Does your truck topper leak water?

Tony Trietch

Part Time Bow Hiker
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2013
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2,127
Location
Northern MI, USA
I have had 5-6 toppers in my life time and all leaked somewhere. My current is ARE Z series and it leaks above rear hatch. I thinks it's coming through the rubber seal. Last few where leaking around brake light.
 

Agross

WKR
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Jan 25, 2017
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Location
Michigan
Man, reading this thread is making me cringe. I’m going in to order one for my truck in about a month. Right now I’m looking at a ranch, only because it’s about 200 dollars cheaper than the leer and they told me it’s the same topper other than the name on it. Sounds like it doesn’t matter what I get . I had a ranch on my last truck and never had any leaks.
 

bigeyedfish

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 22, 2021
Messages
135
Mine leaks, but it's 20 years old. The window seals have shrunk with time. It would probably be easy to fix, but it's only on the truck a few months per year, and it doesn't bother me enough to spend an hour working on it.
 

Macintosh

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Feb 17, 2018
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2,894
Had a couple of both leer and ARE, and all have leaked a little, all in different places. The retailer I have purchased through has been great, 2 I brought back and he addressed free. Not sure if that was cap company warranty or retailer warranty. My current ARE cap leaked a little from one side windoor, the door itself is slightly warped so one corner the seal doesnt get enough pressure. Adjusting the closure tension has addressed this pretty well.
 

JD Jones

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Dec 2, 2021
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505
Location
Texas
mine (ARE on 2017 f150) probably leaks around the seal at the tailgate . Regardless I couldn’t imagine not having a topper. Any leak that may exist has never caused an issue for me
 
Joined
Jul 17, 2018
Messages
1,369
Location
NW Arkansas
This is why I switched to a Tahoe. I figured if I was going to have a topper on, might as well have a 100% weatherproof area with extra seats. This was 2006 and I have never missed the dusty, leaky toppers.
 
Joined
Feb 11, 2023
Messages
33
I have a leer camper shell and have had zero problems with it leaking. Windows are holding strong. I’m on year 3 with it. I used weather stripping on top of bed sides and inside tailgate. Lining inside and gaps of tailgate helped tremendously with dust as well. My buddy’s ARE leaked around the window seals and tail gate.
 
Joined
Jun 15, 2018
Messages
322
This is why I switched to a Tahoe. I figured if I was going to have a topper on, might as well have a 100% weatherproof area with extra seats. This was 2006 and I have never missed the dusty, leaky toppers.
I've thought of going this route as well. My ARE leaks around the back window/tailgate seems.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
 

ztc92

WKR
Joined
May 8, 2022
Messages
379
I have had a SnugTop on my tundra for over 2 years. In a true downpour of rain I’ll get a few drops that find their way through the rear hinge of the windoor on the passenger side. Aside from that no leaks or moisture gets in.

For anyone buying one, consider having them keep an overhang at the bottom of the topper. Usually this is cut flush with the bedrail and allows water in, but at least with the SnugTop brand, it is no extra cost to have them do a slight overhang. I suspect this is where most toppers leak.
 

Trial153

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Joined
Oct 28, 2014
Messages
8,257
Location
NY
I don’t have a full topper, but I do have a Diamond back cover and no that doesn’t leak at all. It’s sealed good and tight all the way around.
 

DanimalW

WKR
Joined
Feb 9, 2020
Messages
395
‘21 ARE on F150. I’ve never noticed anything get wet in there, but it must leak a little bit on the rear window because the bracket for the interior light is beginning to rust. I don’t think you can anticipate 100% waterproofness. If you’ve ever washed the bed of the truck, the water drains out as fast as it goes in, so it’s never going to be 100%. Little disappointed that the rear window struts seem shot after about a year though.
 

RickH

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 26, 2012
Messages
126
Location
CO
I currently have an ARE and haven't noticed any water leaks. I had a Leer and it leaked around the front window . With both, everything in the bed gets covered in dust. I've put weatherstrip around tailgate and still can't figure out how to seal it and keep the dust out. Any suggestions on that?
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
16,207
Location
Colorado Springs
I have toppers on both trucks and they both eventually leak around the seal between the truck bed and the frame of the topper. It's such a pain to remove them and reseal them, that I just ignore it for the most part. It's not a bunch of water, just leaks through in a couple places and then comes down the sides of the bed liners. With the troughs in the liners, whatever does come in stays in the outward troughs and then runs out the back if it makes it that far. Even in a downpour or all day drizzle, I'd guess it's only a couple ounces of water.
 

packer58

WKR
Joined
May 28, 2013
Messages
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I have an Inovations brand shell on my F-250, bought it new in 2003. It leaks around the bed/shell seal because i'm to lazy to reseal it, also around the tailgate hatch window area, none of is real bad but does leak some. To me the bigger issue is dust, I've installed the tailgate seal kit and foamed and taped everything that i thought would let in dust and still get some, i have a rubber mat in the bed but not a full bed liner that would probably help a bit for dust control.
 

MarlinMark

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 25, 2014
Messages
295
Yes, leaks bad. But it's kind of cool because it's also invisible.......... wait a minute. I don't have a topper.
 
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