Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Leer truck topper-Browning edition questions

Does anybody have experience with these? Found one locally that I'll have to paint but it seems like it's in decent condition. It has a compartment for a rifle as well as a rechargeable flashlight and 12 volt charging station

Are Leer toppers well built? Any idea on what it would cost to paint it? They're asking $400 obo for this one

Only thing I would prefer is side windows that pop up but when looking for a used camper you may not find everything you want. It's going on my 1998 dodge 2500 qcsb

My current shell is a Leer. I've had A.R.E, Century, and Jason in the past. I'd say the Leer has an edge over the others. I imagine paying a shop to paint one won't be cheap, but if you can find a guy who does it on the side it may not be too bad. $400 sounds fair for what you describe, and depending on the color of you truck, finding a perfect fit/color could be VERY difficult. I had the Win-doors on an A.R.E shell and really didn't use them as much as I expected, so they weren't worth the cost. When I ordered my next one (a Jason brand) I skipped the Win-doors altogether.

Some camper shell dealers sell used shells for reasonable prices so I'd check there, too.

$400 is a very good deal on a nice Leer topper. Around here that topper would sell in the $650-750 range if it is a popular color and fits a popular truck.
What color is the topper and what truck does it fit?
To get it painted is very expensive if you want it done right so it looks good. By the time you are done it will cost more than a new one in the right color.

It's the dodge champagne color(tan) and it's going to go on my white 1998 qcsb 12 valve dodge 2500

That is part of why it is so cheap, odd color.
My business is next door to a truck accessory shop. They are a dealer for Leer and A.R.E. He takes toppers in on trade from guys trading in their trucks and getting new ones. Black or white ones resell the best.
A couple months ago he got a order in of new toppers. It was late in the day and he set six of them on the ground in the parking lot expecting to put them away in the morning. That night a big storm came through with a lot of wind. In the morning all of them were blown across the parking lot and were piled up against the fence. They were not destroyed just scratched up and some windows broken. He sent two out to be repainted and realized that he was loosing money big time. The other four he just replaced the broken glass and sold them at a discount. Prepping them for paint is time consuming and they really need to be on a rotisserie to get a good even paint job.

I was in the same situation with my Ram. It is a odd blue that they only used two years. Finding a used one was impossible. I looked into buying a champagne one cheap and painting it but it did not make economical sense. My neighbor found me a nice white one cheap. I can live with it.
Keep looking, it shouldn't be hard to find a white one.
My Ram takes the same topper 97-04 SB.

I recently experienced the problem of finding the correct paint color fro my 98&1/2 Dodge.There are a lot of different batches of the same color.
I have Leer topper on my Tacoma. My beef is the flashing on the rear window/top door is only held on with double sided adhesive tape. It kept coming off in the summer heat. I finally quit trying to put it back on. Even the dealer gave up after the 3rd try and would not fix it under warranty .

I cleaned it all off, put a piece of that foam pipe insulation on it and glued it on with contact cement.I have to replace it about every 3 years .

Other than that,it has held up well since 2005

With web sites like Craigslist and Autotrader.com I would sure think that you could find what you are looking for in the correct color for the year of your truck. Leers are well built caps, but the ones I've seen have external hinges and external hardware up here where they salt the roads rusts, so Thirsty got an A.R.E. one with the internal hinges. Years ago my old blue '89 F150 wanted a used fiberglass cap, but they had changed the box sizes on the later models. I didn't want to paint one so I looked all over on the Internet and found an exact size blue one on a blue '71 on a used lot and the guy was happy to sell it for $175. There are lots of trucks in Colorado, so I think in your place I would look around for what you want on the used market. Those new caps go high.

I am on my third Leer. This one I don't care for. The fit and finish is far from the quality of the other two. The browning edition is cool if you're buying it used. But I wouldn't pay extra for it. New the fetch a huge premium for those browning editions or the fishing version.

I have a leer on my Silverado! I don't like the hinge and seals on the door. I also have to pull it together at the rear, to get the door from not leaking! I had. Century prior to this Leer, I liked it more, and in 17 years no problems! Leer works and looks good, just not as good as I would like!!

