Which tailgate seal kit?

I recently had a Snugtop installed on my 2011 access cab... I discovered that my tailgate has small gaps on each side (near the top) where water can leak in. I sleep back there on road trips, so I'd like to seal it up if possible. I heard that you can get a tailgate seal kit... Does anyone have a recommendation on a specific kit?

Or if you used some other method to seal your tailgate, let's hear it. I tried some cheap weatherstripping from Home Depot, but it isn't really working.

thanks,
Kenan

 

After you are snug in the truck tie a tarp down over the back of the truck to keep the rain out

Seriously park your truck so that you are headed upwind, shouldn't get any rain water in then. Just a thought?

 

That sounds like a Macgyver type of fix. Just use some cloth or something simple like that to close the gaps.

 

I was joking, think about it, how do ya tie down a tarp after you are in the truck with the cap closed ????????

 

Trailseal is the only one I've heard of but I've never used one or read opinions of anyone who has used one. I was interested in them at one point but since I don't sleep back there, I haven't done anything about it.

 

I want to seal the sides of the tailgate. My Bestop fits perfectly up against the top of the gate but when I'm out in the desert I get sand in the bed and I've convinced myself it is the gaps on the side of the tailgate. I tried weather stripping, but it must have been to thick as it keeps peeling off.....ugh

 

Nice!

Found it over at Summit for $25 shipped. Might have to pull the tripper on this soon!

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AGI-30946

 

Yeah, I've pinned my leaking issue down to the tailgate sides as well. Water channels down the seal on the back window of the topper and comes right through the tailgate gaps. It's only a big deal with long steady rains, but I've got foam and bedding back there and it does get wet. Need to get this fixed. The people at the topper place seemed like it was a pretty common issue, so I'm surprised nobody here has chimed in yet. ... anyway, still waiting on some feedback from people who have actually dealt with this somehow.

thanks

 

Ditto, just installed my access cover and it's pretty good at keeping water out in the rain so far. But the bed get's real wet in a car wash, not sure if that's avoidable but I have the gaps on the tailgate sides as well.

 

I forgot to update this thread... I ended up buying a TrailSeal Tailgate Seal Kit for $24.95 and it has fixed the leaking! My bed is now completely dry. I haven't had it in a super heavy multi-day soak yet, but I'll let you guys know how it holds up.

I bought mine from here:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AGI-30946/

 

http://www.truckalterations.com/html/toyotanation.html

It's here as well $20 shipped. I'll give it a shot. I didn't think it would do much but I guess if you cut the sides a little high it might cover the gap.

 

Yeah, I ran the sides up really high and actually put a 2nd smaller piece in front to sorta reinforce it. Will try to get a pic posted later

 

Good idea. Yeah pics are always good

 

Well, as perfect timing would have it, we had a pretty big steady downpour of rain yesterday for several hours. This is the first time the new TrailSeal kit has been exposed to such elements. It held up pretty well, but I must admit that some water still managed to get in. It was much less than without the seal, but still not perfectly sealed.

So I might rethink my strategy... but here is a pic showing what I have currently. I cut a small 3-4" piece and stacked it in front of the standard piece that goes all the way from bottom to top. The real issue is that the sides of the bed taper inwards towards the top and create a bigger opening, so it makes it really hard to get a full seal.

 

I went ahead and ordered this. Living here in SD we don't get much rain, this is just an attempt to stop the dust when out in the desert.

 

Thanks for the pics. Just got mine in, going to try an instal this weekend

 

Just found this thread again. Ordering one to keep the dust down more for my dogs as vacation has lots of gravel/dirt road commuting plans. I'll update on it's effectiveness after vacation.

jeepmor

 

As luck would have it, the UPS guy dropped off the Trailseal literally as we were readying to pull out of the driveway on vacation. I took 10 minutes, read the directions, cleaned the mounting surfaces, installed the seal and away we went.

I must say, I did not get near the gravel roading I did on my last vacation, (only 60-70 miles this round) but this trailseal really did it's job and most of the dust I get in the back of the truck does come from gap in the tailgate. The dust level was much lower. Still not zero, but much better. Now I'm going after the small gaps that are not at the tailgate itself.

I'd still rather see a fitted seal and would pay twice as much for it, but this generic profile kit does the job and is well worth the money.