Camper Shell - Sealing the gap??

[amnewsom]

I have seen this mentioned a few times on this board but I want to revisit it with a new thread. I have a shell on my truck and both windows are sliders.



I want to remove the shell window and leave just the cab slider in place. Who has done anything close to this - I dont want to remove both, just the camper side. I have heard of 2 piece seals and full one piece units, etc. I am looking for real world here. Thanks.

 

[FJfonda]

I have an ARE with this same arrangement from the factory. The dealer did mention at the time I purchased it that they sell a retrofit kit to do exactly what you want to do. I would check with the shell manufacturer.

 

[keimmmo]

Yes, you can do it. You can probably find some universal weather strip if you can't get a real kit. However, from experience, the bed is mounted directly to the frame and the cab is mounted in rubber and will move. The movement will wear the paint off the cab where the seal rubs.



Steve

 

[JRMora]

I've had bad experiences doing this on two older trucks (when they still painted them well... ) In both cases, the rubber seal wore off the paint around the rear window. That's because the bed and the cab move relative to each other as you drive down the road. It didn't take too many miles to do this, either. The last two shells I had I didn't use a topper seal against the cab. Maybe a foam seal would be less agressive, but you'd still get dust and dirt in there (which makes a great sandpaper substitute!)



Juan

 

[LLiddell]

I have a SnugTop w/ two windows. When I had it installed I inquired about the rubber boot and mentioned the fact that movement rubbed the paint off. The installer said that they put a clear plastic film on the cab and the boot rides on it and saves the paint. I still opted for the two windows.

 

[BigPapa]

I have had the boot on two toppers on two different trucks. One of them came with a window and I converted to a boot. Expect to pay $80-$100 for the boot.



I never had a problem with paint wear. If you keep it clean under the boot and put some good wax on from time to time you will not have any problem. I put 300K miles on the first truck I had the boot on and when I sold it it had no wear from the boot.



The reason I don't have a boot on my current rig is the noise. With the boot you will hear every noise from the bed area including tire noise. These trucks are loud enough for me so I didn't want the extra noise on this one.



Just my 2CW,

Scott