BAKFlip MX4 vs G2: The Tailgate Decides It

Buy the BAKFlip G2 unless you open your tailgate many times a day. It folds to the cab, clamps on and gives you the full bed back the same way the BAKFlip MX4 does, and it cost a little less on every same-truck, same-bed listing pair we compared. Its water record reads no worse than the MX4's, possibly better. What the MX4's extra money buys is a tailgate that opens and closes with the cover shut, a 400 lb rating instead of 300, and a 5-year warranty instead of 3. Our scores put the two within a few tenths of each other, so how you use the bed decides it.

Neither is a dry bed out of the box. We rate the MX4's leak risk high and the G2's moderate, and the G2's rating rests on fewer, older reports. Plan an afternoon on the seals whichever you buy. If water is the worry that outranks everything, the LEER HF650M in the picks skips drain tubes altogether and has a good, if thin, record.

Take the MX4 if you're in and out of the bed all day, want the higher rating and longer warranty, or plan to keep the truck past year three. It's also the only one of the two with a rack-ready version and a lift-assist version. For weekend gear, groceries and road-trip luggage, the G2 does the same job for less.

The short version

Why the G2 gets our pick:

• Price: it cost less than the MX4 on all nine same-truck, same-bed listing pairs we compared on Amazon. The gap is small on every pair, which is why the rest of this list matters.
• Water: most G2 beds stay dry or see a few drips. MX4s leak more often as they arrive, at the front corners by the rear window first, then the tailgate end and the side rails.
• A settled design: RealTruck describes no recent redesign of the G2. The MX4's Gen 3 re-engineering brought rails that can be stubborn to seat and too many covers that arrive with something wrong.
• A tool box underneath: a BAK Box 2 works under a G2 on a Gen14 F-150. BAK's redesigned MX4 rails no longer fit the BAK Box.

What the MX4's extra money buys:

• The tailgate: it opens and closes with the cover shut, thanks to a dual-action tailgate seal. With the G2 shut, you lift the rear panel, close the gate, then lower the panel so it latches.
• Ratings: 400 lb evenly distributed and a 5-year warranty, against the G2's 300 lb and 3 years.
• Versions: the MX4 EZ-Lift adds a lift assist up front, and the MX4 TS adds T-slot side rails for mounting a rack. RealTruck lists no such versions of the G2.

What's the same: both clamp on with no drilling on most trucks, per RealTruck, and RealTruck quotes 30 minutes or less for each. Both fold forward to the cab, and neither has a published weight or a keyed lock: the panels latch automatically as they close, so with the cover shut and the tailgate locked, either is as secure as your tailgate lock. On a Tacoma with deck rails, both put the rails back on drop brackets that bend under a ratchet strap.

Side by side on paper

Here are the two from RealTruck's own product pages and, where those are silent, the Amazon listings:

Both are hard folders that clamp to the bed rails, both let you drive with the cover folded open, and the G2's Amazon listing says it doesn't cover the third brake light either. RealTruck says each Gen 3 MX4 panel is 22 percent stronger than the original MX4's and its tailgate seal is 13 percent longer than before. The G2 page makes no comparable claim.

The warranty gap matters more than the rating gap. Keep the truck five years and the MX4's warranty covers all five; the G2's runs out after year three. Both end when you sell the truck, because both are limited to the original buyer, so a used cover of either kind comes with none. The rating gap matters less than it looks. Both figures are for weight spread evenly across the whole closed cover. Neither is a rating for someone kneeling on one panel or a loaded cooler on a seam, and RealTruck publishes no point-load figure for either BAK.

Folded, both stack against the cab, right behind the rear window. The MX4 leans back toward the glass, and on a Colorado it blocks the view out the back entirely. Expect to drive on your mirrors with either one folded.

The tailgate routine

This is the difference you'll feel every day, and for most buyers it settles the choice. With the G2 closed, the rear panel has to be up before the tailgate can shut. RealTruck's own G2 page puts it as close the tailgate, then slam the cover. The MX4's dual-action tailgate seal lets the gate swing open and shut under a closed cover.

