Well I thought I'd throw my thoughts about the LSII here. I'm happy with it, but the issues I felt like sharing fit under this thread better than under the happy thread.

I got mine installed on Wednesday. When I picked it up everything looked good. Unfortunately it was raining out which made it hard to inspect the paint and I didn't mess with it open too much. But it looked fine closed and didn't appear to be rubbing at all.

Got it home in the garage and I found a couple of paint spot issues on it. One small spot where some particle was under the paint. One small nick in latch. ARE sent the cover with a bottle of touch up paint (says it's the exact paint they used to paint it). So I used the touch up paint on the two spots. The paint is a perfect match. Works great and the touch up paint matched great, so my small issues became a non-issue quickly.

The other issue I noticed was one side was closer than I would have liked when the lid was open. Having read about SierraOne's issues I figured I'd just shift it myself. So I loosened the clamps and moved it a bit. I then tightened the clamps up again. It was at this point that I realized I hadn't really moved the cover. When it is open it will shift on the hinge from side to side slightly. I could shift it so it was more uniform on both sides but when I closed and opened it again it always was closer on the one side.

So I fiddled and fiddled with it and this is what I've found. There is a frame that goes around the top of the bed. At the corners there are 4 screws holding it together. If you take the two screws out on each side that are up against the cab side and loosen the clamps you'll be able to push the sides of the frame up closer to the edges of the bed. After I tighten the clamps back up it doesn't shift as much at the hinge (leaving the screws out of the frame). It won't totally remove the shift.

So I put the screws back in. Then spent some time carefully placing the frame such that the tiny gap between the edge of the frame and the side rails to be the same on both sides. The shift is still there, but now neither side is able to be close enough to ever touch no matter how it shifts.

I'll also note that when the cover is closed it absolutely won't shift at all. So there should be no problem with this shift.

Seems to me that ARE has the width of the back edge of the bed slightly off on the frame. The hinge is the right length. Because of this small flaw the installer has to make sure that the gap is the same on both sides. If they put it in flush one side it will have a larger gap on one side and nearly (if not actually) rubbing on the other.

This is obviously what the installer is going to probably do. Simply because it seems to be the obvious thing to do.

So far I'm happy with the cover. Especially now that I've got it with a nice even fit. Hopefully, this will help someone who had fit issues with their LSII. Once you know what to do it's pretty easy to fix.

For those wondering how easy it is to take on or off. It doesn't look like it'll be very difficult to remove. But you'll want to have more than one person to do it.

I'll post pictures as soon as I get around to getting it washed. Also added the same step bars that green21 added (I would say his but I got the impression that green21 is a she in another thread )

 

At the time of refusing the install of a LS II due to poor fit and paint, I left my deposit with the dealer while I emailed A.R.E. and shopped around for some other tonneau brands. A.R.E. sent an electronic acknowledgement, but I heard nothing further from them. After a week, I returned to the dealer for a final inspection of the lid at which time we detected some defects in the gel coat. Finally, the dealer very graciously refunded my deposit. He said he was going to SEMA and would talk to A.R.E. personnel there and check out some other brand tonneaus for himself/me.

Since then, I have inspected Leer, LoRider, and SnugLid. The dealers will call me when pending orders arrive so I can inspect the installations on an '04. At this point, I think I prefer the rotary latches and the flat (low profile) of some tonneaus. To me, the new F150 appears to have a "chopped" profile that would be better served by a flat lid. A first impression of SnugLid was impressive (paint & interior fabric finish/quality), but they're about $200 more. Now, if their fit to the front corners of the bed is Ok, that may be my choice. We'll see!