Snugtop vs Leer, ARE, etc

Hello all -- new member here. Loving my Tacoma. Shopping for a shell and could use some knowledgeable advice. Is Snugtop the best brand to go with or was the Snugtop dealer just trying to make a sale?? He said comparing Snugtop to Leer/ARE is like "comparing Cadillac to Kia". Snugtop is considerably more expensive, so I want to make an informed decision. Thanks guys and gals! Jake

 

They are all good, buy the cheapest one that meets your needs.

 

I've got an ARE and I love it. Never owned the other brands though. Got mine on Craig's list for $900.

 

I'm also looking at caps, some have thicker roofs and are stronger... I know off roading is hard on caps and they can crack so don't buy a cheap one, or get a used one for off roading...... But I'm looking at the snug top XTR and some others... For the street I think just get the cap you like...

 

unless on the street you haul lumber on the cap racks ....

 

Great info, yeah I looked at the XTR in person. It's a really sweet looking cap and great quality. The owner of the shop seemed real genuine and honest and said Leer and ARE aren't "bad" caps, just that they break down and crack over time and parts need to be replaced more. I plan on having this truck til it dies so I'm thinking I'm going with Snugtop still as of now. Thanks!

 

I will be offroading at least a couple times a month. Other than that, the reason I want a shell is because I'm also a musician (drummer) and I need weather protection and security as well for gear.

 

Before considering ARE, take a look at this thread.

 

Wow, that's horrible! Yeah I'm thinking I'm gonna go with Snugtop. From my research so far, they seem to be the best quality. Thanks for sharing that!

 

Bought mine from http://www.jasoncaps.com out of Elkhart Indiana. Just over $1000 and seems like a pretty solid top for the money.

 

Snugtop appears to be a good choice. A lot of my friends are surfers who have Snugs and use racks and often navigate rough terrain in Baja. There's 'good' and then there's 'better' ... and you know what they say: you get what you pay for. The styling seems to be more with it too...looks like it comes from the factory. Leer and ARE are adequate and it all depends how you use your truck and how important the look is to you. The XTR seems to be a unique style

 

Snugtop have the best looking and made tops. IMO...

 

I have a Leer 100xr, 2K out the door with a drop down front sliding window, headliner, and Thule tracks. Snugtop wasn't really an option for me since they're so difficult to get on the east coast. No complaints with the Leer so far. Having a good dealer is important. I looked at the ARE's but the local dealer turned me off. I knew more about the caps from online research than their sales reps did.

 

I love my snugtop xtr, it's done everything I could ever want it to. Currently selling it only because I want my rtt lower for less wind resistance, cog etc...

 

I just took delivery of a brand new Snugtop Hi-Liner and am exTREMly disappointed in the fit & finish and attention to detail they took when making it. Aluminum drill shavings were left in and on rubber seals and gutter areas. The drilled holes are not cleaned up or out. Edges on cut pieces of aluminum are still raw and sharp as shit. There is more than a few areas of glue overspray for the liner and areas where the rug liner has been pushed into a corner so hard that some piece of metal has stuck out through it. I had LED lights put in and it's like they've never done that before and just crammed the wires in a bundle next to each light and then slapped the liner over that which left misshaped areas. When you open the little sliding windows on the windoors there is a gaping 1/4 gap between the insect screen and fixed window area which means that "feature" is actually useless for what it's meant to do. The rear window/door frame is not centered so the gap on one side is noticeably larger than the other. Whoever put on the little oval snugtop decals on the right and left rear of the shell didn't care enough to put them on straight. It actually leaks exactly where they riveted in the warning to not ride in the shell when the vehicle is running or in motion! The rear latch mechanism does not actually catch on both sides, you have to push in to get the right side to latch. But, worst of all, I just went through my 1st night in it in a Humboldt county night of "light showers" and it actually channeled water INTO the bed area! Amazingly lame. I had to prop open the rear window about a half inch so that it would not direct water onto the top of my tailgate and then into the bed where it soaked the shit out of the bedding. I had an old Snugtop from 1995 and thought they might have improved their design or made some improvements but it is, literally, no different than the 20 year old one I just got rid of. Will buy anything but a snugtop next time. I'm so pissed I've already removed all three traces of Snugtop branding they stuck on it.

 

...note to self....don't get a SnugTop. I'm looking right now and will delete this one from my list.

 

I just bought a Leer (month ago) and it’s perfect. No complaints so far.

 

Closest snug top dealer is 4 hours away, so that wasn't a great option. The thread mentioned above about ARE and the plastic trim along the bottom I had experience with the used ARE on my last truck being shrunk and cracked.

I just picked up my Leer 100XR 2 days ago, a couple of drawbacks, but so far I love it. The biggest thing is the back windo doesn't open like others, it only opens to horizontal, just about the level of my forehead. Given my dad once walked into a corner of a back window and sliced a nickel sized chunk off his nose, that's a concern for me!

 

@Pyrifera man that sucks. But it sounds like you just had a bad install. I went ahead with the Snugtop and spent the first night in it camping in Montana. It's excellent and really well made as far as I can tell. It's flawless. I have NONE of the problems you speak of. I would suggest having it installed by a more experienced dealer.

 

It's not the installation, it's that the people at snugtop obviously didn't care and slapped it together late on a Friday or hungover or whatever but, regardless, they were non-detail-oriented and obviously don't care about quality.