TruXedo Sentry CT vs BAK Revolver X4s: The CT, Unless You Want Vinyl

Buy the TruXedo Sentry CT unless you want a vinyl top. These two are the same idea: interlocking aluminum slats under a one-piece top that rolls to the cab, straps there and leaves the rear window clear, with the same 400 lb evenly distributed rating and a 5-year warranty for the original buyer. The CT cost less on 11 of the 14 matching truck-and-bed listings we compared, has the deeper record of dry beds, goes on with less fuss, lifts out without tools on most versions and has listings for the Ram multifunction tailgate. Our scores put it more than half a point ahead.

The BAK Revolver X4s earns its place with the top. It's matte vinyl instead of canvas, and buyers who don't want fabric on their truck choose it for exactly that. It also has confirmed Amazon listings for the 4th gen Tacoma and the Colorado and Canyon, which the CT doesn't, and it cost less on the Maverick, the 3rd gen Tacoma 6 ft 2 in bed and the Tundra 5 ft 7 in. Budget more time to get it seated right.

Neither keeps every drop out, neither publishes a weight, and neither has rack rails on the cover itself. The CT's tailgate has to close before the cover does, and RealTruck doesn't say how the X4s handles that, so read the tailgate section before you order.

The short version

Why the Sentry CT gets our pick:

• Price: it cost less than the X4s on most matching listings. The exceptions are the Maverick, the 3rd gen Tacoma 6 ft 2 in and the Tundra 5 ft 7 in.
• Water: more CT owners report a dry bed, over more years, and the misses are car-wash drips and a bit in very heavy rain. Our leak-risk gauge reads low on the CT; the X4s evidence is too thin to set it.
• Install: RealTruck quotes 30 minutes or less for most one-person CT installs, and it's an easy job. New X4s covers more often fight a front corner that won't lie flat or a bulkhead seal that binds.
• Removal: two front latches release the CT without tools on most versions. The X4s comes off its rails with four hand knobs, though lining it back up afterward can take an hour.
• Ram multifunction tailgate: the CT has listings for it in both beds. RealTruck says the 5 ft 7 in X4s isn't compatible with it.

What the X4s offers instead:

• A vinyl top: no fabric at all, which is the reason buyers who pick it give.
• More confirmed listings: the 4th gen Tacoma in 5 ft and 6 ft, the 2023-on Colorado and Canyon, and the Silverado and Sierra 8 ft 2 in bed. RealTruck lists a CT for the first two, but we couldn't confirm one on Amazon.
• A few cheaper listings: the Maverick, the 3rd gen Tacoma 6 ft 2 in and the Tundra 5 ft 7 in, where the X4s also works with or without Toyota's deck rail system and the CT listing is for trucks without it.

What's the same: the 400 lb evenly distributed rating, a 5-year warranty for the original buyer only, aluminum slats under a one-piece top with no fold seams, a roll that straps at the cab with the rear window clear, and a clamp-on install with no drilling on most trucks, per RealTruck. Neither publishes a weight, neither describes drain tubes, and neither has rack rails on the cover. They mount differently: the TruXedo sits on its own rails, while the BAK moves the rails and uses the mounting bolts.

Side by side on paper

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

The CT's top is the current RTxTechWeave. Earlier listings described a matte black woven fabric, so most CT owner reports likely predate it. The X4s's vinyl is aluminum-reinforced, and RealTruck doesn't publish how big its roll is when the cover is open. Both warranties are limited to the original buyer and don't transfer; the CT's spells out that the fabric is covered too.

The 400 lb figure is weight spread evenly across the closed cover on both. A kneeling adult or the corner of a loaded cooler is a point load, and neither rating covers that. RealTruck's X4s install sheet says not to drive with objects on top of the cover, and both makers rule out tying cargo to the framework.

RealTruck calls the X4s the most secure hard roll-up in its class, on its own scale. We can't verify that, and the owner evidence doesn't separate them: both have slats a blade won't open, both release from the tailgate end, and an X4s owner whose friend runs a CT says both meet the security bar. Lock your tailgate with either one.

Canvas or vinyl

For buyers who've narrowed it to these two, the top usually settles it, and the split is clean. People choose the CT for the cloth look and the X4s because they don't want fabric. Some go a third way and buy TruXedo's plain Sentry, which has a vinyl top, for the same reason. We don't think either top is a mistake; pick the one you'll like looking at for five years.

Care differs, and it's easy to get wrong. RealTruck's CT warranty excludes silicone or petroleum-based conditioners on the top, so ask TruXedo what it approves before you treat it. On the X4s, owners use a vinyl protectant like 303 on the top; check BAK's care instructions first, and keep it off the rubber seals: on one cover the treated seals got so slippery the cover wouldn't roll tight, and it took isopropyl alcohol to strip them.

