Show me your shell!

My A.R.E. Z series shell is in! Install is Friday.

 

Hooray!

 

Finally I get to post on this thread! Just got my ARE CX installed today. Windoors and pet screens.

Spent the last 3 days building a sleeping platform for it.

Doggo Approved.

 

How is the cab height the the shell height?

I talked to my ARE dealer today and they said they removed the cx from the line up for the 3rd gen

Cap looks great though!

 

I purchased my truck with a tonneau cover from the dealership. But I knew that I would want to do some camping out of the truck and without setting up a tent. I began pricing caps from ARE and was looking at spending around $2,600 for a brand new cap. I just couldn't seem to find a used cap that fit my truck, was the right color, and was close to where I live. Then I found a deal on Craigslist for a Leer that was on the same year and model truck as I have (2014 Tacoma TRD DCSB). Wrong color, but the guy lived about an hour away and was asking $400!

Here it is on my truck.



And here it is after Maaco paint matched it to my truck. The paint job cost me $320.



I've since removed the huge Leer logo from the back window which annoyed the crap out of me. I ran LED lights inside the cap and wired everything through a 6-wire connector (2 for LEDs, 2 for LED dome light, and 2 for 3rd brake light).

Next will be mounting a Yakima track system, SkyTowers, steel bars, and a MegaWarrior system. I have all of the parts, just waiting to find a warm garage and some help. I need to cut the Yakima tracks down to size, measure where they will go, mark the holes, and drill through the cap to mount them. I'm considering waiting until Spring just for the sake of not having anything up there will make it a lot easier to clean snow off the roof. I'm short, so it's gonna be difficult anyways.

 

Thanks! I had heard about the height issue so I checked it with a level. It does sit slightly high, but honestly it's not that noticeable and being 6'4" I could use the extra head space anyways haha.

 

Got 4 of my 8 lights installed today

 

Question for one of you guys running the gecko led light kits. Do they have the plastic cover or sleeve the leds slide into or are they just a roll of leds with 3m tape on the back? Curious how they mount to the carpet in the top of my cap. Thanks for any input!

 

I actually went with my own LED setup inside my cap.

16.4 ft LED strip for $10:

$11 Rayhoo 16.4ft/5m Flexible LED Light Strip 300 Units 5630 LEDs Waterproof DC12V 60W Light Strips, LED Tape(6000K White Light)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UI1DVP2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

3M VHB tape to hold the LEDs to the carpeted liner (after removing the adhesive that came on the LEDs) $6:

$19 3M 1/2-5-RP32 VHB Tape 0.5 in width x 5 yd length (1 Roll),Gray

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Y7E0CQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here's one of my photos on Instagram showing the results. I'll try to do a better write up here soon.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BN0SoUMBX-5/?taken-by=smithcreate

 

Was it hard to remove the adhesive from the led strip?

 

Installed my WaterPORT that came in the other day.




Now trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the bed. Any suggestions?

I'm think bedslide

 

Not at all. A little fingernail under the adhesive and you can pull it right off. The 3M stuff is holding everything in place very well.

 

Page 15 of my build thread has a write up on the LEDs I installed in my shell. Turned out really nice.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/az2013-spruce-build.401321/page-15

 

2012 AT FlipPac with Windoors and awning.

 

that's a pretty awesome set up. I'm assuming that's worth a pretty penny?

 

They used to be but the manufacturer folded and the guys at AT are making their own version now. You can find FlipPacs pretty cheap on the secondhand market now and replacement torsion bars are available from Sway-A-Way.

 

FlipPac website is still up.

 

The last time I looked into the FlipPac, I think I was seeing numbers around $8,000.

 

I'm curious on your WaterPORT - Did you get their "Bed Mount" version? I ask because your photo looks different from their website photo. WaterPORT's bed mount picture looks like it has an aluminum bracket.

How do you like it?
Is the quality good?