about to install the topper: any advice?

[charwest]

we're putting an ARE topper on our long bed, with plans to build some storage over a snug little bed inside for car camping and travel. couple questions, for folks who have done this before..

1) are the c-clamps necessary? not sure what the dealer plan is, but they are intrusive and i imagine will catch on things. was wondering if dealers or smart owners will replace them with bolts or similar. i saw another thread mention this but it didnt get any answers.

2) is the front of the bed dust/water tight? we will use rubber seals to seal the liftgate, and most of the floor of the bed is caulked, but the front seam along the floor appears open and i am wondering if that communicates with the outside world. do folks find water crossings or dusty roads get anything into the bed? its hard to tell with the little offroading weve done already whether anything gets in there, becuase so much some in the as-yet-unsealed liftgate it could be from there.

it would be easy enough to caulk it, but if thats unnecessary its one less thing to do and one less closed compartment to seal and potentially generate rust.

3) we're planning on asking the dealer to use heavy guage wire to wire the dome light, instead of whatever they were planning to use. my plan is to tap into this and use it as a potential power source in the bed. curious if anyone has any experience with this. i was going to ask them to use 12g wire, figure that could handle any draw i could imagine pulling off the main battery.

4) any other tips?

Sponsored

 

[Rinn69]

I've seen where a couple folks bolt their topper down, and they used "blocks" of aluminum 1/4" thick, as wide as they can be and still fit, and 4-6" long to spread the load.

The caulking along the front of the bed may help, but I would leave the little area that's in the middle, open, just in case you do get water in the bed, at least it will have a way out, versus water filling up your bed and the gear inside.

If the dealer is going to run a new, fused wire from the battery to wire up the dome light, make sure it's heavy enough to handle what ever you plan on using in the bed. Otherwise, if they tap into a factory wire, use the same gauge as the factory wire and you'll have to run your own for accessories.

Just my 2 cents

 

[1medic]

I have a Century topper on my rig and our Rangers have a few spots that need to be sealed.

Pay attention to the front bed panel (at the top) where it meets each side panel under the bed side / top rail. There is a large void on either side. I had great luck laying in Silicone sealant.

Also your rear tailgate seam will leak. I sealed mine with tailgate seal from Extruded Solutions.

As for the clamps it's your choice. You can go "old school" and drill new holes through the shell and bed rail or just get used to the look of clamps. They should be fairly flush and if they're not you can get clamps with a shallow "throat" to fit closer to the bed rail. We use ARE's with clamps on our work trucks and they work great. Century's (aka Leer) design uses a clamp as well but it's less intrusive in to the bed space.

Other tips? Yes, be patient in making it "water resistant". Be ready for lot's of test and re-test.

Good luck.

 

[Deleted member 1634]

1) I'm sure you could get bolts to work if you're savvy enough and don't mind drilling hole where there wouldn't otherwise be in your brand new truck. haha From experience, the first couple holes are tough to deal with, but after that it gets easier to cope. haha

2) There are a few spots along the forward bulkhead to topper seam where the joggles don't quite meet and leave a gap. There's also the holes in the forward bulkhead that are the real cause of leaking. The gap along the bottom of the forward bulkhead seems to be louvred and positioned in such a way that it allow water to escape the bed, but nothing to enter the bed. So I wouldn't worry too much about that area. Other than that there's a few gaps in the seal around the rear window on my Leer. But that's about it. Dust will have an easier time getting in than water, since it's not gravity dependent, so that'll be harder to make it air tight.

3) On our Leer we have the factory installed 12V accessory ports in the topper. I don't believe ARE has that option if I remember correctly. Not saying to switch to Leer, cause you shouldn't. Just that it's very possible. I could try and see if they only ran one wire from the battery for the dome light and bed outlets, or they actually ran 2 wires or something. But they are really nice to have back there. Another option would be to install the bed outlet the truck can come with. I know there's a thread on here somewhere that outlines how to install it yourself.

Other than that, if you're savvy enough and can think outside the box, you can do pretty much anything you can think of to it. I've already added plenty of little storage pockets and nets and racks and holders. Good luck and have fun making your dream camping rig!

 

[NickTheEnforcer]

we're putting an ARE topper on our long bed, with plans to build some storage over a snug little bed inside for car camping and travel. couple questions, for folks who have done this before..

