Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Pickup camper shells?

Looking at adding a shell to my tundra. What I’m looking at is a Leer 100XR, carpeted interior, tip out front window, and updated the side windows to open and slide. Anyone with experience have any ideas on anything I’d be missing or thoughts on something they’d do different if they did it over again?

I'd look at other brands. ARE,etc. Be very particular as to how the back seals along with the tailgate for dust

I’ve looked at others, but there aren’t many dealers carrying that many other options within 100 miles of me. The dealer I’ll probably use has been in business 40 years and has a great rep if there’s anything I need warranty wise.

I have owned two different camper shells with front windows that open, never used either one of them in the 20 years or so I owned one or the other. Now that I dont have dogs, I never use the sliding side windows either. Carpeted interiors are a PITA to get clean if you haul anything at all. JMHO.

I have an ARE shell on my pickup. I'm happy with it, but it doesn't seem to seal very well on the back. I attribute this more to the design of the tailgate (F150) than the shell though.

G23

I have an ARE on a Tundra with all those options.

When it comes in I’d go over it with a fine tooth comb.
Check all window frames (one of mine was bent/warped) and latches. Have them fix any issues before fully paying for it.

If they install it for you I’d have them go ahead and put a double seal under it and twice as many clamps than normal.

I bought a used shell for my Tundra last year, a brand I had never heard of called CTC Century.

I ended up keeping the bedliner in so I had to use my multi tool to cut some spots. I don't know what the mileage was before as I put the shell on a few days after buying the truck but I get almost 19mpg with my 4.7L Tundra now with the shell on the back.


I don't like that my cargo bed light is useless now. I'll need to hook up something to help out there

There was a time I was really hell bent on getting one, then other things popped up. Zero turn, kLR, property….now instead of kicking out $2500-3000 I was looking at the soft toppers for my needs, less than a grand.

Dust collecting SOBs!

A front windw that opens lets you clean the front side of that window and the outside of yoyr rear window. Pretty important id say. And if a guy wants to camp in the bed of his truck, the sliding screened windows are mandatory, as is the careting on the canopy to prevent condesation dripping on you.

I have a Snugtop shell on my GMC Sierra 2500. Very good quality. I have had several Leers in the past, on various pickups, and the Snugtop is the best I have used.

Agree. They are like a vacuum pulling in dust constantly!

Put a camper shell on my pickup once. Sr as le on the bed rails and silicone around the tail gate.
Sealed up nice.
Killed a deer, loaded it in the camper and drovebthd ccx 11 miles of dirt road back home!
EVERYthing in the camper was coated with a find layer of dust! 😖 Even the inside of my field dressed deer!

No more camper shells for me once I got rid of that one.

Don’t waste your money on the tip out front window if it’s the one they advertise as for cleaning truck window. Sloppy fit and you will never use it.

All of the top brands are comparable at the same price point. Where I live it's just easier to go with Leer. It'll be fine. If you are closer to an ARE dealer I'm sure they would be fine too.

I like a cap and every truck I've owned since the 1970's has had one, but they are getting pricy. I paid $900 for the Leer on my 2007 Tacoma and $1400 for the one on my 2014 F150. But I don't think you can touch a new one under $3000 and with the options you're looking at closer to $4000. I went with the most basic ones available. There are no options on the one on my Tacoma and the only thing I paid extra for on the other one was an easily removeable front window. Makes cleaning the front of the cap, and rear of the truck easier. I have to loosen the clamps and slide the cap back a few inches a few times a year to clean those areas on my Tacoma.

I don't like them, but if I were buying one today I'd look hard at the soft toppers. Cost is $800-$900 depending on options.

If you tow you need to consider the extra weight of the cap. On a full size truck it's going to add about $200 lbs, which reduces payload by about 200 lbs. Which in return means 200 lbs less tongue weight you can handle. And that means 1500-2000 lbs less trailer weight before you exceed the trucks payload.

Carpet that you can't remove easily would be a bad idea. Dust and road dirt always finds a way eventually, and if you can't clean the carpet and dry it, it will get nasty. I have an A.R.E. an I like it. I learned the hard way not to go too cheap, because some of the cheap ones don't fit very well and don't seal very well. I also would get a top with a central handle on the hatch with a lock, instead of one on each side. They are much handier.

just read up on Century camper shells. they are made by Leer

I just installed a leer 100XR on my 22 Tacoma, pretty much same options as you were looking at….
Carpet headliner, removable front slider, tilt up side windows with screens. I added the roof rack option as well as the crossbars for the rack.

Wait time was 4 weeks and installed OTD was a touch over $3200. I looked at century, are and snug top but ended up knowing more guys that had leer experience. So far very happy with it.

Could you get by with a fold up bed cover? Those things are the bomb! You can fold them up and spray the dust out of the bed easily, or carry something tall.

I've had a Leer on my F250 for 20+ years now. They do gather dust, but mostly in the gaps around the sides and bottom of the tailgate.

A low profile air scoop on top might create enough overpressure to slow down the dust, but it would surely let rain and snow in.

No carpet for me. I can unload things from the back and spray it out with a garden hose.