Recommendation on a cap / camper shell

Well, as much as it pains me it's time to hand over my 2006 tundra to my youngest son who lives in Bozeman. 14 years, 200k miles and it's still running like a champ. it's gonna' go forever. i love that truck. it's painful, but the bozeman winter is coming and he sold me on how he "just cannot survive another winter in a honda civic". ....the things we do for our kids...

So my ask from you experts is a recommendation on a shell (i think they are called caps) for the new 2020 tundra i'm going to purchase. I bought a Leer shell for my 2006 14 years ago. The bears have pulled it open locked 3 times (those are uniquely hilarious stories) and some humans have also pulled it open locked and stole stuff out of my truck (not funny at all). my guess is the locks have improved and my guess is the technology has improved too.

thanks in advance. -tim

 

I have an A.R.E. Overland. My 2nd one after a Leer on an older truck. I like A.R.E. better. No break ins yet but I guess it could happen. On the 2nd one I got more options like flip up side windows and lights an am glad I did. I’m happy with it.

 

Welcome from NY.

I don't have one but plenty of people have said to get the flip down front window so you can clean the back cab window and also be able to pass things back and forth.

 

I was the same way... years with a Tacoma with an unbelievably reliable Range Rider shell (they are made just north of you in British Columbia close to Kelowna). I ended up going with an ARE Z series. But what turned out to be an interesting factor was the locks.

I had classic T-handles for years and always wanted to have a power lock on my canopy so only looked at companies that had those. Then after looking at different mechanisms, I asked around at which one works the best when it's frozen outside. Everything pointed to the style ARE uses as the strongest. Narrowed it down from there.

 

Thanks for the invaluable help. i hadn't even heard of a "ARE" until yesterday. we have a local ARE dealer and i'm meeting with him in a few days.

 

Welcome aboard from SoCal.

 

Update: I ended up purchasing the ARE MX topper w lights, electric, bedrug. not because leer or snug top or others are inferior, but simply because i have a local dealer close that i liked. he gave me a deal too. the dealer that installed my leer, bedrug, lights, power, etc years back on my old tundra did a really poor job.

the bad news: because of covid ARE laid off an entire shift of production employees. that means i will not get the topper for 10 weeks! that is kind of a bummer from many angles, but not the end of the world for me since our entire set of mountains are closed by fire anyway.

thanks again. i'll be scouring this site for the next logical after market upgrade to my new tundra.... which is way too nice for an old fly fisherman like me.

 

I feel your pain and this is what I did next!
I just got back from a 4 week work trip in Florida with the truck and the cap and bedslide were the real deal for me!
Not the best looking but this cap would be tough to break in to and the newer versions can use the factory keys too.

I am supposed to be in Bozeman in a month or so too!

 

Going through the same thing right now. My daughter is going to school at MSU in Bozeman. Just came home last Sunday to drop off her Honda Civic for her brother as she shops for something else to take back. She looked at my '14 CM and got mad when I laughed her. //loud voice..."DAD......you taught me how to drive, back up trailers and now you are being an assho** because you don't think I can handle a truck."

I continued to laugh and replied...."nope, not even close. Yes you can drive a truck better that most boys, however, you can't afford the insurance on it, much less the payment on the loan for the difference between the Civic and a Tundra/Tacoma."

In one ear and out the other, she is still in negotiation mode.

 

Classic. well, my son told me a couple days ago, "Dad, it was 11 degrees and snowing, but i still changed the oil." i guess i put the fear of god into him when i told him, "you'd rather hit a deer than not change the oil on that truck."

Update: well, it didn't take 10 weeks. it took over 3 months, but i finally got my ARE topper. I had bedrug, lighting and power installed.

 

Apparently this is the convert BZN thread. Y'all don't be talking it up too much now, it's getting hellaciously expensive! Too many folks moving in from out of state... LIKE ME!

 

Getting ?

 

BZN is STUPID expensive. When lived there for 5 years it was cheap. My now wife, on the MSU volleyball team, bought a used trailer in one of the trailer parks close to campus. We are talking it was a POS in the very early 90s. We did some work on it and she sold it for a 2X profit at $8K. Now, I see double wide trailers (not in a trailer park) with a built on porch detached shed/garage on a small city lot going for >250 and >350K. Looking for a house.....there are more houses >1 million, than under 1 million.

 

That’s gonna be awesome.