1) are the c-clamps necessary? not sure what the dealer plan is, but they are intrusive and i imagine will catch on things. was wondering if dealers or smart owners will replace them with bolts or similar. i saw another thread mention this but it didnt get any answers.

2) is the front of the bed dust/water tight? we will use rubber seals to seal the liftgate, and most of the floor of the bed is caulked, but the front seam along the floor appears open and i am wondering if that communicates with the outside world. do folks find water crossings or dusty roads get anything into the bed? its hard to tell with the little offroading weve done already whether anything gets in there, becuase so much some in the as-yet-unsealed liftgate it could be from there.

it would be easy enough to caulk it, but if thats unnecessary its one less thing to do and one less closed compartment to seal and potentially generate rust.

3) we're planning on asking the dealer to use heavy guage wire to wire the dome light, instead of whatever they were planning to use. my plan is to tap into this and use it as a potential power source in the bed. curious if anyone has any experience with this. i was going to ask them to use 12g wire, figure that could handle any draw i could imagine pulling off the main battery.

4) any other tips?

Stick with the c-clamps, any holes you drill will rust quickly b/c pretty much no one galvi-dips their body panels anymore...vehicles rust at at a crazy rate now.

I know a lot of folks like/want to use the beds as a big-trunk space, me included. I dont care what you do eventually water will get in to some extent. When I travel I put items that absolutely cant get wet in construction bags or elevate on some 1x wood with a piece of plywood precision cut to fit my bed. Now when any water gets in it channels under the 1x strips. On my last vehicle the cap was 98% water tight for about 3 years or so. Then we went on a long distance road trip where we drove through a bunch of rain for 10 hours, when we got to our 1st stop all or clothes were soaked...learned my lesson. I took it back to the cap store a couple of times for 'new seal' blah-blah, dropped it off, spend $100 each time and guess what. NOT a lot of improvement for very long. $15 for a box of HomeDepot construction bags and a roll of electrical tape...100% dry every time.

JMO

 

[charwest]

1) I'm sure you could get bolts to work if you're savvy enough and don't mind drilling hole where there wouldn't otherwise be in your brand new truck. haha From experience, the first couple holes are tough to deal with, but after that it gets easier to cope. haha

2) There are a few spots along the forward bulkhead to topper seam where the joggles don't quite meet and leave a gap. There's also the holes in the forward bulkhead

thanks to you and others that have responded. Now that I start sniffing around, I can see a few gaps that clearly would benefit from sealing, and now I have a couple more questions.
See my attached photo. This truck came with the OEM soft folding tonneau. i believe the metal bracket (green arrow in photo) is basically part of the tonneau, so my plan is to remove that in case anybody ever actually finds a new home for this thing.

However the red arrow I’m not sure about. This is a thin metal cover over the top edge of what I believe is called the front bulkhead. It’s flimsy and fragile appearing. Is this something that came with the tonneau, so that there is a uniform top edge and creates a better seal? Or is this part of the truck bed and the topper is going to sit on top of it? if the latter I definitely need to remove this, caulk underneath it, and put it back on before we go to the dealer to get the topper installed. It will be impossible to run a nice outside silicone bead once the topper is in place.

Finally, I have been assuming that the plastic rails on the sides of the bed stay there and the topper sits on top of them. Blue arrow in the photo. But if that is not the case and those are going to come off before the topper is fitted, please let me know!

 

[Deleted member 1634]

thanks to you and others that have responded. Now that I start sniffing around, I can see a few gaps that clearly would benefit from sealing, and now I have a couple more questions.
See my attached photo. This truck came with the OEM soft folding tonneau. i believe the metal bracket (green arrow in photo) is basically part of the tonneau, so my plan is to remove that in case anybody ever actually finds a new home for this thing.

However the red arrow I’m not sure about. This is a thin metal cover over the top edge of what I believe is called the front bulkhead. It’s flimsy and fragile appearing. Is this something that came with the tonneau, so that there is a uniform top edge and creates a better seal? Or is this part of the truck bed and the topper is going to sit on top of it? if the latter I definitely need to remove this, caulk underneath it, and put it back on before we go to the dealer to get the topper installed. It will be impossible to run a nice outside silicone bead once the topper is in place.

Finally, I have been assuming that the plastic rails on the sides of the bed stay there and the topper sits on top of them. Blue arrow in the photo. But if that is not the case and those are going to come off before the topper is fitted, please let me know!

