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You can install this retractable, hard tonneau cover on your Ford F-150 in about 10 minutes, and you can remove it just as quickly for full bed access. Heavy-gauge aluminum panels with silicone hinges help protect your cargo from the elements.
Features:
Specs:
The Switchblade retractable hard tonneau cover provides you with security and weather protection for your truck bed, easy accessibility to your cargo, and the flexibility to haul large items that require full bed capacity whenever needed. You can install the cover without assistance in approximately 10 minutes, and you can completely remove it from your vehicle's bed just as quickly. The tonneau deck is constructed of a vinyl fabric top sheet that is bonded to rigid aluminum panels, combining the seamless appearance of a soft cover with the security features of a hard cover.
Simple, 1-Person Installation
To install the cover, set the canister on the bulkhead of your truck. Make sure that it's square with your bed. Bolt the side rails to the tabs on the canister.
Secure the rails to your truck bed side rails using 2 clamps per side. Slide the clamp onto the rail, flip the pivot arm up so it is under the bed rail lip, and tighten the clamp in place with the twist knob. Shims are included for trucks with tapered beds.
Each clamp at the tailgate end of the rails has a supplemental kickstand to help level the rails and prevent overtightening during installation. To install the kickstand, simply slide it into the grip handle at the bottom of the clamp. Rotate the kickstand so the foot rests squarely against the side wall of the truck bed, and tighten in place.
Mount the top cover plate to the canister with the included hardware. Attach the drain tubes to the canister and route each tube out of the OEM drain holes in the floor of your bed.
To hold the pull strap off the floor of your truck bed, apply the adhesive hook-and-loop fastener strip onto the underside of a rail at your desired location.
Remove or Reinstall in 10 Minutes
After the initial installation, the tonneau cover can be completely removed or reinstalled in approximately 10 minutes. The Switchblade is great for whenever you need to haul large items that require full bed capacity from front to back and side to side. After your large haul is complete, you can easily reinstall the cover to protect your truck bed again.
To utilize your entire truck bed, detach the canister from the side rails by removing the bolts on either side with a wrench. Then take the side rails off your truck by removing the clamps with the same wrench. Wrap the pull-strap around the canister and use it to lift the canister off your vehicle.
Retractable Cover with Built-In Pull Strap
To retract the Switchblade, simply squeeze the pinch grips located underneath the cover near the center of the tailgate to activate a heavy-duty tension spring. The spring automatically retracts the cover into the canister at the bulkhead of your truck bed. This provides quicker, easier access to your truck bed when compared with manual retractable covers that have no spring-loaded assist.
A built-in pull strap helps you extend the cover over your bed. As you pull, the tonneau will glide smoothly along tracks in the side rails until it reaches the tailgate and secures in place. You can also use the rear plate of the tonneau cover to pull it closed.
Compact, Angled Canister
The cover retracts into a canister located at the front of your truck bed, giving you unrestricted visibility out of your rear window. The canister also protects the stored cover from the elements. And the compact, angled design allows for maximum clearance for your tools and cargo.
Water Management System
The Switchblade rails feature a water management system that channels excess water into the canister. This prevents water from getting into your bed or freezing in your tonneau cover rails during cold temperatures. Drain tubes attached to the bottom of the canister remove water through the OE drain holes in the floor of your truck bed.
Flush-Mount Design
The black powder-coated side rails sit 1/8" above your truck bed rails for a flush appearance. This low-profile design is aerodynamic to reduce wind drag, and it helps to improve gas mileage when the cover is closed.
Stylish and Heavy-Duty Construction
The Switchblade deck is constructed of a vinyl top layer bonded to heavy-duty aluminum slats. This ArmorTek deck looks like a soft tonneau cover with no visible seams, but has the strength and security of a hard tonneau cover. A large seal at the rear of the bed closes the gap between the cover and tailgate to create a barrier to prevent water from entering the truck bed.
Security
The Switchblade provides excellent protection for your cargo when used in conjunction with a closed and locked tailgate. Both the pinch grips and pull strap are located underneath the rear plate, which makes them inaccessible when your truck bed is closed. The heavy-gauge aluminum panels are better at preventing theft when compared with soft covers that can be cut or punctured with a knife. The panels are also more effective at preventing theft than tri-fold hard tonneau covers because the panels cannot be pried open at any point along the rails.
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Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Speaker 1: Today in our 2016 Ford F-150 super cab, we're going to be installing the Pace Edwards switchblade metal tonneau cover. Part number 311SNFA06A29. What's great about the switchblade metal is that is uses heavy duty power coated aluminum panels, so it's going to be lightweight and durable. What I like it's extremely easy to operate. Just squeeze the pinch lever and you can open it from either side with only one hand. It has a built-in continuous tension spring that makes retracting it smooth and easy.
It's nice that the handle runs the full length of the tonneau so it's easy to close too.When used in conjunction with a locking tailgate you have full bed security. It's going to keep your gear dry so even if you've go a fifth wheel in there, it's going to prevent it from rusting. And the weather seal here at the tailgate is going to provide further leak protection. The full bed length pull strap means you can close it up after having just loaded your last item. Another thing I like is compared with folding tonneau covers, this one retracts into the canister so we're not going to lose rear visibility when opened.It's an easy no drill installation.
