Retractable Tonneau Covers in Winter: Snow, Ice and Freeze-Ups

A retractable earns its keep in winter by keeping the bed shut and free of snow while the truck sits outside. It loses it the morning the cover won't move. Every retractable runs its slats or panel along side tracks into a canister or stack at the cab, and water left in either place freezes overnight.

Snow-country owners split on them. Some run a retractable for years and shrug off the odd stuck morning; others regret buying one. Most of the difference is habit: clearing snow before opening, keeping water moving out of the canister and not washing the truck into a freeze.

A frozen cover can lock you out of more than the bed. On a Tundra with a hard roll-up frozen shut for weeks, the cover lapped over the top of the tailgate, so the tailgate stayed shut too.

Which cover styles freeze, and where

Every style freezes somewhere. What matters is where, and whether you can still get into the bed when it does.

The RetraxPRO XR and RetraxONE XR are retractables with canisters, and so are the Roll-N-Lock covers. The Peragon Landmark retracts too, but its panels fold into a stack at the front of the bed instead of a canister. The TruXedo Sentry CT and BAK Revolver X4s are hard roll-ups, the BAKFlip MX4 is a hard folder, and the TruXedo Lo Pro is a soft roll-up.

Retractables carry the worst winter reputation, and part of it is earned: the canister is one more place for water to sit. Owners who keep theirs working describe a routine more than a fight. RealTruck says the PRO XR is tested from -40 to 180°F, and Peragon, which engineers the Landmark in northern Wisconsin, says its open design won't freeze up and tells owners to brush the cover off in ice and snow. We'd still plan for the odd freeze-up on any retractable, and a strut-equipped Peragon sagged at the front panel in the cold.

Hard roll-ups aren't immune. Owners split on the X4s in winter: one ripped theirs off after it froze shut, while another has run one through three Nova Scotia winters by brushing the snow off and knocking loose ice with a fist. The older Revolver X4 freezes up now and then, and the T-slot X4ts can freeze at the lock. No Sentry CT owner describes a freeze-up, and the CT that lives outside around the clock came through snow and rain with zero leaks, but nobody describes snow load or ice on one, so treat that as a short record.

Owners who've run more than one style disagree on which opens more reliably on an icy morning. By one account a TruXedo aluminum roll-up opens more often than a tri-fold that won't fold with ice on it; by another, a roll-up and an Extang tri-fold both froze, and that owner now votes for a BAKFlip or a factory cover.

Snow load: clear the cover before you open it

Clear the cover before you open it, every time. Snow on a retractable's slats rides into the canister and melts there, snow on a folder's panels slides into the bed or stops the panels folding, and Peragon's folding stack carries snow into the bed the same way. RealTruck's warranty terms for the RetraxPRO XR, Sentry CT and Revolver X4s, the UnderCover Ultra Flex and the Extang Solid Fold ALX, and Tyger's warranty, all say the cover has to be free of snow and ice before you open it. Extang warns that severe damage may result if you don't, and Retrax says to remove water that collects on the cover before opening it too.

Then know the number. A rated load is weight spread evenly over the closed cover with the truck parked, and snow is the textbook case: Peragon's FAQ uses it as its example for 300 lb and says nothing should be on the cover while you drive. BAK's Revolver sheet says the same in capitals: don't operate the vehicle with objects on top of the cover.

The ONE XR is rated for 40 percent of what the PRO XR carries, and that gap matters more in snow country than anywhere else. Whatever the rating, don't leave a heavy, wet load sitting on any cover after a big storm. Soft covers need the most attention: TruXedo publishes no load rating for the Lo Pro, Tyger's warranty says to put no weight on its covers at all, and soft covers have torn under snow load, though a Gator soft tri-fold has held up under three feet of snow and ice.

Push snow off; don't chop at it. A soft brush or a push broom moves fresh snow without hurting the top. Chopping packed snow and ice off a BAKFlip MX4 can dent the panels even with a snow broom.

