So I tried numerous different types of plastic trim pieces and other ideas before landing here with this idea. I’ve been running it now for probably 3-4 months and have not had any water dripping down into the cab when the rear door is open. I know it doesn’t look great when compared to the nice machined aluminum of the GFC but it keeps water from dripping on my 1-year old in her car seat so I’ll keep running it for now.
Details:
I ordered a piece of aluminum from an online supplier and got mismatched length legs. I believe I did 3” on one side and 4” on the other. I also added a piece of adhevise trim to the part under the camper overhang because I found water would run off the back edge of the gutter if not. I drilled two holes at different heights to angle the gutter downward toward rear of truck and then used some plastic spacers to leave a small gap between camper extrusion and gutter for water to fall down in.
Yes, I have found it to work to alleviate the excessive dripping into the cab of my truck. It is not as effective when parked on non-level ground but still works to a degree. I know it looks pretty bad but I think if you had access to CNC machine or laser to make the piece look more appealing that would be perfect.
Fun fact, elevating the front to run the water off the back on a RAM 1500 just fills the stupid lip on the tailgate with water and does a damn good job of locking the back panel when it freezes solid.
I do have to say I prefer a frozen tailgate to frozen back doors though… so still a win.
I’m a fan of the metal angle for the rain gutter. Works very well. In this pick you can see water dripping off the back.
Lowe’s sells a black brick lintel for $11 and it’s enough for both sides
Yes, decided on all new rubber seals on the truck and Josh’s rain gutters and this product from Amazon to help divert the rain a bit. Found this stripping on another post by SW-Tacoma.
This is what I’ve done having seen something similar from @the_philxx 's post about the GFC Drip Rail. They were sold out and thought I could make them myself.
These ~18 guage, galvanized steel ones were cut with snips, pop riveted together, gumped with silicone and then spray painted. Holes were then drilled for the platform camper track T nuts. I had some spare 1/4" & 18" aluminum and made a spacer and countersunk for some flathead screws that I had to shorten with a hacksaw for the wide washer on the outside.
For the pattern I had to mess with some cardboard first and then just traced it.
I had these out in the rain last night with my 11 year old boy and they redirected the water onto the roof where the trucks roof gutter system took over.
Nice work those look pretty clean! Getting rid of the drips is a huge improvement on life with the camper. Glad the original could inspire you to make some yourself!
If you don’t know about j Edgar designs drip rails- they’re amazing. I got to test them last weekend and you can actually watch the water drip down into the factory drip rails and not on your back seat.
The custom one above is the nicest one I’ve seen other than the j Edgar design, good job!