Camper Shell?

I have an ARE Camper shell on my truck. I will post pics as soon as I wash it. I am wondering if anyone else has had to seal between the tailgate and bed? I find that quite a bit of dust gets through the small crack on either side of the tailgate. I think some foam might work but does anyone have a better idea?

 

Bump

 

Dirt and rain get in. I am not impressed with my ARE cap. Rear window started to leak after 1 1/2 year. I will be resealing it myself.
The seals from Cabela's looks like a good idea. So does the cartridge to slow the tailgate when opened.

 

What stuff you look at, I need some tips myself! thanks

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Tailgate-Gasket-Seal-Keeps-Your-Truck-Bed-Clean-Dry-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem414da2f0c5QQitemZ280475398341QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_500wt_1182

This is the stuff I picked up...comes in bulk...no retail package. So far, so good...I have had it on for 3 months and it still looks good. I can't give you an long term results yet, but the adhesive strip is super sticky.

I hope this helps!

John3

 

I just had a new ARE top installed on mine and I had my tie down cleats stored under my seat so they wouldn't go missing before I got my top installed... Well I went to use them yesterday and realized that because of the way the lip of the top hangs over the bedrail on the inside that the tie downs will no longer fit into the rails... This sucks and IMO this is pretty poor engineering on ARE's part. I’m hoping that the mini tie downs on Toyotas website will fit under the lip of the top otherwise my bedrail system is obsolete because of my very expensive new top… And in addition to that I think all the locking hardware for this top is just damn cheap crap! I have a 14 year old aluminum ARE top on my old truck and the hardware on that unit is way more stout… Kind of disappointed in my purchase. Gonna get on the phone to ARE and raise some hell tomorrow and hopefully convince them to purchase me four Toyota mini tie downs... If they are not receptive to my idea I will just have to start a new thread of my own and perhaps prevent someone else from making the same mistake... BRAND NEW ARE TOPPER IS JUNK!!! How's that for a thread title?

 

sorry about your top. I got the snug-top. After adding carpet, 12volt light, flip down front slider, side sliders, and pop lock, it was about the same price as the A.R.E. and the LEER...

Here it is

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/13598-show-me-your-shell-19.html#post1786283

 

I have an ARE top and was able to get my tie downs to work, I just had to loosen them off more to get them to clear the lip when they slide.

Shawn

 

Mine is the same way, but if you look at the edge of the topper you can see some places where you can put the tiedowns back in. You have to loosen them out a lot but mine seem to work fine. If you want to move them you have to take them out instead of sliding them.

 

Thanks a lot! I ordered some, I think it will be perfect!

 

I am pleased with the ARE shell though. The color matched my truck perfectly and the shell is great!

 

I've got the SnugTop SuperSport and have been very pleased with the quality. As far as the issue of dust comeing in from the edges of the tailgate I fixed it on my truck by putting some foam weather stripping along the edge of the taillights to seal up the space on both sides...this has really cut down on the amount of dust comeing in.

 

Thanks. I'll try looking at it more carefully tomorrow and see if I can get them on. I was trying to secure a load in the back and was really frustrated that I could not get those suckers to go back in correctly. I could get them in the rail by loosening them all the way out but when tightening them they were against the fiberglass lip of the top and angled down. I really didn’t want to clamp down on the edge of the top for fear of stressing it at the weak edge of the lip. If the lip were trimmed 3/8” more I would have no problem but for what this thing cost me I feel I shouldn’t have a problem in the first place. It’s just poor engineering IMO… I assume ARE is aware that all the Tacoma’s have the bed rail system and that they should engineer their tops NOT to interfere with it…. I do appreciate the replies guys and will make another attempt to get them to work before I contact ARE to bitch.

 

Yeah, the color match was good and the top itself seems to be well made but the hardware is flimsy compared to my 14 year old ARE aluminum top. That thing was a tank and light enough I could get it on and off the truck by myself. I got the Windoors (plus tilt rear sliding window, roof rack and head liner) on my new unit for accessing stuff in the front of the bed and I love the feature but the hardware here is also cheesy… I do like the top but I am disappointed with the hardware. Not very secure at all and I fear it will break too easily… But what do you expect for $2000.00… On the other hand I also got a Bedrug and that thing is sweet. Might go camping this weekend and try it out for sleeping…

 

I have an ARE Z shell. Like others said, the bed rail hdw will work with some fiddling- or it does with mine.

 

How much does a truck cap weigh? I was looking at the Snug Top cab-hi.