Green and red are tonneau related and should be removed by you prior to topper install. The topper dips down to meet the forward bulkhead (you can kind of see it in the below unrelated picture), a tonneau doesn't so that's why that sheet metal piece has to be there. But since the topper does joggle down to meet the bulkhead, the areas in the corners are where the seal won't conform as well and it can leak a bit.

Both green and red should be packaged with your tonneau for when someone buys it.

Speaking of that bulkhead sheet metal cover. The holes that thing uses to mount to the bulkhead are the holes I was talking about that are open to the world (once you remove the sheet metal) and can allow water/dust into the bed.

Blue stays since those are essentially the bedrails. The topper rests on top of those. That's what you would drill through to bolt instead of clamp if you went that route. Though looking at mine, the clamps aren't really in the way at all. But that's up to you.

Happy to help!

 

[FX4Offroad]

A.R.E Z2 - Mine leaks at the bulkhead and the installer can't seem to get it to stop. I have a bed rug and it's always wet. Had to remove it because of the musty smell.

I can't put anything in there that will get damaged if it gets wet. They've installed it, sealed it and reinstalled it and it leaks just as bad.

I'm about to ask them to remove it for a refund.

NOT HAPPY!

 

[charwest]

so helpful. thanks.
will do as you advise. agree your clamps are less intrusive than the larger c-clamps i have seen on most toppers, havent any idea what ARE dealer plans to use and was just thinking ahead.

i dont worry much personally about drilling the bedrail and bolting, with appropriate paint, greases, coating, antiseize goop etc and maybe a little TLC once every few years i suspect i woudlnt end up with a rusted out bed. maybe im overly confident, but perhaps it wont be an issue after all.

i guess one critical question, especially given some posters less-than-ideal water sealing results:

is there any sealing that cant wait until after the topper is on? i would rather work on it after the topper is on so i can really see what i will be working with. but if the topper will blow access to some areas id like to work on them now.

 

[Deleted member 1634]

so helpful. thanks.
will do as you advise. agree your clamps are less intrusive than the larger c-clamps i have seen on most toppers, havent any idea what ARE dealer plans to use and was just thinking ahead.

i dont worry much personally about drilling the bedrail and bolting, with appropriate paint, greases, coating, antiseize goop etc and maybe a little TLC once every few years i suspect i woudlnt end up with a rusted out bed. maybe im overly confident, but perhaps it wont be an issue after all.

i guess one critical question, especially given some posters less-than-ideal water sealing results:

is there any sealing that cant wait until after the topper is on? i would rather work on it after the topper is on so i can really see what i will be working with. but if the topper will blow access to some areas id like to work on them now.

Agreed on the bedrail holes. If you take the appropriate corrosion resistant precautions, you'll at most stop if from every happening and at least slow it down. It's something I would consider doing if I didn't like the clamps.

As far as sealing goes. Same sort of idea, if you do it right and go to town on it, it can be done. Anything can be done, just depends how crazy you want to get. Could fill those little gaps in the topper-to-forward bulkhead seal with a whole tube of silicone (or other sealant) if you really wanted. I think you'll be fine doing all the sealing after the topper is installed. Plus I think the install method may produce more or less leaks than others just because each mating is a little different. So better to just wait and see where the leaks are before doing anything. At least that's what I would do.

 

[Rinn69]

is there any sealing that cant wait until after the topper is on? i would rather work on it after the topper is on so i can really see what i will be working with. but if the topper will blow access to some areas id like to work on them now.

Once you get the topper installed and "waterproofed", have one person inn the bed, and locked in, have another person outside with a hose and spray water from every angle, even underneath and let the person inside use a black or white grease pen (whatever color shows better) and mark the leaks. Then seal those. Let it all cure, then try it again.....may take a few times, and not an absolute guarantee way of finding and fixing ALL the leaks, but it should take care of the big ones.

 

[Rinn69]

What tailgate seal did you use ? It looks like it would be pretty effective.

 

[Deleted member 1634]

What tailgate seal did you use ? It looks like it would be pretty effective.

It is quite effective. I don't get any water or dust coming around the tailgate, it all comes from the gaps in the topper sealing. Easy to install too. No nicks or wearing on it at all yet. Even though it does get rubbed by the cables every time.

I went with this Extang MaxSeal. I'm pretty sure I found it because of someone on here. Ordered and installed about a year ago now.

Sponsored