2016 A.R.E CX Canopy- design, mpg issue

Hi everyone,

Andy from A.R.E. here. We saw this thread and felt obligated to hop on and share some feedback for everyone.

The way the CX was fitting on @pocketsmcaaron's truck did look correct from the photos but it is very difficult for us to determine anything from photos alone. That being said, it is very obvious the fit was not satisfactory for OP, which we never like to hear. We have worked with OP and his dealer to provide a 100% refund and we are bringing the cap back to our factory for our engineering team to dig into it. We will do measurements and possibly even a test fit on our company Tacoma to see if we can duplicate the fit issues.

In direct response to the MPG, our caps are made of fiberglass and have heavy-duty rear door and side windows. They weigh in the 150-180 lb range, which can obviously impact gas mileage one way or the other. While our hope is everyone sees an increase in gas mileage, that may not always be the case depending on truck, modifications, geographic location, style of driving, etc.

I may not be doing a good job explaining our side here, but what we want everyone here to know is we are here for our customers and want to do right. We will thoroughly investigate this and make corrections if and where they are needed.

Feel free to reply to this, DM me, or shoot me an email (facebook@4are.com) at any time with any questions or comments.

Thanks,

Andy
A.R.E.

 

@areaccessories Thanks for the official response, Andy. (Thanks for signing up with TW just to respond too!)
Should I put my V-series shell order on hold until this is resolved? I'm hoping for a nice flush fit like @LostSherpa's.
Thanks again!

 

Thanks Andy,
I appreciate that you & the dealer have decided to initiate a refund. Please note, I expressed on this forum the same communications to your ARE colleague and to the dealer in the hopes of finding a solution. Part of the reason I decided to purchase a '16 Tacoma was because of it's improved design & mpg. But with your '16 CX shell on, my '16 was actually getting worse mpg than my previous '15 with a '15 CX shell installed.

For that reason, I hope your engineer team considers conducting tests like I did (with & without the makeshift foam carpet rolled buffer I decided to wedge between the top of the truck cab and top of the shell), which brought my MPG numbers back to what I was getting before having the shell installed. I don't think 130-150 lbs is going to cause a 1.5-2 mpg deficit, unless there's a problem with aerodynamics. True, there are many other factors to mpg loss combined with adding a shell; from the type of seal the dealer used, road conditions, driving habits, weather, etc. I am certainly no expert on what determines all these calculations. But to me, it was evident from how the top of the shell was shaped on the front top of canopy in relation to the top of the cab as well as sitting higher, that it was creating wind-drag on my truck. I drove 6 of the same exact routes, same 30 miles: 3 times with the foam carpet roller wedge, 3 times without, same weather conditions, same road conditions, same speeds, same times of day.

For the record, I am 47, a conservative driver, light on the pedal, truck rarely goes above 65 mph (Oregon's slower speed limits), & have a perfect driver's record. As expressed to both ARE & dealer in emails, lost between 1.5-2 mpg driving for a week with the canopy installed on the same routes since taking ownership of the vehicle in October 2015 (currently with 2500 miles). When I placed the foam carpet in-between canopy and cab, mileage went back to normal--same routes, same weather, same speeds, same distances. I felt I should not have to do this mod on a brand new shell to achieve normal mpg and decided to return instead of an exchange it, as the measurements where the same as the V series.

I did not have this type of mpg loss on my '15 2nd Gen Tacoma with your 2015 ARE CX shell. In fact, I was a very happy customer. (Both my old '15 and and new '16 have same Toyota TRD Pro Suspension, '15 had BF Goodrich KOs 10plys, '16 Tacoma Toyo's Open Country AT 4 plys, I use Chevron mid-grade 89 octane-both vehicles). The only other factor I can think of to help find the culprit: it could be that my truck came with a Tacoma OEM Tonneau cover and that the bed rail lining is perhaps different than Tacoma's that did not come with the Tonneau...

Another observation I noticed, after a week of driving without the foam wedge, that you might mention to the engineers: the shell had more rain dripping/drainage down the front window of my '16 CX than my '15 CX ever did. In addition, I noticed the top edge of the 16's canopy was getting dings from road debris on it after only a week, whereas my '15 never got dinged on the front top edge.

