New Snugtop Rebel Atop Cactus Gray FX4

[lazynorse]

Waited 2 months after ordering, received and immediately went camping.

Initial impressions are good! Fit and finish are acceptable, at minimum. Paint match is great. Hardware and components appear to be decent quality. No janky rivets or screws that I can see. Haven’t done a heavy rain or car wash test, I’m bracing myself for leak tests.

Due to the high bedsides, the canopy and windoor depth is a little narrow. So glad I got the windoors, used those a ton while camping. With multiple layers of tinted glass between driver and the rear outside, rear view mirror functionality is restricted. I got used to that by the long drive home.

Multiple quotes, best out the door price (including 10% sales tax) was $4002, optioned with Ford key fob sync lock, windoors with vent slider, tilt down front window and roof tracks. I installed a BedRug, too, which I love.

I’ll report back with problems, hopefully won’t have to!

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[jblc]

Nice! I have the exact same canopy and configuration

I purchased mine in early 2020, and have had EVERY single component fail on arrival, or within the first month. Literally (and unbelievably) every part. I'm very bitter about it.

This includes all components that are not the fiberglass: every latch, hook, window component, seal, lock, etc.
It's to the point that basic "indestructible" parts like the thick steel latches were even messed up, which seems incredible: it's like they were bent with a forklift collision, or who knows what. Even the carpet peels away.
They even cut the fiberglass wrong (looks like an amateur job), in such a way that water runs inside. Every part of every window was leaking and were replaced, but still not fixed.

I still haven't been able to resolve all the issues, despite 6x dealer visits, and dozens of repairs (weeks of work) on my end. The canopy still leaks like crazy with rain.

Snugtop has been incredibly poor in its response. I asked them to refund me this lemon, and they would not.

I had 2x ARE canopies for my previous ranger, and they worked flawlessly.

Snugtop is a disaster in every sense.

I hope yours works okay!

 

[lazynorse]

Nice! I have the exact same canopy and configuration

I purchased mine in early 2020, and have had EVERY single component fail on arrival, or within the first month. Literally (and unbelievably) every part. I'm very bitter about it.

This includes all components that are not the fiberglass: every latch, hook, window component, seal, lock, etc.
It's to the point that basic "indestructible" parts like the thick steel latches were even messed up, which seems incredible: it's like they were bent with a forklift collision, or who knows what. Even the carpet peels away.
They even cut the fiberglass wrong (looks like an amateur job), in such a way that water runs inside. Every part of every window was leaking and were replaced, but still not fixed.

I still haven't been able to resolve all the issues, despite 6x dealer visits, and dozens of repairs (weeks of work) on my end. The canopy still leaks like crazy with rain.

Snugtop has been incredibly poor in its response. I asked them to refund me this lemon, and they would not.

I had 2x ARE canopies for my previous ranger, and they worked flawlessly.

Snugtop is a disaster in every sense.

I hope yours works okay!

Oooooohhhh shhhhiiiiii…

You got me nervous now! I’ll stress test and keep a close eye. The dealer is 5 min from my house, I’ll be a thorn in their side, warranty wise, if anything goes wrong. So sorry about your experience.

Could you tell just by looking at it on day one that the quality was sub par?

 

[jblc]

Could you tell just by looking at it on day one that the quality was sub par?

Yeah, there were a number of odd things already on delivery, including bent parts and a back door that wouldn't latch.

I wasn't able to check a few other things, since (a) I didn't know that they could be a problem (such as crude or miscut fiberglass that created channels for water to pour into the bed, in particular in the corners near the cab), or (b) I didn't have the capability to test this at the dealer (eg window leakage).

If you haven't already checked, it's probably worth checking leakage around the canopy at max garden hose flow, and also around the back window. They replaced that back window twice now, and it still leaks at the seam between the glass and the black fiberglass part that goes over the tailgate.

Some other random things to check, aside from leakage:
- sharp fiberglass poking out from under the black fiberglass part that goes over the tailgate
- rubbing against the tailgate during operation (mine quickly wore a strip through the paint, and into the metal)
- bent or stripped window screws (from the inside) that are loose and aren't creating a good seal

Good luck!

 

[lazynorse]

UPDATE - after the hose and heavy rain test (driving and parked), no windows or back latches leak BUT the seal between canopy front and the front bed cap leaks some water.

The Ranger front bed rail is lower than the sides. Snugtop and others use a gasket material to address this. Snugtop uses a double bulb rubber gasket, but this is obviously not enough. You’ll see the rain water collected in the photos below. It’s drops of water, not huge pools. This was after very intense rain and freeway driving in western Washington. So, it didn’t let in all the water as that would be an ocean with these prolonged heavy rains

Some minor drips are expected, but for $4k I’d like a better seal. I’ll call my dealer and see what they will do about it. Again, I’d call this an install issue, no other part of the canopy leaked (except on the rearmost bedside, at the open tailgate gap but that is Ford’s fault, not Snugtop. This is minor intrusion, btw).

Photos of front of canopy. Might need to zoom in but you’ll see all the droplets of water on the vertical and floor surfaces.

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