I’ve had my ARE V-series about a year and a half now. A couple of thoughts/opinions:
- I’m still not totally sold on the outdoorsman windoors. This truck is so tall I can’t reach much with the windoors and have only used them a couple times. If I were to do it again I’d get the regular side windows.
- I got the tilt down front picture window. It’s useful for cleaning the glass. I might consider the tilt down front window with the slider if I were to do it over so I could reach thru to the cab when camping…in practice I’m not sure how useful this would be…would I really want to leave the cab rear window open to let weather in? If not I’d have to get out, go in the cab, close the window.
- I probably would have gone with the MX for a couple extra inches of vertical clearance…this would make it much easier to put bikes in the back vertically.
- The “contour panel” that seals the rear glass with the rounded tailgate has cracked in multiple spots from thermal expansion/contraction at a different rate than the aluminum frame and the glass. Fortunately the topper dealer was easy to work with and has ordered a free replacement…hopefully they redesigned it so it doesn’t fail again in another year.
-The fit around the tailgate corners isn’t good…I can see daylight thru it. I need to get some foam/weatherstripping and seal this, and the tailgate, up a bit better for cold/wet weather camping since that’s where some water gets in/where the cold gets in.
I’ve had my ARE overland series 2 years in may and I have some of the same observations.
I ordered the fold down window with slider but I received a fold down solid window. At the time I was upset about it and I was only refunded the cost of the option which was very insignificant. But, I’ve never once folded down the window and I’ve never wanted to open the slider yet, either.
I got sliding side windows with screens and I’m very happy with them. Only complaint is cargo can rub the screen and damage them but that’s not really the toppers fault.
Rear corners around the tailgate don’t fit/seal well. I think I need to unclamp the top and maybe try to “pull” the sides in a little. I feel like the rear corners have walked their way out a little. It’s possible that it’s always been that way. I’ll add pics of what I mean.
My splash lip / contour panel that covers the top of the tailgate is rubbing the paint and I didn’t notice until it had already worn the paint a bit. I never did anything about it, though. The lip itself is still in good shape on mine, must’ve gotten a different batch than you.
Overall I will definitely be a topper guy for life. I am super happy with owning a topper. ARE I could take it or leave it; the experience with the dealer wasn’t great. It was dead center of the pandemic so I’m not really sure how to judge it. Next go-round I would still consider ARE but probably not that dealer, I guess.
The decked system I’m still on the fence. It’s super handy to have but there are big trade offs