how to seal my leaky, used truck cap?

Hello!

Finally decided to join after a year of cruising your threads since getting my tacoma!

I am about to embark on a cross country move and just got a used cap after a couple frustrating months of very limited Craigslist options.. I guess first gen Tacoma’s aren’t the most popular vehicle choice of Miami.

Anyway, the cap I got is pretty ancient but it was in my budget and I’m not particularly concerned with a tacky two toned look, in fact I kind of like it.

It rained last night to reveal the dark blotches on the inside I was hoping were just from wear and tear are in fact little leaky spots! I was thinking of using some kind of marine silicone to seal the inside but from reading other threads I understand I should probably do something to the outside as well, especially in the case of water freezing...

I am relatively handy but also basically clueless... so any advice or suggestions would be so appreciated.

thanks!
Kara

 

my friend said he thinks it could be condensation from humidity not leaks, which would be great as I’m moving to a much drier climate, but I’m not convinced that’s the case...

 

Yuck, you've got mildew problems. That's not from condensation, the gel coating on the outside of your shell is cracked and leaking. When you push down on it you will probably hear the micro-cracks, you may be able to run your hand over the surface and feel larger ones. That thicker area contains a honeycomb like material, usually cardboard, to stiffen that area. You can see where it's soaked all the way through to the interior fiberglass mat which means it has saturated the interior material.

You best bet is to let it sit in the sun and dry thoroughly then sand and re-gel coat it but you could also paint it with bedliner or some sort of elastomeric paint like you use on tin roofs (ex. mobile home roof paint).

On the bright side, it looks like whoever installed the tracks did a great job as they don't seem to be leaking.

 

Thank you so much for your response! This is really helpful. Love your positive attitude about the tracks, the roof rack is certainly the silver lining of an otherwise questionable investment haha.

 

There are some good videos on youtube that show how to work with gel coating, it's a common problem with fiberglass boats. Fortunately the shell is a relatively small size and should be easy enough for you to refinish if you decide to go that route. It's probably still salvageable at this point as long as the fiberglass isn't delaminating and rotting.

The prep work is the hardest and most time consuming part but it's just labor intensive, not that bad physically. If you do decide to do it yourself, follow the directions provided by the specific product you buy and be sure to wear your PPE.

Side note, I've read of people using bedliner but I've also read RV owners seem to report generally poor performance with it (my uncle was researching ways to fix the leaky roof on his A-Liner camper- apparently it's a common issue with them and he ended up selling it).

Since you've got a lot of sun damage I'd check the seals around the windows as well as the bulb seal around the rear glass; they dry and shrink over time. The struts are easily replaceable if they've lost their charge as well. I'd go ahead and sand and paint those spots on your cab before they got worse too; they're going to continue to grow as they get windburned.

 

Thank you both so much for the info! I’ve been doing research and I’m going to gel coat it. I might even get some wild color pigment while I’m at it, possibly involving glitter...

Maybe this is a silly question but, do you think I’d have to take the roof rack off, or could I just paint tape it and go around it? I want to do everything right so it’s water tight but I’d love to avoid messing with that if possible.