I hope that your team isolates this problem and that I am just a unique case. As well, that other ARE customers aren't having the same issue I experienced. My goal was to ultimately find a solution without having to return or modify the new shell with a rolled carpet wedge and also seek advice/opinion/forum from Tacoma World members via a mature, informative dialogue.
Best,
Alex

 

@nwAdamR Adam, thank you very much for your order! I certainly understand your concerns, but I am confident your V Series order will meet your expectations. If there are any issues with the mold used in the OP's situation, it wouldn't impact you as the CX and V series caps are pulled out of different molds. Let me know if you have any further questions and thanks for your business!

 

Alex, we certainly understand and appreciate all your feedback. Our goal here is to make sure we avoid any other unpleasant experience with any product we make, but especially for the new Tacoma! Thanks again!

 

Hey OP not to be negative, but did you ever think it might be your Taco that doesnt have the same standard dims as everyone else? I mean thos ARE caps are probably all within a close tolerance so i doubt the would be the problem. Its possible that somehow your cab sits a tiny bit lower than it should. Or pissible that the bed sits a tiny bit higher than typical. Or a combination of both. Combine that with buying a porduct that could he on the high end of the manufacturing tolerancing and you have the exact problem you are expiriencing.

Just a thought because stuff like this is not unheard of. Not all vehicles are created equal. And its totally possible you cab or mounts or anything could be off a little.

 

Wow, nice to see a manufacturer stand behind their product and work things out with the customer. I am looking for a cap and liked the ARE Overland. If this is the kind of response I can expect if there were an issue with my purchase, then I'm all in, and you've just made another sale. Very reassuring to see you jump on this board Andy!

 

That's a fair question Woodex, I'd be more than happy to have A.R.E or any of their representatives measure and inspect my entire vehicle. In the response addressed to Andy, I am trying to be as transparent as possible. Even mentioned my Tacoma came with the OEm Tonneau, which might be a culprit due to potential differences in rails between Tacomas that came with the Tonneau and those that don't? Personally, I'd really like to know why my top cab and top canopy did not match well as I was disappointed to return the item.

 

I just mention it because i work at a manufacturing facility where we deal with thousandths of an inch all the time. (Not the same but bear with me) Sometimes an assembly just wont fit together no matter what you do. come to find out we we chased everything on a job recently, for like 2hours on this assembly, and it was one part that was 0.004" undersized and that combined with all the other parts being on the far end of their acceptable tolerancing meant it all was for shit lol. Just stuff to think about. If you were to measure 10 different tacomas that were identicle and you measured the height of he fender from geound i bet you would see a swing large enough to see with a tape measurer.

Just stuff to think about. Interested to hear what you come back with for a result on all this.

 

picture was taken last Tuesday

 

Pockets - You went from tonneau cover to cap which may be what you are experiencing. The rest of us would go from open bed (i.e. big tailgate drag) to cap and we would probably be happy that the cap improved our fuel mileage. Leave your tonneau cover off and do the test MPG again, eh? Hell I don't know, but what do you think?

 

I don't know that's the answer. I've got 2k on my truck, 1/2 of that with the factory tonneau stored away in my shop, and no noticeable fuel economy difference.

 

Taco, good point, but when I put the rolled foam carpet wedge between the Shell and Cab my mileage went back to the same as with Tonneau cover on. (FYI Tonneau cover weighs 80lbs, Shell weighs around 140lbs)

 

I agree jboat & yeah thanks Andy, it's super nice of ARE, Inc. to stand behind their product. Though it might also have something to do with several back & forth emails to a different assigned ARE Cs, which ultimately resorted to said customer escalating past front lines...
As the expression goes "the squeaky wheel gets the grease," especially in public forums. Customer persistence & fortunately Tacoma World's platform might also be factors as to why the manufacturer honorably decided to chime in. Thanks TW for being there for us small fish and keeping big ones in check.

 

Glad to see A.R.E. is taking care of you. They have restored my faith in their company.

 

congrats to a.r.e., for stepping up

 

After ordering mid december and installed 1/22. Then a tow to the dealer for an incorrect instalation resulting in blown fuse this is my cx. The trim job done for the rear window seems very shoddy. It definatley sits above the cab. I took a 750 mile road trip and gas mpg is down from 15.7-16.1 to 14.1-14.5. I also experienced new wind noise coming from passenger windows since install. Not too thrilled about this whole experience so far.

 

Thank you for backing this thread. Was beginning to think it was just me from a few biased ARE corporate fans.

 

Images aren't working...