If you open the bed a few times a week, the extra step costs you a few seconds you'll stop noticing. A G2 that keeps a kid's baseball equipment, folding chairs and road-trip luggage locked away from thieves is the use this cover suits, and its owner calls the step a non-issue. If you're in the bed several times a day, loading tools, dropping the gate to reach something, closing it again, the routine gets old fast. It's the reason an owner who's run both gives for preferring the MX4, and it's the one difference we'd pay for.

Count your tailgate cycles before you shop. Once a day or less, buy the G2. Many times a day, buy the MX4.

Water: neither is dry by default

The MX4 leaks more than a cover at its price should. The front corners next to the rear window take on water first, the tailgate end comes a close second, and the side rails third, with hard rain the usual trigger. A warranty swap doesn't reliably cure it. That second spot is where the MX4's seal lets the gate move under a closed cover, though we can't tie the leaks to that design, and the G2 has too few reports to compare spot for spot.

The G2's record reads better. Most G2 beds stay dry or see a few drips, and when water does get in, it comes at the cab end or through tired seals. A Tacoma G2 with no tailgate gasket stays dry at the tailgate. Hold that loosely: there are far fewer G2 reports, much of the history is on older trucks, and fewer reports means fewer chances to hear about a leak. Some shoppers pick the G2 because they've read about MX4 leaks. That's a reasonable lean, and it doesn't prove the G2 is drier.

The fixes are the same for both. Reset or tighten the clamps first, square the rails, then add silicone along the rails, weather stripping at the bulkhead and a tailgate seal kit. On the MX4, route both drain tubes all the way out of the bed and keep them clear; on a 4th gen Tacoma its tube is twice the diameter of the bed's drain hole, so you drill or fit a reducer. RealTruck's G2 page doesn't describe drain tubes, so follow the install guide for your truck, and if it calls for drilling, the guide governs. Replacement side seals for the G2 can be hard to find.

If water decides it for you, the G2 is the safer of the two BAKs. The LEER HF650M below keeps water out about as well as the G2 with a seal design that doesn't rely on drain tubes, and we'd look at it before either.

Panels, finish and how they age

Durability comes out even, for different reasons. The G2 has years of history and plenty of repeat buyers, mostly on older trucks. The MX4's long record belongs to earlier versions that ran five to nine years; the Gen 3 hasn't been out long enough to inherit it.

• Dents: hail dents the G2's thin aluminum skins. The MX4's matte top scratches easily and dents if you chop packed snow and ice off it, even with a snow broom, and its underside dents too. Neither is a reason to pay more. UnderCover's Armor Flex has a coated top sold as dent resistant, though owners haven't reported on it in hail.
• Finish: the G2's gloss can fade in hard sun, and a trim dressing brings it back to a deep black; RealTruck says the powder coat resists fading. The matte MX4 shows scratches instead.
• Recent MX4s: the redesigned rails are harder to seat, the clamps don't always stay tight, and covers have arrived scratched, with a broken latch or with latches installed wrong at the factory. Inspect an MX4 the day it arrives, before you install it.
• Small parts: the MX4's prop rods pop out, and its plastic latch parts get brittle with age, with replacement parts quoted at up to 10 weeks. On either cover, the nuts at the front of the rails can work loose, so re-tighten them after a few weeks.
• Folding weight: the G2 is heavy to fold back to the window. In hard-winter climates the MX4's foam-core panels can take on water and get heavy too. RealTruck says the MX4 EZ-Lift cuts lift force to 10.5 lb, which makes it the version to look at if you park outside in snow country.

Racks and tool boxes split the two cleanly. If you want crossbars or a rack on the cover, the MX4 TS is the BAK with T-slot side rails for it; RealTruck's G2 page says nothing about racks. If you want BAK's own tool box under the cover, the G2 is the one it still fits. We know a BAK Box 2 works under a G2 on a Gen14 F-150; on other trucks, confirm it with the exact cover.

