Show me your shell!

I thought we covered the use of the word "agreed" years ago. Installers like to use foam tape because it's cheap and any leaks will not be their problem. I use bulb seal myself and haven't had a leak yet going on five years.

 

Is butyl tape permanent?

 

My bad, this is what I get from scanning from my phone! Apologies.

No, it will come off with little effort.

Since it is like a putty ( same thing that our headlights are sealed with) you can remove it and reuse it over and over again as long as you keep debris from mixing in with the material.


ALSO, the last time I was in the US, Harbor Freight had large rolls of this stuff available for next to nothing.

 

Thanks

 

Snugtop with Prinsu Shell Rack Mounted Up.

 

I recently bought a shell for $500 buck, wasn't planning on buying it but it was the best deal I ran across, then I paint matched it with a paint gun. I wanted to be able to camp out of it (I have a lot of National Park road trips planned) but I still wanted to be able to store stuff. My fire department had a little scrap room that had these really nice droor rails that i snagged, meant to carry way more weight then some osb. Now I keep photo gear, recovery gear, mre's, etc. etc. in there, and the best part is I have a 4" thick memory foam pad that fits that space like a glove, very comfortable. Even with that I can fit 3 lay down blinds, 20 something full body goose decoys and some duck floaters in the back to go hunting (which is why it's dirty right now...

 

So, is the butyl tape suitable to use around the entire bed, or is it just for patching leaks?

My shell is old and the weather stripping is degraded badly. Water comes in everywhere. I'm going to pull the shell and remove what's left of the old stripping.

Any other suggestions of what to replace it with?

 

My new shell. Brand new Ranch Sierra, slider side windows with screens, slider and drop-down cab window, color matched MGM (about as perfect of a MGM match as you can get I think), interior LED battery operated light, proper Tacoma bed rail clamps (not "C" clamps), but no carpet on the interior roof. Had to drive about 2.5 hrs to get it, but it was brand new for $1160 OTD. Didn't want to pay $2000 like I did last time for my A.R.E. (but it was a great cap!), and couldn't find any decent used ones that didn't need painted - nor did I like the styles of most of what I found. Decent cap, build quality is good (not A.R.E., but still nice), rear door is nice and solid when opening and closing, I actually like the dual T handles. Also, the cap seals nicely in the rear, no gaps near the tailgate or near the rear door frame, really nicely finished. The base of the cap where it fits onto the bed is perfect near the cab, but it tends to have more of a gap towards the rear on both sides. It doesn't bother me and you can't notice it unless you put your finger under the lip and run it down the underside of the cap between the cap and bed. One last thing, the cap is a little higher than the cab (just a wee bit) and tends to slope upwards just slightly towards the rear, it may be just an illusion, just something I noticed. Doesn't bother me in the least, just something I noticed when looking at it and comparing it to other caps on DCSB Tacos. Other than that, it's a really nice cap for the money. Most used caps I found were in the $700-1400 range, and still found nothing that I really liked. Would have loved to score a deal on a used one, but have been looking for about a year and this is what I ended up with. If you are on the fence about new vs. used, give Ranch a look, it may or may not be what you are looking for.

 

I had a ranch on my previous Tacoma, Barcelona Red, and the color match on it was reaaly good as well. I completely agree with everything you said. I have had shells with a single rear door handle and double rear handles, both have there pros and cons. I guess it depends on who makes the shell as to which door handle setup you get. Ranch shells are about the cheapest new cap you can buy and I think thats why alot of people won't buy one, could also be availability of a dealer. If I ever have to buy another new cap I would buy another Ranch brand shell.

 

I have the same cap (same color) on mine. Love the fit and the price. Came with a tilt-in slider in front and I added the carpet liner for $1,250. Windoors would have been nice but the budget wasn't there.

 

I looked at it like this. If I buy a new A.R.E. or Leer and go to sell it years later, as a lot of people do, you basically get about 1/2 for what you paid, if you are lucky. That's what happened to my last cap on my '06 Taco. If I sell this years down the road, and I get 1/2 of what I paid, I'm only out $500-600. All in all, Ranch is a good basic fiberglass cap. The more expensive Ranch series are actually very nice but their price is comparable to the other brands.

 

That looks great!

 

Hey guys! I want to get a topper/shell for my 16 tacoma short-bed but I want something that is tall enough to fit my 13 honda cb1100 motorcycle under it. Have you guys had any experience storing motorcycles under a shell? Any recommendations? I know I need a bed extender for my bike because it's slightly larger than the bed.

 

First you need to measure how tall you motorcycle is at its highest point and find some who has a tall shell and ask them if they can measure there opening for you. A soft top would work but it depends on what type/material you want the shell made of.

 

If your not towing anything they make a hitch carrier that will carry a 600 lb bike. I recently got a carrier for my 300lb dual sport after trailering forever, love it. Also bought hellwig helper springs (50$}, don't even know the bike is on till you look in the mirror.

 

I got the bed reinforcements from Total Chaos installed. I'm ready for my shell. It should be here in a couple of weeks. Can't wait!

 

@loginfailed
I see you haven't secured the tailgate.

 

Good eye.

 

$1,000 to 1500.00????

 

What's the reason for the bed reinforcement? Was there an issue?