Used A.R.E V-CAP on 08' DC

Hello,

Im looking at buying a used cap for my 08' DC. The cap is currently on a 2017 tundra also a DC, same color so its perfect. My only hesitation before I take off a day from work and drive 10 hours to purchase this cap is, will it properly fit? Does anyone have any experience with these, or maybe bought a newer cap for their older truck? All and any advice/help is much appreciated. Thank you for your time.

 

no it won't fit fine

 

08 is somewhat different than a 17, for sure the tailgate is different and I'm not sure of the sweep of the back of the cab.

 

I've heard the 2014+ trucks have some minor differences in the bed dimensions, including a thicker tailgate, so the fit won't be exact. I think some other folks here have made it work, though. Could be worth it if the price is good.

 

IMO the price is good, it looks to be in great condition and it helps that its same color as my truck, would like to be able to camp in this so hoping even if its not an exact fit that it'll at least keep water out

 

I think one member modified a second gen cap to fit their third gen Tundra and posted about it somewhere on the site. Not sure if anyone's ever done it the other way.

 

The 3rd gen bed is at least 1 1/2" longer than the 2nd which is what you have so there might be cap hanging off the bed on the cab end and it might well hit the cab at times as the bed flexes I would think.

The real limitation is that for the rear door to work you will need to index the cap at the rear door so that it will latch and seal properly at the tailgate and so that means the extra length would be moved forward towards the cab.

So I would try to explain this to the seller and get exact and detailed dimensions before the drive myself and I have fitted 3 different less than ideal caps to my 3rd gen truck which luckily was wrong in the opposite way where I had to extend the cap 1 1/2" in order for it to fit and seal.

The other thing is maybe a pic or 2 of the cap would be a better way to be more sure of all of this,surely you got some pic right?

This is a pic of a 2nd gen cap on my 3rd gen truck to give an idea.
See how the cap is short on the cab end of the truck?
This is how it had to be so that the tailgate and door would mate up and latch so it was simple to use a L angle aluminum riveted onto the cab end and weatherstripped to just make this one fit and look pretty much like a factory fit,notice that the contour of the cab end looks the same too.

You also might be able to index the cap at the cab end and have it hang over the tailgate too if the rear door latches entirely to the cap itself and not the tail gate at all?Then you would need to fab up something to fill the gap and I don't know if this is something that is in your abilities or if you will like the look of the cap hanging off the rear?
I dont think I would but I could sure fab it up to make it work too.
YMMV as they say.

Unless you have a bed stretcher or the differences between my long bed and your bed setup are not the same as the generational differences I show here you could be in trouble for sure.
Again the reason for detailed dimensions before the trip!