Was having lots of water intrusion issues from the main bed seals originally installed. To my discovery the seals originally used were for campers less than 200 lbs. When I took the camper off the seal was completely flat. On top of that when originally installed the seal was not installed right. For colorado’s you have two levels, the wall by the cab is a little shorter than the sides. I bought this to bring the level back up. I then installed this across the whole bed as one single piece instead of 3 separate seals. To do that you just cut a 2" triangle stopping in the middle of the seal and bend the seal around the two cap side corners. Overall much improved. Below you can see the old seal condition and the new seals.
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do you know if GFC has changed their method or materials for mounting on the Colorado. I have the same truck and want to avoid this issue at install. Thanks
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Wouldn’t count on it. I would just buy those and bring them for install. The seals they use work fine, but definitely water instruction cause of the uneven surfaces. Since my mod I haven’t had any intrusions.
My Colorado has exhibited none of this since install for what it is worth.
good to know. I live along way away from the shop and really want the install to go well. Post some pics of your rig. I feel so lonely in a sea of Tacos
I just took a look at that joint on the bed of my zr2 and on the vertical panels that form the corner, there is a gap. may be inch long and quarter inch side. The gap is on the interior panels that form the truck bed, but I am suspicious of water intrusion at that point. same spot as the photos here
The seals I posted also come with putty to fill in gaps. I haven’t had an issue since my replacement.
I am picking up my GFC soon for my Taco, is there anything on the bed seals that I should prep for the newer GFC’s to be installed on? Or is it just stock bed lining and GFC on top?
This is just Chevy Colorado specific. You can use the seals I used too, but the cabside portion is specific to Chevy. From what I understand a lot of people with Taco’s use KBVoodoo bed rails prior for added strength.
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How did you lift up the GFC Camper to upgrade the seals? Looking to change my seals, and can’t come up with a clever way to do this by myself, ha.
Honestly my way was not the safest, it works, but forewarning there is potential to crush your fingers. First remove all the bolts holding the frame to the bed. Then I took two home depot type buckets and put a floor jack on them stabilizing it with a bucket on the front wheels and a bucket on the rear wheels. Took a bunch of small 2X4 sections and wedged them in between to get the separation from the jack to the frame. It’s difficult cause the jack may hit the bed sides on the interior, so you may need to extend the reach of the jack just by building a simple lever; it will hold with tension. I just jacked driver side and passenger side individually and removed the old seals and cleaned and then installed the new seals. The hardest part is the bed side by the cab because you can’t jack there, so I just jacked up each side so there was enough room I could get to the middle of that bed side. Then I jacked it and moved it bunch until all the sides were even again. Took a few hours, but well worth the pain. Be careful when you are jacking, go slowly and if it looks like you are jacking anything but the frame then remove tension, readjust and re-try.
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Chad makes good stuff, but I see he doesn’t offer replacement bed caps for the Colorado. It’s possible that they aren’t as useful on that truck, or that he hasn’t had enough Colorado owners bother him about it. For a 2nd gen Tacoma, I think they’re very useful for any truck that carries a load on the bed caps. The OEM plastic is junk.
I need to reposition my GFC aft about a 1/4" to keep it from rubbing the window seals together (thanks, Ross). The seal GFC used with mine looks similar to what Zkzr2 used as a replacement, and I haven’t noticed any leaks, but I’ll keep that link in mind in case I damage the seal. Thanks!
Np. Maybe the seals they’re using now are better or different. But when I had mine installed it was just a regular seal rated for less than 150lb weight and then they doubled it at the cab. And the GFC hit my cab third brake light. Had to reposition it initially too. If you have a friend you can also lift it but not for long periods of time. Ever since I changed to the ones I posted I’ve notice no intrusion. Colorado plastic seems to be to the task. Michigan roads are the equivalent of off road everyday lol. The road I live is riddled with 6” deep potholes.
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It took me a minute to think of how I was going to lift each side by me lonesome, but didn’t take long… probably not the greatest idea but it worked. I installed my bed rails (didn’t have any when I had my camper installed).
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I pulled my KB Voodoo bed rails last week to sand and re-paint since the powder coat was garbage from the start and was peeling all over.
I undid the bolts holding the camper to the bed, and then was able to turtle-shell style lift one of the front corners up and stick a short 2x4 under the GFC tube and the front corner of the bed. The GFC frame is so rigid this held a whole side a few inches up in the air. Repeated for the other side.