Let's see those Alu-cab setups

Did you keep your old ones?

Interesting. Will have to try this out. Given the proximity of the holes I'm not sure it will adjust enough.

 

I did keep them as a back up in case I wanted to make the rear open straight out later on. The rear door opening straight out is a bit of a head injury, waiting to happen before you left. But after you left, it might actually make some sense to offer a little bit more cover, as well as possibly preventing the door from interfering with some other overhanging equipment.

But here are the part numbers. Here’s a pic showing how far the rear door extended with those struts. if you look through Alu-Cab threads, you will see that a lot of people got there early Contour canopies shipped with the wrong struts.

 

Has anyone here gone from a smart cap to a contour? After dealing with endless RSI smart cap leaks, im now looking at getting a contour with windows

 

what kind of leaks have you been dealing with? between bed and cap, or seams in the cap?

 

The front panel glass leaked where it meets the panel and both panel seams leak and the side windows leak. RSI sent replacement sliding windows and RTV. The RTV did not fix the seam leak. RSI had a dealer reseal and reassemble with a new front panel. One side of the front seam still leaks and the glass on the front panel leaks worse than the original. The panel looks like there's a bead of RTV and probably has a gap in it but at this point im tired of throwing parts at it and wishing I had gone with something else a long time ago

 

I can only speak to my Contour. I prepped my bed rail and the usual problem areas. I can't say that I have experienced much in the way of the canopy itself leaking. And I live in the PNW. I mean, I don't have any excursions planned to visit the Titanic anytime soon, but overall, I'd say its been pretty dry back there. I also have realistic expectations as I have not tried to seal the rear tailgate area.

You are not the first person that I've heard complain about Smartcap leaks. From what I understand, those will always be difficult to keep from leaking. I've head that even if they don't start off leaking where are the parts meet, overtime, the gaskets between the pieces of the canopy dry out and need to be replaced/bolts tightened...

 

At some point, you're going to have an east coast twin. Different wheels, but when I can finally splurge on the contour, our trucks will be very similar. Your truck looks great.

 

Lightweight alucab LT-50. No fear of tipping over in the Rubicon trail.

 

Nice! I am enjoying the monochrome look with the black balancing out the silver. Post up when you do.

Cool looking rig man. Have you rigged up any back-up camera relocation or any aftermarket back-up camera due to reduced rear vision between the canopy and the spare on the swingout? I could see that getting tricky.

 

thanks! Yes I just got an aftermarket camera from a stereo shop and relocated it to my bumper swing out.

 

I'm calling around for contour canopy quotes and a few places are saying 3-6 hours for install at roughly 150/hr. The smart cap I have now went on in an hour, probably less, so these install numbers seem... off ...to me.

 

i've heard similar prices for install. it seems like you'd have to sneak in a few beer breaks just to make it last 2 hours.

 

I got a Woflbox rearview mirror camera and love it.

 

Interested to hear from anyone that has done a self install of the contour

 

I did a self install of a full Canopy Camper (not what you're asking, but way more involved than the Contour). Being extremely meticulous and it being my first time, I was able to get it installed by myself in ~6 hours. Can't imagine a Contour taking anywhere near the quoted 6 hours for experienced folks.

I wouldn't pay someone that much to have it installed.

 

took the company i got mine from about 3ish hours. maybe 3 and a half. getting the cap on probably isn't hard. i think wiring it up would take longer. it would be a pretty easy fit since the rear window has to sit right on the tailgate. i'm not really sure how you put it there, maybe put some 2x4s through the side windows to lift it up and move it? you can't really shift it around since it would/could damage the bottom d rubber weather stripping stuff that sits on the bed sides.

i entertained the idea of installing it myself, but decided against it. they said the box it ships in is a little too big to fit in the bed of a tacoma, but i could have taken my dad's tundra. then i wasn't sure how to get it out of the box without damaging anything. i don't have a forklift. moving it around doesn't sound difficult since it's just over 100 lbs, but not something i wanted to deal with.

i paid a little over $400 to have mine installed that included wiring.

 

Not a contour, but on my 1st gen I installed a Jason cap. Very easy if you're comfortable with running new wiring. Have two people there to place it on top of the bed so you can move it into place without dragging it around. Plenty of DIY info out there for it.

 

Anyone know a good way to keep the latches from freezing ? Maybe a good de ice spray to have on hand ? Any sprays preventative and won’t gum the latch up over time ?

 

I installed the latch covers when I bought my canopy. Three winters in Idaho - I don't recall not being able to get into the canopy due to a frozen latch. They will get sticky when it's extremely cold, but never locked out.

https://adventurevehicleoutfitters....dGAI4FZWBrCxhjG8Y5koQ2QUIFULmfZRoCP5YQAvD_BwE

 

silicone spray