Did any of you remove your plastic bed rail caps before installing your shell?

Thinking about doing this to get the shell a little lower down on the truck for a better fit.

Good idea/bad idea?

 

I would say bad idea, as the caps are designed to sit on top of the rails.

 

thats kinda what i'm thinking as well, but just seeing if anyone had tried it

 

I didn't want the cap to be riding on the paint/metal so I didn't want to remove the caps.

 

I did remove my bed rail caps and waterproof underneath and reinstalled. Made my cap more waterproof going through car washes.

 

I did both ways on my second gen. Looks cleaner without, but worked just as well with. You'll just need extra insulation at the front if you leave them on (there will be a gap since the caps sit higher than the front rail). There are rubber strips you should get either way. Found mine on Amazon. Good luck.

 

I put a set of @KB Voodoo (Chad's) bed rails on. Gives a real nice flat metal rail to set your canopy on. Much nicer imho than the plastic Toyota cheaper out on.

http://www.kbvoodoo.com/shop/package-deal-side-rail-caps-tailgate-cap-long-bed-fits-years-2005-2015

 

How thick are the rail caps?

 

From memory about 3/16ths. They are beef. The tailgate caps adds real weight to it. One other thing I'm looking at adding is the Total Chaos bed stiffeners To prevent bed spread.

http://www.chaosfab.com/2005-2015-Tacoma-Rear-Channel-Bed-Stiffiners-48675

One of the most truthful things I've seen posted is once you've joined this site your screwed. At least your wallet is. Lol

 

There is no way to get a good seal with the rail caps on...I mean does anyone think that gooping the front panel with silicone, foam, or any other crude way to fill that gap a good job? Getting that Cap/topper to fit & seal, is the most important step in the installation....My question is there an aftermarket thin smooth rail cap that will give a good proper base on both sides and the front bulkhead? Voodoo Fabrication makes a 3/16 steel cap which looks good, but its heavy & still leaves the problem with the bulkhead....

 

Our side rail caps are 1/8" thick.

 

Voodoo....Thanks for the correction on the thickness....Do you offer the cap that goes on the bulkhead?.....Can these rails be picked up at your location?

 

We don't offer the cap for the bulkhead.

Yes, you could pick them up at our shop.

 

Removed mine.

 

Can call you but, in case others are watching this thread....Is there a reason why you don't offer the cap for the front bulkhead? Seems you have the tail gate covered & the front is where all the seal issues are.....A full uniform perimeter would solve the seal issue best?

 

I don't think anyone ever asked for that piece.

 

I find it odd that no one has ever asked for the bulk head piece...after they installed your side rails, what did they do about the 1/8 gap in the front? Which goes back to my original statement....If your side rail caps are 1/8 in thickness, this leaves a 1/8 gap at the bulkhead.... So filling that gap with silicone, foam, or strips of rubber from Amazon..is not a correct solution, at least not in my book....If you have a solution for the bulkhead I'd like to consider it, before buying the side pieces.....

As an FYI, I'm ordering an ARE commercial, wedge, barn door cap, insulated, on & on... Its going to run around $3500. and I'm shopping it...Not for price, in as much as my comfort level in the dealer....One of my questions I ask is "What do you do about the gap at the bulkhead"? assuming I leave the OEM caps on the bed....I get some pretty wild answers, along with "Oh Toyota's are the most problematic for water leaks" but most tell me, No problem, we fill the space up by doubling up in the double sided tape, silicone, and what ever it takes....Guess what...I'm not buying the cap from them....Yeah its cost $$$ to do the job right, and I'm not balking about the $270. for your side rails, well worth it, if the cap sits on the bed correctly, and it can't, if you don't have the piece for the front.... If you don't do the job right, then don't do it at all.... That's my rant......

 

I'm not really sure, but it hasn't been a concern as far as I know.

 

left my side caps on with my Gen 2 with a Leer 100XQ. I wasn't there when the dealer put it on, but I would assume they applied weather stripping to both sides and bulkhead. Very little leakage in bed... isolated to somewhere around the bulkhead corners.
I will be selling the shell soon and will see what's underneath when I take it of.

 

I thought about it, but I opted to leave them on because the installer said to leave them on and the shell was designed to work with them. Waterproofing and looks aren't a huge deal because Snugtops have a lip that covers the joint, I can't see the bed rail cap anyway. Your bigger problem with waterproofing will be around the tailgate anyway.