Camper shell seal

Bought a used ATC camper shell for my 2013 Taco and find the seal is shot and folded. Saw two width sizes of seal 1.5 and 2.18. Anyone know what would be the best to use.

 

clear shoe polish the entire bed rail. use a bunch.
then do the same thing to the mating surface of the camper.
put a very large bead of sealant (silicon, or whatever you like) on the bed rail.
put the cap on and tighten it down. the sealant will fill the gap perfectly, but wont stick to truck or cap due to the shoe polish.

you can use a spray on mold release if you want, but shoe polish is cheaper and is basically just wax.

form in place gasket in the aircraft world.

 

Did you do this on your truck?

 

camper was on mine when I bout it. It doesn't leak. If I take it off, I will reseal using that method.

Like I said, in the aviation world this is done to seal removable panels.

 

Never hear of using shoe polish for gaskets on aircraft.... I’ve used proseal as an anti chafe material a lot for inspection panels. Most aircraft leak like a son of a bitch, so I wouldn’t call it sealing.

 

See post #2
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/canopy-bed-rail.656927/#post-22915886
and installed front pic at
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/camper-shell-or-tonneau-seal.654473/

 

Thanks for the ideas. I ordered the esi front and side seal/gasket. Question does the front seal go on the shell or the metal front rail of the bed.

 

obviously we don't use shoe polish on aircraft. It's cheaper than mold release and does the same thing. Don't use silicon either, but i doubt he wants to spend the money on a kit to mix up some B12
If the gasket is leaking, it wasn't made right. Usually the fasteners are torqued too much with wet sealant, so it wont compress further when cured.
Or ham fisted idiots used flat blades to pry the panel off tearing up the gasket.

 

I was confused. I’ve seen IA’s do some weird stuff. Was Just wondering if I was learning a new trick.

It always drives me nuts on 100 hours watching the mechanic put the panels back in with their screw gun until the clutch starts clicking.

 

Seal it to the truck front rail and be careful putting shell on.
I used Permatex black silicon adhesive bonds well and that front seal needs to cut at 45 degree angle to side rails and heavy sealer applied as well as in the metal bed opening up front and under the front of the side plastic rails to keep water out.
To get the shell on and off cut 4 pieces of 2x4 about 6" long and use to prop up each side near the ends so you can get fingers in and out to lift. When you put the shell on front to rear alignment is critical so the rear windows opens/closes right and the front seal is under the front of the shell. It takes at least 2 people to lift the shell on/off without getting hurt! Once its on the 2x4 blocks 1 person can do the alignment and final fit as I did. Front seal 3M adhesive side applied to the truck front bed rail. Side seals 3M side applied to the shell itself as its a smooth surface (side bed rails are not.