Toppers??
 

I am on the verge of buying a topper for my 04 s-cab longbox. I am primarily interested in a topper that looks the best on my truck. The SUV look. In doing research I am comparing these toppers and they all look the same to me. I'm looking at Leer, Century, A.R.E.

Is it me, or do they all look like they were made with the same mold?? Or maybe they were! Maybe they all got there molds from the same place and have to buy all of their glass from the same place too! They jsut put there own name on it. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Anyway, best looking topper for our trucks?
Opinions?
Figgy

I have an are z series (look in my gallery) my only complaint is it ads about 5" of blind spot to the top of the tail gate, so you can,t even see a car right behind you

They do share their molds. It's a known fact, although each manufacturer may have something unique to offer. The best topper... well... I like this one below (a Leer 100XQ) without the "hump" behind the cab....

that is one long truck lol

I have an 06 Scab longbox, been thinking about getting one for mine too, just so darn expense! Anyway I'll be watching this thread to see what answers you get

I have thought about them becuase i go out to the lake a lot and would like to bring the dog a lot more but there aint no way she's getting in the cab and she's to dumb to no not to jump out of the back... plus i like the look of a truck with a topper. About how much are they?

I went with the Century Royal. I chose Century over the ARE, Leer, Jeraco, SnugTop, etc because it's the only one I could find with flush mount side windows AAANNNDDD actual T handles on the back instead of those retarded rotary slam latches.

I paid $1250 out the door.

KC-10 FE out...
:beers:

Isn't that a "100XL"? I thought an XQ had the solid side glass without the vent window that swings out. AWESOME looking truck and topper. By "hump behind the cab" I assume your talking about the topper that is higher than the cab?

I was all ready to buy a Leer, but after talking with my local distributor, I decided to look at other options (I'm being really polite here). I remembered the A.R.E. and stopped in to see that local distributor. To me the fiberglass shell of the Leer and the ARE look identical at least in the pictures (thus my origional question). A couple things about the ARE I liked was #1) they have a tilt out slider option, in other words, you can tilt down the entire sliding window so you can clean your cab window. #2) The back window is clean of any plastic hinge clips/buttons or anything else. Just the latch that you lift up in the bottom middle of the glass. It unlatches like a car door and is spring loaded so the cover returns to it's origional position. You just slam the glass door to close... simple.

Appearance is paramount to me and I liked the look of the LEER but I can't see any difference between the Leer and the ARE as far as fiberglass profile which made me wonder about if they use the same molds.

Price? ARE was expensive with tilt down front slider option $1980.00 installed. I think there is a $50 coupon though. The Leer was $1,500-$1,600 (?) I really don't remember because by the time we got that far I had decided I wasn't going to buy it there.

My truck is medium wedgewood blue. I nervous about it matching. I know you can get a custom match but I suppose it costs more? I was reading in the archives, one guy suggested getting a computer match from the paint store? Would a person take in their gas cap and they can read it and send the formula to ARE? Or did I misunderstand that whole thing?

Thanks
Figgy

I am looking at the Z series also. So the back window is blacked out about 5"
up on the glass?? I didn't know that. Is the Leer that way too??

Figgy

How long ago did you buy your Century? I thought all the mfg had the flush glass. I had a Century on my last truck ('99). It had a slam latch door that was put on after the first one was broke out. I liked it better because I didn't like fiddling with 2 T handles all the time as I'm usually in a hurry at work.

Just came from the Century site. They too have the tilt down front slider and one of their pictures shows the rear glass with no extra clips/buttons. The fiberglass looks the same as the Leer and the ARE to me. Maybe I need to check them out further. When I bought mine about 5 years ago I remember it was cheaper than the Leer. And to me, they look the same.:beers:

Thanks
Figgy

I had the same worry when I ordered my ARE LSII but the dealer told me that if it wasnt to my satisfaction they would send it back to the company. I am very pleased with how the cover blends with my truck. If you look in my gallery you can see the topper and how the colors match good.

I got it May 06. When I say flush mounted windows, I mean the ones that have no visible frames on the outside. I paid extra to get the nice looking premium truck so I paid extra to get the nice looking premium cap.

Click here: www.centurycaps.com

Look at the pics of the Royal & Ultra. The Ultra has metal frames visible from the outside & I think it looks cheap.

I hate the rotary slam latches since they will break eventually or they will break your rear window when you try to slam it because the stupid latches stopped working correctly. I know of at least 4 people who have had to replace the rear window because they slammed the door in the winter and the window shattered. PRESTO... $400 out the F'n window.

I'm fairly certain that Century & Leer are made in the same factory. Both list factories in Elkhart, IN on their websites. That is no coicidence I'm sure. When I was shopping, Jeraco was the cheapest. My father had a REALLY bad experience with the local Jeraco dealer so I would never do business with them. It came down to Leer & Century. I was going to go with Leer but I waited too long and they stopped using T handles & now use slam latches exclusively on their top end caps. Their loss was Century's gain.

I don't have any complaints about the cap, it does exactlly what I want it to. I never really wanted one in the first place but I needed to do something since my soft tonno got "broken into" (they lowered the tailgate & stole some stuff) & I routinely carry a suitcase, my flight pubs bag & a $10000 gov issue laptop everywhere I go so I had to get a lockable solution.

A cap was also recommended to me by several trailer retailers. My truck is an under-powered, over-weight POS & can't tow a 3000lb trailer up a slight hill. The trailer retailers said a cap would help with airflow management over the trailer. It actually does a little better with the cap but my truck still sucks so I will be trading it in a few months from now.

KC-10 FE out...
:beers:

Thanks for the reply KC, I will be checking into the Century.

I checked out your gallery.

L-O-V-E the picture of the B-52H!

"SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND"!!!!!!!!!!!!!:rocker:

Figgy

"SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!!!"

80000lbs of expendable ordinance.

https://www.f150online.com/galleries...800-153878.jpg


Link to the original sized one:
http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photo...-6809H-100.jpg

KC-10 FE out...
:beers:

If you look in my gallery i took pics from the inside with the glass open and closed