Best Brand of Pickup Topper??

[Cobber]

Hey All-

Bought a 2010 Dodge 1500 this spring with a Tonneau cover, and looking to get myself a topper as fall/winter approaches with hunting and whatnot.

I'm very early in the 'shopping' process and I have a few questions that I'm looking for help answering from anybody that has any knowledge of toppers-

1) I've mainly heard of A.R.E. and LEER- Are there any other brands that I should be shopping?

2) Of the brands that I should be considering, are there any that stand out from the rest? If so- how would you rank the different brands, and for what reasons would you consider certain lines better than others?

I'm planning to set the topper up as..

- Fiberglass

- Side 'Doors' that have sliding windows in them as well.

- Adding two additional interior lights- one above each side 'door', in addition to the rear light above the main lift door.

- Sliding window in front (Cab Access)

3) Anything that I may want to consider adding to the configuration?

Thanks All!

-Cobber

[Ufatz]

All good ideas. And Leer is the best. The ARE are fine too....have had several of each. Just make sure they are INSTALLED and wired properly. It will save you some aggravation when you don't need it.

[Farley]

I have an ARE and like it. It's the one with the big door on the back where you get rid of your tailgate. Built very strong. Just ask my buddy who got drug down the road while hanging onto the door, poor guy, his little legs just couldnt keep up...

[randerson]

There are many Brands of toppers out there to consider first off you need to find out what look you are going for or function. as far as brands go there is ATC ARE LEER CENTURY JASON RANCH RAIDER UNICOVER and a list of them that have gone out of biz. All mostly build are shells and then they buy windows and doors from 1 of 3 manufactures, with some people still build toppers like it is the 90's and use aluminum mounting rails or attach there front rails after the fact instead of molding it to the shell in the building process sacrificing structural strength (ie ARE) Some reinforce the roof standard some do it on a need to biasses if your adding a rack. Everyone is using the high quality fiberglass resins and automotive paint. I have been selling toppers for 13.5 yrs and I have seen the good bad and the ugly

As far as adding extra interiors lights I really never do that unless some one has tool bins There is also two different style windoor/slider combination with one having the slider in the middle and another having the slider in the top portion of the door I personally like the slider that is in the top of the door seems to be a better set up what ever topper you buy remember to oil your locks MN winters and chemical deicers will ruin them in short order if you don't maintain them once a month at least and use them that is key as well.

Good Luck Ryan

[Cobber]

Thanks for all of the replies guys!

I've been doing a little more shopping and it looks from the pricing that I may be going with an A.R.E. - still shopping, but leaning that way.

Open to other opinions, but if anybody has specific comments regarding especially the A.R.E.- I would love to hear them!

Thanks!

Cobber

[CAMAN]

I don't have a topper but have an A.R.E. fiberglass toneau that has been great for the last 6 years.

[Hookmaster]

I've had an ARE on my Silverado since 2004 and have been happy with it. Except when I backed out of the garage with the window up. Geez can't they build them stronger than that.