The only things you'll need are a 7/16ths socket or wrench and a Phillips head screwdriver. What makes these clamps unique is that they're rail fitted so they're going to be a lot more stable compared to traditional style clamps. The canister takes up about 11.5 inches of your bed, and it sits 2 inches high. The rails are flush mounted, but they sit inside of your truck bed about two inches. One thing to note is that you'll only have partial access to your stake pockets.Now that we've gone over all of the features I'll go ahead and show you how to get it installed.
The first thing we can do is get an extra set of hands and set our canister in place just behind our cab. Now you'll of course want to make sure that it's going to roll out towards our bed. So the strap needs to come this way. With our canister in place it's time to install our rails. We'll first need to pull back the protective paper on the back side, and now we can install it.
Now we want to make sure we have the correct rail. They are labeled, the right side is going to be the passenger's side. We'll locate the open end of the channel here. We can first rest it on our truck bed rail. We can slightly raise up our tonneau cover and then we're going to push the rail forward all the way until we can't anymore. And then we can run our hardware underneath.We're going to need some of the shorter bolts, a lock washer, and then a flat washer. Underneath here we've got a plastic bracket, if the rail is properly positioned the holes will align and we can go ahead and get that started. Once it's hand tightened we can take a 7/16ths wrench or socket and tighten it the rest of the way down. We want to be sure not to over tighten, we just want to flatten out that lock washer. With this side being done we can go ahead and repeat the same process on the other side. Now we can raise up our tailgate and we want our rails to make contact with our tailgate. We've got some adhesive padding back here, what we need to do is adjust that back until it makes contact. And that's on both sides.Now we'll install our clamps. There's four total, two on each side. We'll first take our clamp rail grip and we need to slide it onto the clamp relief, that's the opening of the channel underneath our rail. So we're going to put it on in this position. What we want to do is we want to go up with it first, push it in place and then slide it all the way forward until it hits the bracket underneath here. Now we can install our clamp pivot arm. It's going to go up just behind the clamp rail grip and line up with the holes. So to do this, we're going to need our bolt, a lock washer, and a flat washer. Put it in place and then run our hardware through. Once we get it hand tightened, we can take that same 7/16ths wrench or socket and tighten it all the way down. Again, we just want to flatten out that lock washer.The rear pretty much installs the same way. The only difference is we're going to slide it towards the rear until it hits the bracket here. And then we can install the rest of the hardware the same way. Once this side is done we can go ahead and repeat the same process on the drivers side. Now it's time to install our cover. We'll need to make sure that the brushes are facing towards the inside of the bed. The weather stripping on the back sits on top of our bull kit. We'll just need to line up the top two holes with the metal bracket underneath. Once it's lined up we'll take two of our black Phillips head screws and loosely install them. Before we tighten them all the way down, let's go ahead and line up the other side.Perfect, now let's check it out. I'd say it works pretty good. It's easy to open too, just squeeze the pinch levers and it opens right up. And the tension spring helps guide it back. Now would be the time to install our drain tubes. They simply just clip in underneath the canister on both sides and then they can go out an access point in your truck bed. If you don't have an access point you may have to drill a hole. For demonstration purposes we will not be installing these. Now if we want we can also install our hook loop adhesive strip. We can install this anywhere in our truck bed and what it's going to do is it's going to help keep our pull strap out of the way when we've got gear in the back of our truck. But for demonstration purposes, we will not be installing this.And that's going to complete our installation of the Pace Edwards switchblade metal tonneau cover. Part number 311SNFA06A29. On our 2016 Ford F-150 super cab.
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (9 Customer Reviews)
You can install this retractable, hard tonneau cover on your vehicle in about 10 minutes, and you can remove it just as quickly for full bed access. Heavy-gauge aluminum panels with silicone hinges help protect your cargo from the elements.Shipment was on schedule. The cover was very simple to install. Thanks Etrailer for another great product. We love it, now we can make trips without putting all out stuff in the back seat.
I will not purchase a Pace Edwards product again. I installed this tonneau cover on a Ford F-150 Platinum. It's disappointing when an accessory doesn't measure up to the actual vehicle. The cover had two major issues:
1) The tonneau cover doesn't roll back into the canister unless pushed multiple times while walking up the side of the truck. I measured the spacing between the rails multiple times at multiple locations with different tape measures to ensure it met the standards in the instructions (it did). Sadly, I can't stand at my tailgate and allow the cover to retract into the canister as my other friends who have tonneau covers can.
2) The rail to the tonneau cover came with some scratches on it even though I opened the package per the instructions to ensure that I did not scratch it. Once again, it's disappointing to have a new truck that looks great, but have a "new" accessory with scratches on it.
Cover is great looking, just what I wanted. After a year, it's still looking good. It's keeping the bed covered and secure. The only piece that I can say isn't the best is that I do get water at the tailgate edges, so it's not as dry as it could be,
The Pace Edwards Metal Switchblade was easy to install. It took less than 1 hour to install and it fit great. It looks great on the truck and provides a great way to secure the cargo and keep it out of the weather.
Easy to install,looks great,and works flawlessly. It is not completely waterproof but, for me, the small amount of water it lets in is ok.
The product is true to the description and of great quality. A big plus is it is made in USA!
Thanks etrailer.
Went together and fit great!
Easy to install.
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