1. Welcome to Tacoma World!

    You are currently viewing as a guest! To get full-access, you need to register for a FREE account.

    As a registered member, you’ll be able to:
    • Participate in all Tacoma discussion topics
    • Communicate privately with other Tacoma owners from around the world
    • Post your own photos in our Members Gallery
    • Access all special features of the site

The poor state of A.R.E. camper top production

Discussion in 'Tonneau Covers, Caps and Shells' started by Mulepadre, May 11, 2024.

  1. May 11, 2024 at 11:14 AM
    #1
    Mulepadre

    Mulepadre [OP] Mulepadre

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2014
    Member:
    #119686
    Messages:
    706
    Gender:
    Male
    Central Arkansas
    Vehicle:
    2003 Std Cab 2.7L 4x4 & 2024 Off Road
    Bilstein 5100s, Deaver Leaf Springs, JBA UCAs on 2003 King 2.5 shocks front and rear on Off Road
    upload_2024-5-11_12-59-16.jpg

    I have a 2003 2.7L 4x4 single cab and this week had my A.R.E. Cap installed.
    As I will show below the quality of the manufacture's build of this cap is pretty poor.
    The paint interior and exterior is pretty good but its not a good fit on my truck.
    And the local installer tried to make the best of what he was given.

    First off the whole cap is off center shifted 3/16" to the left.
    You can see the lip of the bed rail here on the right side but not on the left.

    upload_2024-5-11_13-1-11.jpg

    And this was because the shell could not move right any further

    upload_2024-5-11_13-2-14.jpg

    Here is a photo of the right side

    upload_2024-5-11_13-3-4.jpg

    But what really bothers me is how they mounted the door locking hardware.
    The handle and arm assembly that pivot the locking rods to either side of the shell frame were placed too close to the top of my truck's tailgate.

    upload_2024-5-11_13-12-9.jpg

    So when I turn the handle, the lower arm pivots scraping the top of my truck's tailgate.

    upload_2024-5-11_13-4-56.jpg

    According to the shop owner who installed this cap for me, he regularly gets caps
    with problems like this. He tells me that in the 35 years he has been installing them,
    A.R.E. generally does a better job than LEER.
    He says that the problem is that these are assembly line productions and they just cannot
    get good workers 100% of the time.
     
  2. May 11, 2024 at 11:17 AM
    #2
    545

    545 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 21, 2019
    Member:
    #287482
    Messages:
    1,330
    Gender:
    Male
    First Name:
    Matt
    Vehicle:
    2015 Access Cab
    Can you take a picture of the entire tailgate with it closed from directly behind?
     
  3. May 11, 2024 at 11:55 AM
    #3
    Mulepadre

    Mulepadre [OP] Mulepadre

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2014
    Member:
    #119686
    Messages:
    706
    Gender:
    Male
    Central Arkansas
    Vehicle:
    2003 Std Cab 2.7L 4x4 & 2024 Off Road
    Bilstein 5100s, Deaver Leaf Springs, JBA UCAs on 2003 King 2.5 shocks front and rear on Off Road
    You can see that being off center is hardly noticeable

    upload_2024-5-11_13-57-34.jpg
     

Products Discussed in

To Top