Does a 2nd gen camper shell fit on a 3rd gen?

I have searched and only found one post of what is believed to be a 2nd gen camper on a 3rd gen.

I am selling my 2nd gen camper (or as we call it here, a canopy). Prospective buyer has 3rd gen and doesn't care about any height discrepancy as long as the camper mounts properly to the rails.

Will this work? Any pics or experience this this would be appreciated. Toyota and my local canopy shop were no help.

 

it will fit, but not well. Bed dimensions are very similar if not the same. The issue is the bed rails on a 3rd gen are higher and the tailgate has a curve to it that wont allow a 2nd gen cap to seal properly

 

No.

But it takes 5 minutes to unbolt a shell, 5 minutes to take it off your truck and set it onto his and 2 grown men can handle the load.

Just try it, and see if he's cool with it. If not, 10 minutes wasted.

 

Yeah it can be tested easily enough - just thought this must have been tried already.

 

I would generally assume it won't fit on the tailgate end because they're shaped differently altogether. Bed rails are just flat piece of material a certain distance apart, and since the cab is a carryover from second gen - they'll fit width wise. The bulb seal will squish down, the only worry there is that the bedsides prevent the shell from sitting all the way down on the top rails. As a third area of concern, the cab side bed rail that spans the width of the cab may be a different height in relation to the bed side rails, and that may be prone to leaking.

Your buyer is in a tough spot having a brand new truck and not wanting to pay full price for a shell - which he would have to as the used marketplace for items that have only been out for a few months is pretty shallow.

That said, if he goes for it - I'd CYA in case he changes his mind later on when the thing floods his bed in a storm. It's not designed for that bed, it may fit, but there's more to it than just how it sits on the rails. He may need to play around with seals and weather stripping to get a leak proof setup.

 

Absolutely. He doesn't even care that it's the older silver and knows the fit won't be perfect so I'm not too worried about that. The thing will sell pretty quickly anyway. If it's not him, it will be someone else.

 

In that case, if it were me I'd probably go with someone else. There are a lot more second gen owners looking for a shell and it'll work for them without problems or much effort on your end to see if things work.

 

Has anyone actually tried this?
I understand it won't be a perfect fit but would work well enough for a mostly dry cargo area... Oh and I found a second gen shell for cheap...

 

My dealer had a customer who traded a 2nd gen for a 3rd gen, and the camper top installer told him the top would work. Customer drove 500 miles to purchase new truck and trade old, with the agreement that dealership would swap shell from old truck to new. Cap did not fit well. Sits too high relative to the cab, and the rear door would not close. It fit well enough to secure it for the 500 mile ride home.

 

Front bedrail and the tailgate are different. Canopy wont fit properly.

 

I have a 2016 Gen 3 Taco, just spent 45 min trying to get a gen 2 ARE topper to fit. They are shorter and wider. I would have had to modify the rear corners or put a shim under the rails to get it to sit right, not to mention trim the bottom of the rear door off. I really wish it would have fit, cause a new one is three times what they were asking. It was worth a try, but a no go for my expectations. Hope that helps.

 

You didn't happen to take any pictures of of the fit while you were at it did you? Would be nice to see just to see if it was something that could be lived with for she'll that would only get used 2-3 times a year.

 

I would say if you could get the top for cheap and could afford to hack it up a little, then yes it would fit. I just didn't want to spend $500 and have it not fit right, seeing I was going to leave it on most of the time.

 

Sorry to resurrect a thread, but does anyone have pics of a 2nd gen topper on a 3rd gen? I saw a pic one time late last year, but have looked for 45 minutes and can't find one.

 

Got this far and took it off. It was all the way on the back like others have said it’s taller than cab and length doesn’t fit good even if you get it close to cab then you’ll have problems closing door. Bought it was told it was for a 1st gen but it’s too big for 1st and too small for 3rd gen

 

Well damn, I’m interested. What’s your info I’ll hit you up

 

Reviving this thread...

Despite all the “don’t do its”, I just bought a 2nd generation SnugTop for my 3rd gen Taco. Mainly took it on as a handyman project and I like the conversation piece it provides. After weatherproofing the seams, the glaring issue is the tailgate being about two inches too long for the shell. I’m planning to remove part of the rear window and replace it with vinyl or rubber flaps or something similar. I’ll post pictures once it’s done. Here are some photos of the shell with zero work done on it.

 

Is the shell that older gold color?

 

It’s definitely silver. Color matching is so gauche these days.

 

Resurrection—but....will a Gofast Camper from a gen 3 short bed fit on a gen 1 short bed???