Frozen shut: how to free it without breaking it

Go gently. Retrax's care instructions are the only maker guidance we've found for a frozen cover, and they say not to force it open. Work through these in order:

1. Clear it. Brush snow and loose ice off the top, the ends of the tracks at the tailgate and the latch. A cover packed in by snow at the canister or the tailgate won't move any better with force.
2. Unlock, then ease it. Work the key and the handle gently and try to move the cover a little at a time. Don't hang your weight on the handle or yank the latch release.
3. Tap, never pry. Retrax says to use your hand to gently tap around the perimeter of the cover to free up the weather-stripping that seals its edges. A pry bar or a screwdriver in the track is how you bend the rails and slats the cover rides on.
4. Let it thaw. A heated garage or an afternoon of sun on the cover does the job without putting anything on the cover. RealTruck says you can open and close the PRO XR and the tailgate independently, so you can still load through the tailgate while the cover thaws, as long as the tailgate itself isn't frozen.
5. De-icer goes in the lock only. Retrax says lock de-icer can free up the key lock and not to let de-icer touch the cover. For any other cover, and for hot water or heat on any cover, ask the maker first: we haven't found a page or install sheet that approves them. Water poured into the tracks has to drain somewhere, and in a hard freeze it refreezes where it stops. The owner of a similar retractable on an old S10 spent hours with buckets of hot water and a heat gun to get it open in winter for an oversized item. We wouldn't put a heat gun or a flame anywhere near a cover, and the warranty terms are the maker's.

Never work a frozen latch from inside the bed with the cover closed. BAK's Revolver sheet says that cover has no release from inside and warns never to let anyone be in the bed with the cover closed. Treat every cover that way.

Drain tubes, seals and the canister

A retractable's canister catches the water that runs off the slats, and its drain tubes are the only way out. RealTruck builds integrated drain tubes into both Retrax covers. When a tube kinks, pops off or sits in slush, water stays in the canister, and standing water is what freezes. Before the first hard freeze, and again after any thaw:

• Route them out and down. Run each tube out through a bed drain hole or plug with a downhill path the whole way, never into the bed. The install guide for your part number decides where any hole goes.
• Trim them. On a RetraxPRO XR, cut the hoses to length so they don't back up. A tube that sags into a low loop holds water, and that water freezes in the loop.
• Keep them on. Hoses pop off and clog. Look under the front of the bed after the first few storms and after every wash.
• Look after the seals. Keep them clean and free of grit, and don't treat them or the top with anything the maker doesn't name. RealTruck's Sentry CT warranty excludes silicone or petroleum-based conditioners on the top.

For routing and drilling by truck, our guide to a leaking tonneau cover covers each bed's drain holes.

Salt, grit and winter washes

Road salt and grit end up in the tracks, and a retractable or roll-up that grinds over them won't run smoothly. Wash the cover and rinse the tracks on a day above freezing, with mild automotive soap and water only: RealTruck's warranty terms for the RetraxPRO XR, Sentry CT and Revolver X4s all say so. Don't lubricate the tracks to keep them moving. RealTruck says lubricating the rails or sealed ball bearings voids the RetraxPRO XR warranty, and BAK's Revolver sheet warns that lubricants and solvents can damage its rubber hinges and seals.

Time the car wash. A wash on a freezing day leaves water in the latch and the tracks, and that's when covers freeze shut. A Roll-N-Lock froze shut after washes, and froze in the rolled-up position when its owner left it open; Roll-N-Lock suggested 303 Protectant, and the owner still sold the cover for a cap. Wash when it's above freezing and the truck can dry before dark, or park it somewhere heated afterward. RealTruck says the Roll-N-Lock's key slot cover keeps snow and rain out of the lock so it doesn't freeze, so keep that cover closed.

When a roll-up, folder or one-piece suits snow country better

Choose by how often you need the bed on a frozen morning and how much winter routine you'll put up with.

• Keep a retractable if you want the bed sealed with the cover out of sight, or you carry a rack on T-slot rails, and an occasional stuck morning won't wreck your day. The RetraxPRO XR is the one we'd buy, for its 500 lb rating. Skip the ONE XR if heavy snow sits on your truck for days.
• Pick a hard roll-up if you want the security of hard slats without a canister to flood. The Sentry CT is our choice for a truck that lives outside. The X4s also has nothing in it to soak up water, though Revolver owners report freeze-ups.
• Pick a hard folder if you'd rather lift panels than roll slats along tracks. The trade is the tailgate seal freezing to the gate and foam-core panels that soak up water in freeze-thaw and get heavy to fold. RealTruck says the BAKFlip MX4 EZ-Lift cuts lift force to 10.5 lb, which makes it the version we'd look at if you park outside in snow country; we haven't confirmed an Amazon listing for it, so our pick is the standard MX4.
• Consider a one-piece lid if you rarely open the bed. A single lid has no tracks, slats or folds to freeze, but it's the heaviest to lift and gives the least bed access. We haven't reviewed one and have no owner winter reports to go on.
• Buy a cap if the bed has to open every morning no matter what. It's where the Roll-N-Lock owner above landed after too many mornings waiting for the cover to thaw.