Show me your shell!

I believe mine is about the same exact height as the cab

 

Couple of questions for a shell i'm thinking of purchasing. New to the whole truck thing, so bare with me. I have a black 2020 TRD PRO DCSB. I'm debating on either a LEER or ARE, since i dont have snugtop dealer near me. If i plan on putting a rack on later, what type of rack hardware do i purchase or does it come with the shell? I most likely plan on getting a prinsu rack for the cab and shell. Is there anything i'm missing? Any help would be appreciated before i spend a chunk of money on a shell. Thanks.

 

You'll want to make sure the shell has roof tracks. Yakima or THule are the common brands used in a lot of shells, doesn't matter which you get. If you plan on putting on aftermarket racks in the future, the last thing you want to do is get a shell without tracks and get them installed later on. They're super expensive to add-on later and challenging/warranty killing to put them on yourself.

 

I have a Jeraco shell on my 2nd gen. It’s used, like most things on my truck and used to be silver. I outfitted it with a 3rd gen 4Runner rack by running some 1/4” bolts through the top and rewired the interior with LED lights. It recently came back from paint good as new.

For the 2nd gen, plastic bed rail caps on or off? I read somewhere they had to stay on for strength. I also see so many of you with them off and it looks so good. I also have leaks in the front corners no matter what I do. I’m guessing the leaks could be solved by removing the plastic. Thanks

 

I’m not sure the liquid nails thought would make a difference, unless you’re building a submarine? It will never be fully water proof, since the tail gate isn’t sealed and the topper lid doesn’t exactly seal agains the tailgate either. I’ve have mine for three years with just the foam and there is very little water that ever gets in. I think just a new foam gasket and 6 bolts etc instead of 4 would work?

I’ve run six of these that slide into bed rail system for about 2 years and they work amazingly well. No bolt holes required.


I’ve had them on for about 70k miles with several cross country road trips and plenty of washboard roads and proper off-roading. They have held the shell on super tight, no leaks and no movement, through 5 cross country road trips with kayaks on the roof, a gun case full of recovery gear, a box of camping gear and firewood

just my two cents. The 6 tie down points (bolts or something like what I’ve got) will do you better with a simple foam gasket, no messy sealant needed.


The middle of a 5000 miles road trip last summer with the kayaks.

 

Here is a pic with My SnugTop.

 

I wanted a shelf inside the shell but not from the floor. Found this piece of 8020 at work and used a piece of 1/4” thick lexan for a bottom.

 

Snugtop Rebel with pet screens, front slider drop down window. I dig mine and so do the dogs! I just put in a bed rug for the dogs and me so there are no more ridges. Comfortable to sleep on when hunting Sasquatch here in Washington.

 

Got mine installed yesterday. Love the prolock and 2 port usb charger on the rear of the shell.

 

Yesterday I picked up a nice used commercial A.R.E. shell with windoors and a tool box. Need to add carpet, wire brake light and possibly add sliding window behind cab. Worth the half day of driving and $600.00 price. Plan to use tool box for camping gear. If not, may remove to make a bigger sleeping area.

 

Finally got my shell installed today! I went with the ARE V series with minimal accessories. Shopped all northern CA and southern Oregon but went with the local dealer as prices were all about the same. I’m now part of the club!

Edit: Ordering took 9 weeks from order to install due to covid

 

I added some fishing rod holders to the shelf I made, to get them off the floor of the bed and out of the way.

 

Finally had my SnugTop Rebel installed. Sliding windoors on both sides, pro lock and Yakima tracks.

 

I was looking at your rod rack and remembered this from the other day.

I had a similar issue.

Crawl in there and have a look at the plastic channel the glass slides through. The one on the bottom is likely ruined. If it doesn't look straight but swollen and squiggly, then it needs replacing like mine did. There was enough length on the lower section that I was able to cut off the bad section and use the remaining for the glass to ride on. If there isn't enough left, the upper channel may need to be cut to make it work. I never did find a suitable replacement online but stopped looking after realizing I could use what I had on hand.

 

New SnugTop Hi-Liner.

I like it.




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@Omegaqft You may want to consider getting a reinforced shell if u plan on putting a rack or rtt up there. Something like the ARE HD series, that way you can mount a lot of weight uo there and not worry about stress cracks. You’d attach a prinsu with something like yakima tracks (they have like a t slot)

I got the V series with windoors, windoors are awesome. Spring for interior lights if you can afford it but i went for windoors instead.

I personally think ARE has a better rear window hinge than leer and looks marginally better.

Last, when they install it, ask for the rubber gasket, not the foam tape. The guy used foam tape on mine and it was a bad idea.

One more thing, i see you have a short bed. I do too. But i didnt realize how much better it would be to get a shell if you have a long bed because then it would be worth building a sleeping platform inside.

If i knew more when buying the truck i probably wouldve got the long bed. And if i knew more when considering a shell for my shortbed i might have gotten a bed rack and rtt instead

 

Century DCU 26" high with factory installed Thule Tracker II. I had them add two 1/8" 6061-T6 plates the length of the shell for structural support to mount the rack.

 

Picked up this Leer used in MGM and had it painted to match. Getting the brake light wired up tomorrow at a Leer dealer, hoping they might be willing to change out the gaskets as well.

 

Testing out the new tires and wheels today.