Camper Leakage from roof racks/front window

I intend to buy a camper for my 2013 AC (probably a SnugTop) and I'm considering the various options and their potential to cause leaks later on. Specifically, I thinking of adding roof racks and a fold-down or removable front window- while these features are nice, are they more prone to leakage as the camper ages? Has anyone experienced leaks around these features as their campers age?

 

3 Snug tops later...hmm they are maybe not as pretty as an ARE but hold up well. I got leakage around the window seals after 4 or 5 years, but loosening the frames and using marine grade silicone inside and out sealed them. If you add a roof rack just make sure your drilled holes are not over size and once again marine grade silicone. My Yakima A-1 mounts never leaked. My front window - not a fold down - leaked after 5 years. Had to pull the canopy and silcone it. Dealer did that and cost me $125 for silicone and new double bulb seal installed

I took those tops on many camping trips and also some off-road...not rock crawling of course.

 

That fold down front window is nice when the back window of your truck needs to be cleaned.

 

bump

 

I was told by multiple topper (new and used) retailers - "they all leak"

 

I'd stay away from SnugTop unless their quality control has improved.

Their fiberglass laying is a mess -- parts of my topper are almost as thin as a sheet of paper. The fiberglass also was so rough on the inside that I had to sand and seal it to keep the "needles" from constantly breaking off and getting all over my gear.

The thing leaked like a sieve. The guy who cut the window openings must not have known how to read a tape as the mounting flanges only overlap the opening in the fiberglass by 1/8 inch. I had to glue the front and side windows in to keep them from sliding down and revealing a quarter inch gap at the top.

I also had to use a couple of tubes of silicone to plug up the gaps along the bed. So much for a "form-fitted" topper. The color isn't exactly matched either.

Finally, just getting the thing was sort of a scam. The dealer said that he could get it in two weeks and asked for a $500 deposit. Two months later it still wasn't in but the deposit was non-refundable. The dealer told me that SnugTop wouldn't ship until they had enough toppers made to fill up a semi and since they weren't getting new orders for the area I'd just have to wait as long as it took. When the topper finally arrived, after about three months, the installer wired it wrong, which I only noticed when someone asked me why my topper's brake light was blinking.

For a $1500 topper I really expected something more. If I get another I'm going back to another brand. Probably the best one I've had was a Leer.

 

No issues so far with my ARE. I bought it new in '06 after I bought my truck (the truck was a year old) and it's been on ever since. I really, really need to pull it off and clean it and truck as well as put in a new seal; the truck and shell are dirty as hell and the seal is coming out on the sides but it still doesn't leak. I have sliding windows on the front and both sides; I really wish I'd gotten the fold down front slider and the sliding windoors.

I mounted a set of Yakima tracks on it a couple of days after I bought it. I did that by myself in the driveway just following the instructions I'd been given by my brother who'd worked in a bike shop. I've carried all sorts of stuff up there including probably overloading it and it still works fine and doesn't leak. I plan to drill some more holes in it next time I'm home and I'm debating installing a solar powered vent fan on top.

That said, I do need to clean it and put in another seal like I said and I do have some spreading in the back but I think that's the bed sides' fault, not the cap.