ARE Z series shell questions
 

Ordered an ARE Z series shell for my truck because I have heard good things about their quality and I liked the way they appeared to fit on our trucks in the (very) few pictures I have seen of them online.

Had the shell installed this morning and I’m not sure the installers placed it correctly on the truck. I asked them about it and they mumbled something about it being correct. I had a meeting to get to so I didn’t have time to stay there and convince them otherwise. If they did place it correctly I am pretty disappointed in the fit of this thing. Other than questioning the install/fitment of it I am pretty happy with the quality and finish of it, paint matches really well too.

Can anyone else who has this Z series shell put up pictures of how theirs fits on their truck?


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...557dbc4e5.jpeg



https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...6a1ccffa7.jpeg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...b516e064b0.png

Nope. It is fitted too far back.


Sam
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...psggvjcttj.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...psibdsyyzb.jpg




Cant really tell from the pictures but mine is even with the front.

Does not matter what brand. You have a gap on the front and back. Don't take it back as the are too stupid or lazy to do it correctly. You should be able to loosen it up and slide it into correct position fairly easily.

lift it to move it or you will tear the seal and it will leak like a sieve after.

My MX series fits like a glove and like someone else said just move it a bit forward you should have plenty of room behind the cab. I had a Z series on my 2008 F150 and it fit real well even though i bought it used unlike my MX which i bought new.

Thanks for the pics!

I agree, but being that I’m down in SoCal for work only I don’t have much help to move it. Worried I will tear up the seals by sliding it.

Ya I’m thinking I may have to go back and tell them to do it right, even though I really agree with the statement above about them being too stupid or lazy to do it right the first time.

These truck accessory places have a crappy reputation for a reason.

Thanks for the info! :-X22

Get inside truck bed and literally use your back and upper shoulders (with leg help of course) to lift up and walk it/nudge it an inch forward. That will help keep seal functional when you reposition it.

Nope. I am not sure I would take it back to those muppets but it does need to be moved forward. I would let ARE know who the company is that installed it. They need to make it right and install it correctly. Hopefully they don't damage the seal on it.

So yesterday I made an appointment to go back to the shop and have this thing moved forward slightly, sitting here in the lobby and they are moving it as I type this.

When I got here the manager (I guess) came out and looked at the truck and asked, “Now what are you trying to accomplish?” I explained I would like the shell moved forward slightly to the correct position so it looked right, and he said “Looks right to me.” I told him I guess I will have to move it myself, and he then said, “I guess we can try to move it forward and see how it turns out.” Obviously their response was very disappointing.

If I had some buddies near who could help me I would have left and done it myself, but I don’t so I asked them to fix it for me.

Funny thing is the secretary asked me if I would give them a yelp review on their business when I left yesterday. I will be leaving them a yelp review, but probably not what they had in mind when they asked.

Lookout for fit against bed light on the back of the cab. That may be why it was installed slightly to the rear. The front of the cap should align with the front edge of the bed, if not it may be a design flaw in the cap.

They did end up moving it forward so it looks a lot better. The guy actually ended up explaining they had a new installer do the initial install and he did not put it on far enough forward. Didn’t appreciate his response when I first got there but they ended up making it right. Really happy with the ARE shell and the quality of it. I had a LEER cap on my last tuck and I feel this one has better quality. Hopefully it will last for as long as I keep the truck. Thanks to everyone for the input.

BTW for anyone who may be wondering about the brake light on the top of the cab of the truck being too close to the shell. The brake light and camera I have in my brake light doesn't come close to the cap at all, there is plenty of clearance. ARE did a good job with the fit on it.

Well this shell on my truck has taken a turn for the worse.....

After driving for less than 100 miles with the shell on the truck (in the new position the installer placed it in) we could clearly see several places on the truck bed where the shell was wearing through the paint on the truck or the fiberglass from the shell was chaffing itself away. Actually we could not tell if it was the paint or the fiberglass chaffing as all we could see was a little powder like resdiue on several places around the top edge of the truck bed where the shell sits on the truck.

Well a couple friends came over and we removed the shell from the truck and I am not happy at all. In less than 100 miles the shell has rubbed through the paint on the top of the truck bed at several different locations around the truck bed.

Before I posted this on here I wanted to be fair so we placed the shell back on the truck as far forward as it would possibly fit, and the only thing we accomplished was placing the shell at a location which would have rubbed through the paint at different areas than before, probably about 1/8 of an inch farther forward on the truck from where the shell installer placed it before.

I also noticed where the edges/corners of the shell have been making contact with the metal/paint on the truck the shell is starting to get spider web cracking in the paint, which definitely wasn’t there when I first picked it up. This is with less than 100 miles on driving with this thing on my truck. In my opinion the weight of the shell is being supported by these edges and corners that are cracking and damaging the trucks paint instead of the weight of the shell being distributed evenly along the span on the shell’s base.

I am very disappointed with the fit of this ARE shell, which is supposed to be their top of the line model. In my opinion they need to redesign and tighten up their tolerances so the shell doesn’t damage the paint on our trucks. I had a LEER shell on a 2012 Toyota Tacoma and on my 2014 F350 and when I took both of those off for various reasons I never had any damage at all.

I have attempted to contact ARE via their contact us form on their website and have got no response. The shop that installed it doesn’t have any input other than, “ya that’s the best we could do.”

My goal isn’t to bash ARE as I am sure they make good stuff, however I do want to let everyone who is doing research on truck caps know my terrible experience with the ARE Z series top of the line product. In my opinion you’ll be better off looking at other shell manufacturers with a better fit for our trucks.