The canvas has a good record for staying clean, even after a 12-mile dirt road in the Nevada desert. The X4s's vinyl has no comparable report either way.

Water: both mostly dry, the CT with more proof

Expect a dry bed from either most of the time, with a little water now and then. Both tops are one piece, so there are no fold seams for water to find, and RealTruck markets each as the most leakproof of all folding, roll-up and retractable covers. We wouldn't repeat that for either. The X4s's own install sheet is more modest: the cover is not airtight.

The CT's record is deeper and older. Most CT owners who describe water report a dry bed, including a truck parked outside around the clock through snow and rain, and the misses are mild: a little at the tailgate end in car washes, a bit in very heavy rain. The X4s's record points the same way with fewer, newer reports, most of them a few months in: most of those owners report a dry bed, and the rest a little, one mainly near the tailgate. Nobody describes wet cargo under either. Our leak-risk gauge reads low for the CT, and we've left it blank on the X4s until there's more to go on.

Fit decides how dry yours stays, and that's where the X4s gives up ground. A front corner that rides up near the rear window is common on new X4s covers, and a gap there is a gap in the seal. A rear edge that sits proud of the tailgate often means the cover sits too far forward, and sliding it back with the four hand nuts helps. The CT's known fit problem is narrower: on 3rd gen Tacomas the rail can ride up at the tailgate end over the bed flare, and one CT didn't sit entirely flush on a RamBox truck at first.

Not everyone reads it our way. An X4s owner whose friend runs a CT finds both keep the bed dry, and a CT owner with car-wash drips is leaning toward a BAK on the current truck after reading that it seals better. To find a leak on either, run a hose over the closed cover one zone at a time and open the bed after each pass. Never get into a closed bed to look; the X4s install sheet notes there's no release from inside.

Winter evidence is thin on both. On the X4s it splits: a Nova Scotia owner has run one through three winters by brushing the snow off and knocking loose ice by hand, while a Tacoma owner ripped theirs off after it froze shut and broke when forced open. Nobody describes snow load or ice on a CT. Clear heavy snow before you roll either one, and don't force a frozen cover.

Install, removal and the tailgate

The CT is the easier install. RealTruck says most one-person CT installs take 30 minutes or less, while the spec block on the same page says less than an hour, and a cover that fit perfectly went on in 30 minutes start to finish with a 1/2 in socket. RealTruck quotes an hour or less for the X4s and rates it a Level 1 simple install, but plan an afternoon. Even easy X4s installs can end with a front corner that won't sit flush. A Honda Ridgeline install took four hours and a bulkhead weatherstrip that had to be trimmed with BAK's written go-ahead, and a Tundra owner was waiting on a third cover after the first two wouldn't lie flat. BAK has replaced whole covers under warranty, but it sells parts only through warranty claims.

Removal favors the CT too. On most versions, two latches at the front let you lift the whole cover out without tools. RealTruck says the Tundra 6 ft 7 in version built for the deck rail system skips the quick-release, and one owner describes removal as undoing two 1/2 in bolts, so check your version. The X4s comes off its rails with four hand knobs, though lining it back up afterward can take an hour.

The tailgate is the CT's quirk. Its rear seal sits on top of the closed tailgate, so the tailgate has to shut before the cover does. On one cover, closing the tailgate again means pulling a string to roll the cover back a little, and a buyer who liked the fabric planned to return the CT for an X4s because of it. RealTruck doesn't say whether the X4s's tailgate opens and closes with the cover shut, so don't buy it on that assumption; ask the seller. If you want a tailgate that works on its own under a closed cover, a hard folder like the BAKFlip MX4 does that.

Driving with the tailgate down and the cover closed is a no on the CT, per TruXedo support, even though CT owners who've done it say it stays latched; we'd follow TruXedo. RealTruck says nothing either way about the X4s. For long loads, roll either cover to the cab and strap it, which RealTruck says you can drive with.

Durability: the CT has the longer, cleaner record

The CT's record runs longer. One ran four or five years on a previous truck with no ripping and no fading, others look new at one and two years, and we haven't seen a slat, latch or rail failure reported. Those reports cover the earlier fabric top, so the current RTxTechWeave version has less history behind it.

The X4s's record is short and more mixed. The longest report is three years on a Sierra parked outside in Houston heat with no issues, and most owners are writing a few months in. Against that: a cover the wind blew off its rails after 13 months, seals that failed within a year on a Ridgeline (BAK honored the warranty) and covers that never sat flat. Peeling tops and delaminating felt belong to the older Revolver X4, so we don't count them against the X4s.