Anybody know anything about glasstite toppers?

I sure like my Glasstite. It is the one that allows the rear door to slide up over the top of the cap if you need a bigger access to the bed.

I thought that they had gone out of business. I had the little higher than the cab Glasstite on my first truck and liked that I could roll my dirt bike into the bed and still clear the top of the cap and door. Those door pistons were pretty strong though and I broke a couple of the hinges.

https://denver.craigslist.org/pts/d/topper-fiberglass-1999-dodge/6296011838.html

https://fortcollins.craigslist.org/pts/d/short-bed-dodge-topper-with/6334236114.html

These are the two I’m looking at. The glasstite on top is a better color for my truck but the Leer is awfully nice

the bottom one would allow you to put a yakima rack on top, if that mattters....

I have a Leer topper on my Silverado. Also have the Bedrug in there and it stays really dust/dirt free for the most part. I have the side window on the drivers side that opens up to allow you to reach stuff in the bed. Mine is about 3 years old now and have had zero problems with it. No leak issues so far, besides a tiny bit that sometimes sneaks in around the upper part of the tailgate if there is a lot of wind/rain together.

When I got a new truck last January, it was a different color and I had the Leer painted to match, cost me $700 but looks perfect. A lot cheaper than a new $2400 topper

Last week I saw my neighbor haul three used toppers with odd colors off. He brought them back yesterday. He had a guy vinyl wrap them. They look great. He did two of them in Mossy Oak camo. He said he paid $350 each to wrap them.
I'm thinking a water camo would look cool on my blue Ram.

I just bought a truck last week for my son (2001 F150). For an extra $100, the guy threw in the Glasstite topper that he had for the truck. I really like it. It has a rubber "boot" between the topper window and the truck rear window that helps keep out dust and such. Hinges and locks all still work perfectly. Looks to be a really nicely made topper that has held up perfectly over the years.

I know this is an older topic, but.... Don't walk, but run away from a topper if it doesn't have a swing-out window in the front. Try cleaning between the cab window and topper window. Stupidly I unbolted mine and slid it back to clean the windows until I had an duh moment and noticed the hinge on mine to swing it up.

I passed on this Leer and ended up with an ARE with a fold down front window and fold up side windows. Almost exactly what I was looking for from the beginning

Good choice as I've been real happy with my ARE cap as well. While I like the idea of the fold down front window for cleaning, what is it about those fold up side windows that is so appealing? They were extra cost and the sliding windows have screens and would be more aerodynamic if you rode with them open and you can let in a little air or wide open, lots of air. The dealer told me not to ever break that tempered glass rear window, because I sure won't like the replacement cost.

Make a replacement with Lexan. If you're not familiar with it, it's polycarbonate which is a bit like plexiglass but a LOT tougher and break resistant. When in place, you can hardly tell it from glass and it's not going to break.You can bounce rocks off of it without damage. You can get large sheets from Home Depot.

This Leer has been on the truck since I purchased it. I have been very happy with it.

I broke one on my Z-series ARE. It cost me about $300 to have it replaced. A frameless, contoured glass will set you back considerably more.

I'm not sure which ARE that I have, but it is the above mentioned frame-less contoured one. I do rather dislike the dark tint to it and the front window because seeing out the rear view mirror at night is tough. Those back windows are easily broken. Lesson learned to tie down the lawn mower in the bed under the cap or when you leave, the mower rolls backwards and the handles go through the rear window. Been there done that with my first truck and the Glasstite cap.

the Lexan only comes in clear but if you want it tinted, you can use that shaded film they put on windows.

Some years ago, we had a space in our church for a stain glass window. Someone in the church donated the cost of one. We had it installed and the installer suggested a lexan cover to prevent vandalism. He installed it then came back a few days later to finish up the trim work. He found marks from several rock hits after only 3 days. @#$%^ kids. The Lexan saved the window.

The toppers are well-built overall but I never cared for the door pistons/latch.