Which trucks have both

BAK sells one part number per truck and bed for each cover, and Amazon lists them the same way. We confirmed the listings below on each one's own product page; the fitment tables under the picks carry the part numbers, bed lengths in inches and each listing's restrictions.

• F-150 (Gen14, 2021 on, and Gen13, 2015-2020): both have confirmed 5 ft 7 in listings for each generation. Both also have a Gen13 8 ft 2 in listing. The G2 adds a Gen14 8 ft 2 in and a Gen13 6 ft 7 in. RealTruck lists Gen14 6 ft 7 in parts for both that we didn't confirm on Amazon.
• Silverado and Sierra 1500 (T1XX, 2019 on): both have short-bed and 6 ft 7 in listings that say they work with the MultiPro and Flex tailgates, and the G2 adds an 8 ft 2 in. Neither short-bed listing fits the CarbonPro composite bed. Amazon calls the short box 5 ft 10 in; RealTruck calls it the 5 ft 8 in bed.
• Ram 1500 (DT): the tailgate decides it. For the 5 ft 7 in bed without the multifunction split tailgate, both have a confirmed listing. With it, only the G2 listing is confirmed. For the 6 ft 4 in bed, we confirmed the MX4 with the multifunction tailgate and the G2 without it. RealTruck sells both versions and RamBox parts for each cover, so match the exact listing.
• Tacoma (4th gen, 2024 on): both have a confirmed 5 ft listing, and RealTruck lists both parts for trucks with the deck rail system. For the 3rd gen (2016-2023), only the MX4 listing is confirmed, built around the factory track system; RealTruck lists G2 parts we didn't confirm on Amazon.
• Tundra (3rd gen, 2022 on): we confirmed the MX4 for the 6 ft 7 in bed and the G2 for the 5 ft 7 in. RealTruck lists both covers in both lengths, but for the other bed neither listing is confirmed here. Check fit for your truck.
• Maverick, Colorado/Canyon and Ranger: both have confirmed Maverick listings that read 2021-2026, though the truck started in 2022, and both have 2023-on Colorado and Canyon 5 ft 2 in listings. Neither has a confirmed 2024-2025 Ranger listing. RealTruck sells separate parts for the 2026-2027 Ranger, and a 2024 Ranger's G2 didn't fit its owner's 2026, so buy the part listed for your model year.

Which one for how you use the truck

• Weekend gear, groceries and road trips: the G2. You'll lift the rear panel a few times a week, keep the money, and get a cover with the steadier water record.
• In the bed all day: the MX4. A tailgate that works on its own saves you the routine every time you drop it, and the 5-year warranty runs two years past the G2's.
• Snow country, parked outside: the MX4 EZ-Lift. The 400 lb rating leaves more margin under an evenly spread snow load, and the lift assist helps when the panels are heavy. Brush snow off rather than chopping ice off the top.
• A rack on the cover: the MX4 TS. RealTruck lists no rack version of the G2.
• A BAK Box underneath: the G2, the one whose rails still fit it.
• Buying used: either, but know which one you're looking at. The G2 is gloss and the MX4 matte, a cover sold as just a "Bakflip" could be any BAK folder, and neither warranty transfers. Check the bulkhead seal, the seals between the hinges and the side seals, and count the clamps.

The G2, unless you live in the bed

For most trucks we'd buy the G2. It does what the MX4 does for a little less money: a locked bed, a cover that folds to the cab and the whole box back when you need it. Its water record is at least as good. The tailgate step is the price of the savings, and if you open the bed a few times a week you'll stop noticing it.

Pay for the MX4 if the tailgate routine would wear on you, if you'll keep the truck past year three, or if you want the TS rack rails or the EZ-Lift assist. Either way, check the cover over the day it arrives, set the rails square and budget an afternoon for the seals.