Barry_Vee

Need to figure how to seal between bed rails and Ford's protective caps. I'm thinking a bead of silicone caulk might be best.

Just witnessed dust intrusion into a new camper shell installed on a buddy's truck. Seals supplied with his Snug Top worked great, so did the tailgate seal. His shell was installed over the black plastic bed rails. An unacceptable amount of fine dust migrated between the bed rail and it's black plastic cap onto our gear. This while driving dusty dirt roads this weekend.

I put an Estang folding tonneau on top of the black plastic bed rail protectors supplied with my 2011, and expect to have the same dust issue. (Haven't received an ordered tailgate seal yet so my setup hasn't been "tested").

The camper shell's problem can be fixed by removing bed rail caps so it's seal mates directly with the painted bed rail. However I'd prefer to keep the bed rail protection in place for loading over the side when the tonneau is open or removed.

Have any of you solved this problem or have an idea to fix it?

ADDED PICTURES show underside of plastic bed rail cap removed, Top of bed rail with cap removed, and where dust will leak in from rear stake pocket.

pappcam

The truck bed bottom has a gap at the cab end between it and the box wall so water can run out.

I seriously doubt you will ever be able to seal out all dust.

Adobe2X

Are you sure that is where the dust is coming in? I would suggest the following --- go out at night and use a really bright high power flashlight, putting it in the bed first and then walking around the outside to see where you may see the light. Then do the same thing by shining the light into the wheels wells and bed caps from the outside. You are going to need someone to help you with this, as you are going to need to be in the bed or outside looking for the light.
I recently did this, and was surprised at the amount of light coming in to the bed in several places, like all of the holes on the side of the bed. I am never going to use those, so I took some tape and covered those. it made a big difference on our last trip, so I am going to make a more permanent solution --- maybe some kind of tar to match my Rhino Liner. I did not notice any light coming in or out at the bed rails, but may go look again....
The bed seal you have on order will also help a lot ---- but do the same light trick once you have it installed. I put several small pieces (you will have some left over after the install) in places that did not seal.....

Barry_Vee

Inside the camper shell dust powder was sprinkled on gear all along both sides of the bed. Dust was evident the length of the bottom edge of the cap though lighter in the front and where the camper shell hold down clamps are located. With the inside edge of the cap pulled away from the bed we could see the area behind it fully coated with dust.

There are a couple of lighter dust leaks evident on either side at the top of the tailgate where the tailgate seal ends. This is an area difficult, maybe even impossible for us anyway, to seal completely. We are use to seeing these light leaks on our other trucks and don't find them particularly objectionable. Not much dust gets in through there plus it's easy to toss sensitive items, (like somebody's sleeping bag or pillow), farther toward the front. This is far less dust than drops into the bed no matter how careful one cleans and opens the rear window at the destination.

I'm pretty sure the objectionable dust is getting in under the bed rail caps. A strong enough light should prove the cap leaks dust, have to wait for nightfall. That gives me quick idea building on shining a light. We can blow compressed air under the outside edge of the cap and should see lots of dust billow from inside. A simple test to show dusts originates elsewhere might save removing the camper shell for the cure, that's a great idea, Thanks!

sharper4

Can you not lay the camper shell on some kind of weather stripping? That way you're not using a sealant and still not having to lay it directly on the metal bed rail.

But I doubt you'd keep 100% of all dust out no matter what your solution. You must be getting a lot of dust to complain about it - I have never had a "problem" with dust or water getting past my Solid Fold.

Barry_Vee

My buddy put in a bed liner. I tossed in stall mat material from a ranch supply. Liner and bed mat methods cover the bed floor well enough to keep out objectionable dust for us. from Both retain water draining function.

Barry_Vee

It is a lot of dust getting inside, enough to beat off the top of gear bags etc. We didn't didn't drive in duster conditions than usual, certainly less than we'll see later in the year.

The camper shell has the usual wide flat cross section seal typical for the installation. That's presently between the shell and the bed rail cap on my buddy's truck and it didn't leak dust at all. If bed rail removal is my buddy's chosen solution the same seal will be between the shell and bed rail and should solve his problem.

My Ford replaces a Z71. Had we taken the Sierra along the only dust in the shell would have been at the top of the tailgate at either side, and not enough to be objectionable.

The difference between the installations is GMC didn't include a bed rail cap for protection. I never put one on, having chose to put on a camper shell. That shell rests on a seal sandwiched between it and the top of the bed rail, no dust leakage. On my buddy's Ford the seal is sandwiched between the shell and the top of the bed protection cap, that seal didn't leak any dust either. Dust came through lower, entering the bed between the protective cap and the bed rail.

My new Ford has the same bed rail cap as my buddy. The seal on the folding tonneau cover I put on it looks like it will work fine. After seeing dust come in under my buddy's bed rail cap, figure mine will leak too since the caps are the same.

SultanGris

I used caulking to seal the holes in the seams and the front of the bed. Noticed some gaps at the back of the bed also that I caulked. I havent yet gotten a tailgate seal installed, and since my truck is black I was also planning to use black gorilla tape over all the holes in the sides of the bed for the tailgate extender and cargo management system, but I havent gotten around to doing that yet either. Going to eventually get a line-x coating, so that should seal it pretty well I think. In fact now that you got me thinking about this project again I think im gonna go order me a tailgate seal kit right now before I forget again!

pfbz

Dust definitely migrates in between the plastic bed rail caps and the metal underneath. I pulled the caps on mine the other day to install some rivnuts for a bike mount, and there was quite a bit of dust and dirt trapped in there. Only 2,500 miles total, probably no more than 200 on dirt roads.

You can remove the cap, lay down a bead of silicone, then put the cap back on, but there definitely is a bit of a learning curve to get them off without breaking any of the tabs.

Not really too big of an issue, as the silicone and tonneau cover will more than make up for a broken tab or two.

Night_Wolf

I'll suggest you remove the rail caps and you might find that the bed rail has way more holes with the cap removed. I know my 08 F150 did and I'm not about to remove the caps on my 2011 model to see if it's the same