1st Gen camper shell buying info

Negative.
@The Black Mamba, don’t quote me on this, because I never checked myself, but I have heard that T100 caps are compatible with 1st gen AC’s. Good thing about buying a used cap, is that when you go to pick it up, you’ll know how well it fits before you drive away. I drove 45 minutes one time to meet a guy with a cap for sale that he assured me would fit my truck. He looked as surprised as I was when it was 4 inches too long. Then he said “it don’t look bad really, and it’s already on there so….. tell ya what I’ll knock fifty bucks off and it’s yours”
Haha. Hard NO but thanx

 

I've been keeping my eyes out so I'll add T100 to the search and if I find one local that's not a waste of time, I'll give it a shot and let y'all know.

 

Where are you located? These caps are few and far between. Took me 10 years to find a color matched one, but would have pulled the trigger on a non color matched in good condition if the deal was right. Looked on FB market and Craigslist a lot before scoring mine. Worth the wait!! And got it for only $400 off of a college kid inheriting his grandpas truck.

 

Didn’t realize how lucky I was. My truck didn’t have the cap when I was looking at it, and when I was driving to see it (buy it) the owner asked if I was interested in the camper that he was selling separately. When he sent me photos of it (color matched) I am glad I wasn’t there in person, haha. Pretended not to want it and got it for $200.

 

Campers are one of those things that cost a LOT of money when you order new and cost VERY LITTLE second hand. They are infinitely useful though and I wouldn’t want to not have one now that I do have one. Heck I even carpeted my bed too

 

I saw someone on Facebook that installed a camper shell from a T100 and it seemed to fit very well. I would imagine that T100 shells are even harder to come by though.

I paid $375 for mine in 2019 and I'm so glad I did. I drove 7 hours round trip to get it.

Bonus points if you find one with windoors. So much better than sliders for loading and unloading.

 

@Elevatorguy recently offered me $1,500 for my camper shell but I said no way Jose.

 

Where you look makes a big difference too. There's been few and far between on CL for me lately. FB Marketplace seems to have more than anywhere. But I suspect a lot of the caps under $500 probably get snatched up by cap resale places, so I've resorted to keeping an eye out for trucks for sale that have caps, and I'm just going to kick an offer out to any I find over the next couple years.

 

See I kept quiet this time on purpose. I know they’re loved here. If you give me $1500 and the cap I’ll gladly dispose of it properly.

 

If you're searching for a hi-rise, hold out for a flat topped one. Mine is gonna be a bitch if i ever want to put a rack on top.

the caps that wrap over the bedrails are probably better, too. I gave $500 this may & am excited for the heat to calm down so i can enjoy it.

& the hi-rise ones definately need 2 people to take on/off. I did mine by myself & hurt my neck for a week.

 

Some good videos on YouTube of guys removing theirs alone. Two categories of solutions I've seen: (1) lift it off/suspend it from something overhead like a garage or barn ceiling (usually using ratchet straps), or (2) lift it off/suspend it from something at the sides (favorite so far is this one guy who sunk 4 fence posts above the bed rail height, might work for you, @Mr.bee since you've got a little more outdoors room to play with).

 

I found a guy down the street that has a T100 cap for sale. Just for fun, I went and measured it. The T100 cap will fit the width, but not the length. T100 cap is 3" longer than the FGT AC bed.

 

Science! So that’s possibly RC/LB territory then?

 

No, it would be way too short on that truck

 

I believe the length measurements are:

• RC: 8'0"
• AC: 6'4"
• DC: 6'2"

I've seen both the AC and DC represented as +1" from what I list above, and while I can't believe the RC has an 8ft bed, after seeing the RCLB "MAX" package details, it has the same bed and the package shows an 8ft bed, so ...

 

I can keep a look out since I still get recommendations from my previous searches around here but how you’d get it across country I have no clue lol

in my case I got lucky with mine as there was a seller on the drive home from where I bought my truck. Assuming your looking for something like this

 

Not sure how far this is from you or this is the look your going for but here’s one I found

 

Lucky dog! Truck looks great btw. Note the clear chip guards on the rear fender flares are pretty easy to take off. https://www.tundras.com/threads/wha...t-gen-tundra-today.2558/page-665#post-1807471

(Link to instructions is in the text - but test the Turtle Wax product in an inconspicuous spot first to make sure it doesn't soften your clearcoat)

 

haha thanks shifty I’d add it to the list things I gotta do to it. I wish it looked as good up close, I’m in the process this week of trying to touch up some of the gazillion rock chips that it collected over time.

 

Another option OP, I think this one should fit since it’s an AC too, although others can correct me if the dimensions are off

also if you aren’t dead set on a camper shell and just want something better than a folding cover, I have a seller around Alabama who was getting rid of his maroon solid flat cover shell thing (idk what to call it) for $250. Pretty sure it’s still for sale

 

Rock chips are good. That means highway miles. But yeah, you'll want to touch those up and keep them waxed. I have quite a few I've acquired and need to touch up. I took on a couple spots of wet concrete today too

 

While one would have to add ~2.5" to the below measurements due to bed front wall width, these are figures from the 2004 Tundra brochure. My 04 DC meausres ~77", which includes wall.



Other 1st Gen Tundra Brochures....

1st Gen Tundra Brochures, Owner's Manual and Maintenance Schedules

 

wish I had white.. so much easier to hide. I literally had to wait a month for my color to arrive lmao and id bet that its still gonna be noticable after im through.. and im going crazy thinking 3 more appear every day and after every car wash. Oh well, sometimes I have to realize I bought a truck and not a ferrari here.

 

You wish you had black. White sucks in that regard. Every chip shows up as a dark freckle. And if it gets below primer, it stains your paint orange.

 

what company do you use for touch up paint? Im kinda testing out different ones as a test run

 

www.automotivetouchup.com

 

okay cool, thats the one that took a month to arrive. I might as well try them first. Idk why but I think some places said not to use clear coat after the primer and basecoat.. not sure why? Like for example, dr. color chip doesnt include a clearcoat step for example.

 

You should see my black hood I’ll take a pic one day.

 

I skipped the primer when I did mine. I naval jelly'd the spot really well, used a small brush to dot it in, and repeated 3x within the recommended recoat window. Still going strong 3yrs later, but I also don't have harsh elements on my roads and I park in a garage almost 100% of the time.

Yeah, this is probably one of those 'grass is greener' moments for all of us!

 

Some time very soon I’m sanding the whole hood down and shooting it with rustoleum gloss black