hinge seals after several seasons — universal weatherstrip by the foot, an afternoon of work — and the cover carries on. Budget for seals, not for a replacement cover.
Retrax if you want the driest, most seamless closed cover and you accept a permanent canister eating bed length. BAKFlip if you want full bed access, less money and a cover you can fold out of the way completely. Neither is wrong; they are answers to different questions.
BAK Industries makes the hard folding cover we recommend more than any other, and the reason is unglamorous: the fold works, the seals last, and the hardware survives winters. Buy the MX4 unless you have a specific reason to buy something else, take the G2 without guilt if the budget says so, and only pay F1 money if you can see the difference and want it.
Next: see where each model ranks against rival brands in best hard folding tonneau covers, compare every cover side by side in the product database, or start from your truck with covers by truck model.
Last reviewed . Spotted an error or a fitment change? Email the editors — we fix fast and note corrections on the page.
Free tools
Free tools built on our truck spec database — no email, no sign-up.
Keep reading
Hard folding covers lock your bed and resist prying, making them ideal for protecting tools, gear, and other…
No tonneau cover is truly waterproof. Here is where water actually gets into a truck bed, which covers…
WeatherTech sells two bed covers and excellent support. Here is where the AlloyCover and the Roll Up land…
Pick your pickup — see exact bed lengths, every cover type that fits, and the factory-feature gotchas.
