Hi guys ..... What company makes good camper shells. I have a 94 flare side. Don't really know what style I'm looking for yet. Any one using them now. Any pictures. Know of some one using one. I also have a drop in plastic bed liner. Can I leave the bed liner in or does it need to be removed. The flare side has no bed rails so how would it be held down. Any body experience water leaks using campers. From the looks of it these shells look heavy like 200 lbs. How heavy is it any ways ? All comments appreciated. Thanks fellas.

 

200lbs is about right

As for a brand, you can't be too picky. There were not a lot of flare side caps made, so if you want one, buy the 1st one you find.

I myself Like Leer and Jeraco

For mounting you would use self tapping screws straight down they the cap into the bed rail to hold it on. OR I have seen brackets that screw to in inside of the bed and then have "J" hooks come up and grab the edge of the cab. Either way you are stuck drilling holes.

For keeping it water "tight" you use cap tape. It sticks to the bottom of the cap, then seals the cap to the bed. It works pretty goof until you start pressure washing or putting a hole right at the seal.

As for the berliner, I would get rid of it. But then again, I would never run one with or without a cap

https://www.google.com/search?q=flar...h=831#imgdii=_

 

X2 everything Brad said.

A bunch of other comments. I've never weighed my toppers, but I'm guessing the short box Fleetside shells in fiberglass are round 300 lbs. I can lift one end at a time, but not real easily. A Flareside topper would be narrower, so a little lighter.

I had one aluminum topper and 4 fiberglass ones. Fiberglass looks better (in my opinion anyway) and is quieter, and provides better temperature insulation (I sometimes have dogs in the back). Aluminum is cheaper and lighter, but it's a pretty loud drum for dogs riding in the back. And it looks cheaper and lighter.

Depending on brand there are a lot of options for side windows. Personally I really like side windows that open up like lift gates, but also have a sliding window that opens up (with a screen) for ventilation. The access of the door is really nice, and I need the ventilation for carrying dogs. On the flip side, solid windows that don't open at all are more secure.

A bedliner might get in the way of attachment points. But all you'd need to do is cut holes in the bedliner where you need access. Personally I wouldn't have a bedliner either though.

I'm not sure about attachment points for a Flareside. On my Fleetsides the topper installation guys always have clamped them to the bed rail (when buying a new topper they install it for me "free", in other words I can't get them to not charge me for installation). The clamped on toppers have always shifted around on me and worked the insulation loose. So I drill holes through the topper and bed rails and bolt it on.

Another option to look into is a headliner kit. It adds a little cost and weight, but it also adds sound dampening and temperature insulation as well as a more finished look inside. The sound and temp might not matter to you, but again, I'm thinking about my dogs.

 

Leer makes some of the best fitting and designed truck caps IMO. Be aware that caps for the flareside box all look a bit whacky because it has to flare out at the front to the full width of the cab. If you really wanted to maximize room inside you might consider swapping fleetside bed on the truck and then get a cap for that.

 

Thanks fellas for the feed back. Conanski I'll look into swapping beds although I like the flare look. Not to many flares I see running around. Plus I don't have a lot of room to store the bed if I do a swap n my wife would have a cow if she saw the bed being stored next to the house. I'll be checking out leer caps n jeraco. Still a bit nervous about drilling holes n having the fiberglass bed crack or split. Thanks again fellas.

 

I had a leer on my last crew. Long bed solid sides. It had a third tail Light. Nice nice shell. I didn't want to drill holes or want to make it permanent so I used three big c clamps on each side.

 

Yeah no need to drill holes to mount a cap, I have never seen the clamps made for mounting these things work lose or break and I have had caps on my trucks since the first Ranger I bought back in the '80's.

 

I never had a clamped on topper come loose, but as I said above, I always had them shift around enough that the weatherstripping would work its way out. That's why I started drilling holes and bolting toppers on.

But I do agree, it's not necessary.

 

I used a piece of I think 1x2 about 4 inches long between the shell and the clamp to help distribute the pressure it worked out great

 

But you HAVE to drill holes on a Flareside. There is NO inner lip to clamp to. And no stake pockets to attach to either

 

I have a 92 Flare Side with one of them "whacky" looking toppers, but I think it's neat looking. Mine is clamped on and it doesn't shift. It is watertight also. I'll post a pic or two if I'm allowed to post pics. I am relatively new to te forum.

 

I have a cap my self (see my build thread for pics) and it worked for what i needed, it was fiber glass, and it had 6 c clamp type things that held it in place,with weather stripping, it did not want to move when it was time to take it off (uuug) but it did the job for what I needed to do.

 

With the Flareside, as with everything Flareside, they have special clamps that use factory holes in the side of the bed, kinda like an adjustable "J" bolt. I have them on the inside of mine with an ARE hard tonneau cover. and "No you can' have them" lol. I will try to get some pics later. There are a couple holes drilled into the side of the bed too.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/a...1&d=1401323714

This is what my hard cover is held down by. They bolt to the side of the bed under the factory locations in the corners.

 

So you DO HAVE TO DRILL HOLES?