Picking Up A Used Shell.. Advice Please

Hey TW,

I found a great deal on FB Marketplace for a Leer 180 mid rise shell for my 3rd gen DCSB. I'm going to pick it up this weekend. Does anyone have good advice for what to look for (issues, leaks, cracks, etc.) That I should inspect before making the purchase? I don't have much experience with these things at all, so I don't want to miss something and regret it.

Also, should I be prepared with anything specific to do the swap? Like seals or anything? I'm driving a few hours and don't want to immediately mess up my truck because I installed it wrong.

Thanks!

 

Make sure door and locks work, other than that, look for the obvious cracks, inside and out.

 

All of the seals are adhered to the shell itself so they should not be an issue. The electrical connections for the dome light and third brake light usually have a plug inside the bed or behind a taillight and can be unplugged easily. You can install the shell onto your truck and drive it home w/o the electrical connections but I would suggest making sure that you have that plug on the harness and cut the other side of plug free from his truck too. Not that big of a deal but it's much better to have that molex on the wiring for any future removal / reinstall vs having to cut the wires. Cracks if any generally occur at the corners so that's a good spot to double check.

You should also look at purchasing a set of bed stiffeners for long term durability of the bed shell structure, the weight of a camper shell on the bedsides combined with the ridiculously flexible rear frame lead to the bed rails spreading over time and the even seeing the metal fatigue and crack at the back of the bed below the tailgate.

 

Definitely bed stiffeners in the near future! From one of the pictures, I see a gap between the body of the shell and the back glass door, should I be concerned about this? The owner says it hasn't leaked, but who knows.

 

Get in on this or build something similar to tap the brake lights:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/plug-and-play-brake-light-taps.707529/#post-25121246