What’s the best bang for your buck camper shell?

Need to buy something already color matched. Nothing on local FB marketplace. Looks like I’ll be going the new route. Don’t need anything over the top crazy. Just trying to keep some tools and hunting gear dry.

only want a hard shell

 

Softopper……..

 

Sorry should have clarified want a hard shell

 

Look for one of the thinner sheet metal kind. A lot of them are beat up and used but ive seen some clean ones every now and then on Marketplce or CL.

They arent sleek but they're way lighter than fiberglass. And you can still lock them up

 

They still make aluminum caps. I haven't priced one lately, but they have to be significantly cheaper than fiberglass. They are under 100 lbs and can be installed or taken off with no help. I used to do it all of the time. They look and work 10X better than the soft tops and my guess is that they are probably cheaper too but that's just a guess.

I paid $700 for the base model Leer on my Tacoma, but that was in 2007. I paid $1400 for the same model in 2016 for my F150 but I doubt if you can find one under $2500 new. You can spend $4000+ on one but the basic caps serve my needs.

I wouldn't give up just yet on finding a used one and it doesn't have to be color matched. There are a lot of complimentary colors that would look great with your blue truck. Silver, gray, white, or black would look just fine. I'm beginning to like the 2 tone look. Two of my wife's brothers found used caps in a good-looking color for their Ford trucks. One is a wine colored truck with a gold cap. The other is silver truck with a dark gray cap.

 

Super helpful post thank you. I’d like to stay inside that 1500 ish range. I would really prefer a fiberglass cap and really like the look of the Leer.

my truck isn’t blue anymore I don’t know how to update my picture and info to change that unfortunately

 

Used will be the best value, by far.
Patience and an open mind as to color are your new best friends.
They come up for sale all the time. Unless you’re looking
Seriously though, new caps are crazy expensive. And folks looking to sell often let them go for a song.

 

I called around about getting a used one. To paint color match it average price was like 1k just for paint sheeeesh

 

Worst mistake I made was selling my stop for $800 and my soft topper for $150

of course now that I want one again they are $500 for a used soft top and $1000 for a rattle canned shell with a broken window

 

Maybe expand your search and if one comes up in a distance you are willing to travel for you could make a road trip out of it. Searchtempest.com will search by region for the major used places (CL, FB marketplace, eBay). It’s worth a shot, but at the end of the day, it’s going to be new $3-5k new canopy day, which sucks, because there is always a long wait time and they all leak anyway. They sure are nice when you have a purpose for it though.

 

Never heard of that site. I’ll check it out. Thanks!

 

Here in Denver there are a few places to look. The TW Colorado trading post, company’s like this https://aatoppers.com/ & fb & Craigslist Etc. I’d try to find a topper company that sells them in the south close or locally to you

 

A note about the color:
$1000 sounds about right, or even on the low end these days with the labor that could go into it.

Even you have a silver truck, expecting to find a perfectly color matched used shell is a little bit unreasonable.
Age, UV exposure and wear will change the paint on your truck and the cap, and nary to two shall meet.
And where I would ague it ends up looking worse to be slightly mismatched than outright two-tone, I'm obviously biased, lol!

Rattle can painting a shell offers limited colors, very low durability and is not free in time or money.
Getting a pro job could easily cost the differential of going new.
If you have access to a good sprayer, booth, supplies and loads of free time you can get decent 2-part epoxy based paint/primer and DYI. Paint and solvents ain't cheap, but could save a few bucks on a more durable finish.

In the end, spray cans deliver a low-end final product that is cheaper and looks it. Getting spray cans of color matched paint sounds problematic, expensive and still saddled with a durability liability.
A high-end professional job gives you a color matching used shell for about the price of a brand new one.
And I am going to take a stab in the dark and suggest you would not be posting about color if the mid-end DYI option was on the table.



edit: Earl Schieb might have a deal.

 

Ranch. Made in indiana. I bought a new one ordered from Ranch for my 2015 a year ago. $1300. Leer wanted $2400

I bought the base model called Echo. The next model sierra has a lifetime warranty. I called ranch to ask what is the difference in build quality. They said same topper you just pay extra for the lifetime warranty

 

Far cheaper to buy a used shell, check with maaco on the paint work, I got quoted $600 last year. Check other metro areas within a reasonable driving distance, you may find one in the correct color.

 

Every used one that i saw had damage. People take them on the truck and sit them on gravel.

 

Century is the economy version of Leer. i believe they even use the same molds.

 

I went the route of used and had some fun with it over a couple years lol.

Found a gray mid rise one for 450, ran that for a year until I found a black sand pearl one for 200 w/ a broken window (looks to be a perfect match to 99% of people even though my truck is regular black). Sold the gray one for 650, (now at $0 net cost) bought a new windoor from LEER for 300, then picked up a ranger front cap for 50 and swapped the front windows to get a slider and sold the ranger cap for 150. Now at $200 net cost but at some point along the way I grabbed a free ford super duty bed cap and flipped it for $300. DIY carpeting from Home depot and new seals put me at a full $0 net cost for a mint cap for camping.

Only thing I would do differently is if you want it carpeted I recommend getting one with that already done. Doing it DIY sucked but was worth it. Windoors for side access are SUPER helpful so you don't have to crawl into the bed to get stuff out and make it feel a lot more roomy while camping.