Realtruck Bakflip MX4 - rail hardware keeps loosening

[alrashid2]

Hey guys, curious if any of you have seen this when installing the Bakflip MX4 tonneau cover (Also paging @RealTruck if you have any advice here!)

Installed my Bakflip 1 week ago and all went well. A few days ago I noticed one of the rails was not tight against the bed rail in one spot. Figured it was my fault and went to loosen the bracket bolts slightly to allow me to adjust. I found that the bolt I started with was already loose! Was just barely beyond finger tight. I thought this was weird as I had cranked them down pretty good, but not too hard. Went and checked the other brackets and all 6 were loose. Tightened back to ~ 10 ft lbs, and drove to and from work the past 2 days. Checked again today and theyre back to being loose again. Not loose enough to cause the rails to move (yet) but definitely not tightened down like I did with my ratchet just 2 days ago.

Any advice here? I'm wondering if I should uninstall and reinstall with blue loctite or something...

I also looked under at the brackets and noticed that all 6 brackets are tightened against the plastic bed rail liner, not metal on metal, due to the plastic extending lower than the metal... curious if this is how you guys' looks as well. Would appreciate if someone could check!

Thanks all

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[RealTruck]

Yep, it definitely shouldn't be loosening up on you! The clamps should be attached with a Torx bolt with washer on one side, and a serrated flange nut on the other side of the metal bed flange, which should not allow the hardware to loosen over time. If you don't have serrated flange nuts, or if you do and it's still coming loose, please send us a DM here, or an email at [email protected] so that we can get the issue resolved for you as quickly as possible.
Thanks
-Todd

 

[alrashid2]

Thanks for the reply! I did get a DM from Ashley who is looking into it.

I do have all the correct hardware. In the meantime today I am going to loosen the bolts, blue loctite the threads, and retighten to 10 ft lb spec. And check again in a few days! Thanks!

 

[EdCay]

Had the same problem, and lost the bolts along the way, soooo I bought longer bolts and Loctite, problem solved for now.

 

[cb4017]

Hmm, guess I better check mine. Got Vibra-Tite and blue Loctite if needed.

 

[alrashid2]

Grrr.. I got all of them loctited down and torqued to 10 ft lbs. I now noticed that the rails are tilting up at an angle. Can any of you confirm if yours look like this? Not sure if this is normal or bad...

 

[RealTruck]

Grrr.. I got all of them loctited down and torqued to 10 ft lbs. I now noticed that the rails are tilting up at an angle. Can any of you confirm if yours look like this? Not sure if this is normal or bad...

Slightly tilted up is better than slightly tilted down. Tilted down just a little makes it difficult to latch, or might require you to push down on the cover to latch.

I'm the guy that tries to do everything by myself, but to get the rails perfectly square, it can be helpful to have someone hold the rail while you tighten the clamps. That's because it typically takes one hand to hold the rail, one hand to hold the Torx driver, and one hand to hold the wrench for the serrated flange nut. That's three hands, and I don't know about you guys, but I only have two.

In my stubbornness, sometimes I'll tighten the hardware by hand, then use tools until the serrated flange nut starts to grab, then I can tighten while I steady the rail until the rail is set, which then allows me to use the Torx driver and wrench to tighten to spec without the rail moving out of position. That's a lot more steps than just having someone else hold the rail in place while you tighten, but you do you, no judgment here.

I have noticed that sometimes the grooves on the serrated flange nut will be a little rounded because of the anticorrosion coating on the nut, and the nut won't grab as well. Sometimes there's also paint overspray on the inside metal flange of the truck that creates an uneven surface, making it more difficult for the serrated surface to grab. For those of you that said to supplement with some blue Loctite, Ding-Ding-Ding!! You win! That's the right answer. Alternatively, you could replace each serrated flange nut with a nylock nut and washer, but I'm guessing most folks are more likely to have blue Loctite in their drawer than M6 nylock nuts, and who wants to fight a nylock down that extra long bolt anyway?

-Todd

 

[alrashid2]

Slightly tilted up is better than slightly tilted down. Tilted down just a little makes it difficult to latch, or might require you to push down on the cover to latch.

I'm the guy that tries to do everything by myself, but to get the rails perfectly square, it can be helpful to have someone hold the rail while you tighten the clamps. That's because it typically takes one hand to hold the rail, one hand to hold the Torx driver, and one hand to hold the wrench for the serrated flange nut. That's three hands, and I don't know about you guys, but I only have two.

In my stubbornness, sometimes I'll tighten the hardware by hand, then use tools until the serrated flange nut starts to grab, then I can tighten while I steady the rail until the rail is set, which then allows me to use the Torx driver and wrench to tighten to spec without the rail moving out of position. That's a lot more steps than just having someone else hold the rail in place while you tighten, but you do you, no judgment here.

I have noticed that sometimes the grooves on the serrated flange nut will be a little rounded because of the anticorrosion coating on the nut, and the nut won't grab as well. Sometimes there's also paint overspray on the inside metal flange of the truck that creates an uneven surface, making it more difficult for the serrated surface to grab. For those of you that said to supplement with some blue Loctite, Ding-Ding-Ding!! You win! That's the right answer. Alternatively, you could replace each serrated flange nut with a nylock nut and washer, but I'm guessing most folks are more likely to have blue Loctite in their drawer than M6 nylock nuts, and who wants to fight a nylock down that extra long bolt anyway?

-Todd

Thank you todd for replying! Super helpful info and thanks for reviewing my post. Yup I'm going solo here unfortunately... And I did exactly what you recommended when doing it with just two hands. Unfortunately still just a bit angled upward as shown in pic.

Glad to know the slightly angled up is better than down! Do you think my rails are ok installed this way slightly angled up?

 

[clarke]

I have the revolver and I used nylock nuts with mine, installed after the included nuts.

 

[RealTruck]

Thank you todd for replying! Super helpful info and thanks for reviewing my post. Yup I'm going solo here unfortunately... And I did exactly what you recommended when doing it with just two hands. Unfortunately still just a bit angled upward as shown in pic.

Glad to know the slightly angled up is better than down! Do you think my rails are ok installed this way slightly angled up?

If it opens and closes fine, you'll be alright!
-Todd

 

[alrashid2]

If it opens and closes fine, you'll be alright!
-Todd

Thanks Todd for the help! You guys rock

 

[cb4017]

I just checked mine a little while. All were still there and reasonably tight.

Is 10 ft lb of torque called for? I didn't recall seeing a torque value specified. I just used a T30 tip in a screwdriver handle and hand tightened. Works so far.

OP, mine also has a slight upward tilt on the rails. Not worried about it but thought I would look while I was there.

 

[alrashid2]

I just checked mine a little while. All were still there and reasonably tight.

Is 10 ft lb of torque called for? I didn't recall seeing a torque value specified. I just used a T30 tip in a screwdriver handle and hand tightened. Works so far.

OP, mine also has a slight upward tilt on the rails. Not worried about it but thought I would look while I was there.

Thanks for confirming the tilt brother!
I believe in a video put up by Bakflip they recommended 10 ft lbs. That is actually pretty tight though for these little guys and I noticed the bolt eating into the bracket pretty good. Nonetheless I think for me the loctite should do it.

Thanks again

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