I’ve got a 2009 tacoma long bed and I’m getting my GFC in may 2021. Currently I have an ARE shell so I dont know what my bed rails look like. Is there anything I need to do to my bed rails one my shell comes off and before my GFC gets installed.
Just clean them real good so that the adhesive can take for the bulb seal.
the 2nd gen bed caps are not the most sturdy, and depending on how hard you drive can be a good idea to replace, at the bare minimum i would suggest sealing under them to stop dust etc, and once you remove the ARE shell remove the caps and look at the internal structure of them. mine were pretty beat on. only real replacement for them would be kb voodoo ones (the relentless / vagabond ones are pretty impossible to get)
if you do replace them and have a sat antenna - you will need to cut it down, or replace it
Just had my hinges replaced and still have the stock 2nd gen bed rails. The adhesive stuck to mine very well. When they removed the camper to replace the hinges the bed rails came right off with the camper.
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From previous research, I saw that second gen plastic caps cracked under the GFC weight, so I installed Relentless aluminum caps and sealed the caps to the bed.
I forget what thread I saw it, but I thought I saw that OEM plastic caps are needed for V2 GFC’s. Customer support just confirmed that I need to put the OEM ones back on. Does anyone know why this would be a problem?
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Where did you read this? I haven’t heard of them cracking. At least not on mine or some of the others here. Even with a LOT of extra weight up top…Good to know though.
I think like @d.shaw says the KB Voodoo rails are fine if you modify the antenna.
Check out this build thread from @fatfurious2 he goes through it with pictures:
https://forum.gofastcampers.com/t/2010-tacoma-access-cab-build/6512
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I hope that’s it-I don’t have a rooftop antenna so it’d make my life much easier.
and yup, that’s where I saw there were issues with other rails.
@gwiz @gus2 i have the relentless caps now, but from Vagabond Outdoors with a drifter. the 2nd gen rails are def not super great and have been known to ‘crumple’ under the weight of shells and the like. i think KB voodoo rails have or had a bit of a bad rep for their original rails that were steel and had poor powdercoating BUT they have now (for quite some time) changed to aluminium and a better powdercoater, so i think its a great option. yes if you are running the taller sat antenna it might be a great idea to replace it with a TRP one (or the like) but i think the V2 is taller than the V1 so up to the user. im glad mine were replaced, once i took mine off i got to see how beat up they were, its a good piece of mind stuff.
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Did you have to replace the tailgate cap, and are you running a V1 or V2?
Someone posted in my build thread about that. If you get the lower bed rail caps, you need to get a tailgate cap too. Relentless or Mobtown Offroad sell them.
I have a Mobtown for a few years, and its definitely held up! Let me know if you need any more pictures