ARE V-Series camper cap/shell

This is more of a courtesy post I figured I would make. When I was researching these, I found a lot of discussion on poor fitment, gap between door and tailgate and quality issues. Below are pictures; the fitment in my opinion looks pretty good, and the color is matched almost perfectly, may be a tad darker. I’ll update on any leaking. The shop that installs these said there is minor leaking to be expected in the windows, but not much. They sealed my bed so there won’t be any water coming up from the road.

 

Apologies for replying to an older post, but I too have an A.R.E. V Series cap. I'd be interested in your assessment of the cap now, six months later. Mine is a little over a month old and I've noticed a few things:

• The build quality is ... OK ... in most regards (except see below) although it's not up to the level of, e.g., the SnugTop Cab-Hi shell I had on my old Dakota years ago. For example, there's a significant difference in the thickness of the fiberglass near the rear edge on the right and left. The left is about 1/8" thick while the right edge is 1/2" thick. I don't know if this is a contributing factor, but the rear window / hatch doesn't fit quite even in the opening. It appears to seal but the gap on the right is noticeably larger than on the left. To be fair I can't say it's leaking as a result but we'll see.
  
• Where the build quality isn't OK is the interior fiberglass surface. I realize unfinished fiberglass is rough and that's fine -- My SnugTop was also unfinished inside but OK. However it looks as if maybe there wasn't enough epoxy used and sharp (!!) glass fibers are sticking out all over the inside surface. In fact it sheds little glass needles into the bed and touching it has resulted in fiberglass in my skin. I contacted A.R.E. Support but was basically told to go away and talk to my dealer. So I emailed my dealer, making clear my concerns were about the shell itself and not his work. To his credit, he was surprisingly honest about the lack of quality, basically agreeing with me. He invited me to come by to see what recourse is available (which I'll do next week). If nothing else can be done, hopefully he can recommend a way to mitigate the issue (sanding & painting, maybe?). I have to admit so far it's refreshing to get a rational reply instead of another hand-off. However, even though in all reality the shell as-is will be serviceable for 80% of what I need, it's disappointing to get something new (and not cheap!) that has design and build quality issues.
  
  
• The ABS (?) plastic shield that fits over the top of the tailgate has a gap between it and the window frame. So when it rains, water runs down into the gap and upon raising the hatch, drains out all over the tailgate and open bed end. I think I can fix this by sealing the outside gap with black caulk.
  
  
• There's a finger-sized hole around each bottom corner of the hatch closure area above the tailgate corner. I think I can epoxy on a little ABS "guard" backed by a gasket that will help seal that off. I know it's not possible to have a hermetic seal around the tailgate and that's not my goal. But I'd like to reduce the amount of water and dust that comes in nonetheless. In fact I just installed a Rok Block and Taper Seal kit from ESI which should make a significant difference.

Anyway, just curious what you think of your shell now. My concern is not just for cargo in the bed -- I want to occasionally camp / sleep in the bed and I really don't want glass shards in my sleeping bag, clothes, skin...

Thanks!

 

I honestly don’t notice any of the problems you listed with mine. When I get back home, I will inspect each area and maybe take some pics so you can compare. Also, my interior is carpeted, so I don’t have the problem with unfinished fiber glass shards

 

Curious about the esi seals and rok block.
Do you need both?