Replace camper shell weather seal with....?

I have to remove my camper shell to fix the stupid leaking 3rd brake light.

After watching a few videos, it sounds like I "might" need to replace the weather seal. I have an ARE cap and it's been on the truck for around 3 years. Should I plan to just replace it or does this stuff tend to last?

If I replace it, is there any reason to do something like garage door weather seal or anything else that's better? I do have a small leak near the cab that seems to be from some sort of notch that was plugged with sealant. I'll try and clean that up as well.

Thanks.

 

It depends on how the seal looks like when you remove the shell.If you have it off might as well do a new seal.

 

Use a bulb seal rather than a foam seal.

 

I was looking at something like this.

$29 ESI Super Cap Seal 20 FT (1 1/2" Width x 1/2" Height x 20' Length) EPDM Rubber for Caps 200 lbs or less

https://www.amazon.com/Super-Width-Height-Length-Rubber/dp/B00NCC0SY6/

 

FYI, some places RTV the cap. Take a good look.

 

Esi is premium brand. Foam tape from installer/cap dealer is cheap and should be replaced. Foam tape also gets compressed easily and can cause cap to rub paint. Esi bulb seal will raise the cap off the rails higher than tape but prevents paint rub. I have posted about my setup 2 yrs back if you feel like searching

 

Will it still lift off normally or does it need to be cut? Hopefully my shop didn't do that.

 

I agree you should plan on replacing the seal. That ESI product looks very similar to what the installers used on my GFC.

I’m new to the forum and I’ve seen a few posts about the brake light leaking. I just got my camper; how common is this leak?

 

Tsb for brake light, last I heard was up to and topped at 2018.

 

I don't mean to hijack the thread; I've never personally known anyone to use a camper shell, and I've not looked into one for myself ever - is a camper shell not something you can remove and install at will? I had never really considered that they would even be sealed.

 

Yes removed at will and use of seal as in foam tape or bulbs not seal as in rtv etc. (some do fill in gaps with it but it’s doesn’t seal the cap permanently to the truck)

 

Butyl tape

 

Cut and removed.

 

I don’t understand how a reputable shop would/could rtv a cap directly to the rails (unless client requested I suppose).