Which trucks have both

TruXedo and BAK each sell one part per truck and bed, 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 bed lengths in inches and each listing's restrictions.

• F-150 (Gen14, 2021 on, and Gen13, 2015-2020): both in 5 ft 7 in, 6 ft 7 in and 8 ft 2 in. Each CT listing says 2015-2027, so one part covers both generations; BAK sells separate X4s parts for each, so buy the one listed for your year. The Gen14 8 ft 2 in X4s listing's title says 2021-2025 while its fitment bullet says 2021-2024.
• Silverado and Sierra 1500 (T1XX, 2019 on): both have the 69.9 in short bed, which the CT listing calls 5 ft 10 in and the X4s listing calls 5 ft 8 in, and the 79.4 in bed, all listed as working with the MultiPro and Multi-Flex tailgates. Each has a separate CarbonPro listing, and RealTruck says the CT and the 5 ft 8 in X4s won't work with GM's factory storage boxes. Only the X4s has a confirmed 8 ft 2 in listing.
• Ram 1500 (DT): the tailgate decides it. The CT has listings with and without the multifunction split tailgate in both the 5 ft 7 in and 6 ft 4 in beds. RealTruck says the 5 ft 7 in X4s isn't compatible with it, and the 6 ft 4 in X4s listing doesn't mention it, so ask the seller. Neither has a confirmed RamBox listing: no CT listing mentions RamBox, and one X4s listing says w/RamBox in its Amazon title while RealTruck's page for that part says nothing about it. Most listings don't name the body style, so confirm they're for the DT and not the 2019-2024 Ram 1500 Classic. RealTruck says a TRX bed bar has to come off for the CT and for the 5 ft 7 in X4s.
• Tacoma (3rd gen, 2016-2023): both in 5 ft 1 in and 6 ft 2 in. The CT's Amazon listings exclude trucks with the Trail Special Edition storage boxes, and RealTruck's page for the 5 ft 1 in X4s says it won't work with the factory bed storage boxes. Check the CT's rail at the tailgate end on this truck before the first rain.
• Tacoma (4th gen, 2024 on): X4s only, in 5 ft (RealTruck says it needs the deck rail system) and 6 ft (for trucks with the factory track system). RealTruck lists CT versions that need the deck rail system, but we didn't confirm one on Amazon.
• Tundra (3rd gen, 2022 on): both in 5 ft 7 in and 6 ft 7 in. The CT's 5 ft 7 in listing is for trucks without the deck rail system, while RealTruck says the 5 ft 7 in X4s works with or without it. The CT comes in both rail versions for the 6 ft 7 in bed, and the deck-rail version has no quick-release. CT listings say 2022-2027 and X4s listings 2022-2026. On a 2026 Tundra with the automatic tailgate, check that the X4s's rear bracket clears the tailgate.
• Maverick: both, for 2022 on. The listings call the bed 4 ft 6 in, while RealTruck calls it 4 ft 4 in.
• Colorado and Canyon (3rd gen, 2023 on): X4s only, in 5 ft 2 in, and RealTruck says it works with the factory sport bar. RealTruck lists a 5 ft 2 in CT we didn't confirm on Amazon.
• Ranger (6th gen): neither confirmed on Amazon. RealTruck lists 5 ft 1 in versions of both for 2024-2025, so check fit for your truck.

Which one for how you use the truck

• Most trucks, most buyers: the CT. Less money on most listings, more proof of a dry bed and an easier install.
• No fabric on your truck: the X4s. It's the reason buyers choose it, and it's a fair one.
• A Ram with the multifunction tailgate: the CT, the one with listings for it.
• A 4th gen Tacoma, Colorado or Canyon: the X4s, the one with confirmed listings.
• You pull the cover off often: the CT, with tool-free latches on most versions.
• A rack on the cover: neither as sold. BAK's Revolver X4ts and the RetraxPRO XR have T-slot rails, and the CT has worked with TruXedo's Elevate rails for owners who install the two together.
• In and out of the bed all day: consider a hard folder like the MX4 instead, whose tailgate opens and closes with the cover shut, and accept the folded stack in your rear window.

The Sentry CT, unless you want vinyl

For most trucks we'd buy the Sentry CT. It does the same job as the X4s for less money on most listings, with a longer record of dry beds, an easier install and a cover that lifts out without tools. Order the listing for your exact bed and tailgate, and on a 3rd gen Tacoma check the rail at the tailgate end before the first rain.

Buy the X4s if you'd rather have vinyl than canvas, or if you drive a 4th gen Tacoma, a Colorado or a Canyon. Set aside an afternoon for the install, check the front corners and the rear edge before you call it done, and get BAK's answers in writing if anything needs cutting or replacing.