A.R.E. DCU cap

[oldblue]

I picked up my Maverick today, an XL Ecoboost AWD with tow package, full size spare, and a bed mat. Ordered on 12/1, received hours ago. My wife and I went for a drive, starting in rainy weather and ending in nice weather. It's a huge improvement over my tired 2010 Ranger.

That Ranger, and several before it, served me well. A truck that size with an ARE DCU cap and ladder rack can serve a lot of tradesmen well. I went to talk with my ARE dealer.

Prices start at $2000. I like the 3" higher than cab version. Add the tool box on passenger side access, the flip up door in back (I want to keep the tailgate), paint match, and the ladder rack and its a $3100 cap including tax and installation. A lot more for this tiny DCU than the last unit bought for a larger truck, but this DCU model has done a good job in all past iterations. I don't love the bulkhead/rear cab wall to shell fitment, but I really don't see another way using the construction methods employed on the DCU. The Maverick bed rail cap presents a weird curved interface at the cab/bed transition, and the DCU uses very square construction. The absence of a gap between the cab and bed means I'll have to be watchful about debris collecting in that area.

The price seems too high at $3100. There is nothing luxury about a DCU, it is an old school aluminum shell with metal doors instead of windows. The fitment to the new shaped truck is less than ideal. I'm unable to look at one up close to really evaluate it. Despite all this, I've had a good run with ARE and I'm going to buy it. I'll get it ib maybe 90 days. Yay.

For now I've ordered the cheap NAPA tonneau cover. It'll keep my stuff dry until the DCU arrives.

I'll report more as I know it.

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[GreenLady]

I picked up my Maverick today, an XL Ecoboost AWD with tow package, full size spare, and a bed mat. Ordered on 12/1, received hours ago. My wife and I went for a drive, starting in rainy weather and ending in nice weather. It's a huge improvement over my tired 2010 Ranger.

That Ranger, and several before it, served me well. A truck that size with an ARE DCU cap and ladder rack can serve a lot of tradesmen well. I went to talk with my ARE dealer.

Prices start at $2000. I like the 3" higher than cab version. Add the tool box on passenger side access, the flip up door in back (I want to keep the tailgate), paint match, and the ladder rack and its a $3100 cap including tax and installation. A lot more for this tiny DCU than the last unit bought for a larger truck, but this DCU model has done a good job in all past iterations. I don't love the bulkhead/rear cab wall to shell fitment, but I really don't see another way using the construction methods employed on the DCU. The Maverick bed rail cap presents a weird curved interface at the cab/bed transition, and the DCU uses very square construction. The absence of a gap between the cab and bed means I'll have to be watchful about debris collecting in that area.

The price seems too high at $3100. There is nothing luxury about a DCU, it is an old school aluminum shell with metal doors instead of windows. The fitment to the new shaped truck is less than ideal. I'm unable to look at one up close to really evaluate it. Despite all this, I've had a good run with ARE and I'm going to buy it. I'll get it ib maybe 90 days. Yay.

For now I've ordered the cheap NAPA tonneau cover. It'll keep my stuff dry until the DCU arrives.

I'll report more as I know it.

Congratulations and enjoy! Be sure to post pictures with all your mods!

 

[Maverickman74]

Very excited about the caps, would love a million pictures when you get it. We plan on a cap and live in Hawaii but have a January Granger order. Hoping that options come up by the time we get the call and have to plan a trip/shipment. Definitely dont want to ship it separately from the truck. So availability and possible Maverick storage is a factor there. Price we pay for island life.

 

[oldblue]

I originally went with the 3" higher than cab height because I thought that was the only way A.R.E. would build the DCU with a flip-up rear door. The dealer thought that the tailgate would have to come off and full length doors would be used for the cab height configuration.

With a 4.5 foot bed I can't lose the tailgate. It's a nice sitting height, and in my trade I use that tailgate a lot.

Turns out I can get cab height (actually about 1" higher) AND the flip-up door- but the door would have no window. I don't care about the window because I've lived with side mirrors only forever. Plus I have a backup cam.

My cost went down a bunch. I deleted the built-in tool box because I think it eats too much space in an already small space. I deleted the paint match because I've owned several white DCU's on factory white painted trucks and they always looked fine. My Maverick is white.

The cheap NAPA tonneau cover works pretty good for now. It was on sale for $229 and the fit is way better than junk I've owned in the past. When it's removed there won't be a trace that it was ever there.

I wish there was more than the single set of photos of the yellow Maverick with a DCU on the internet. I'm really surprised that A.R.E. only has a single truck with photos out there. I've got confidence in A.R.E. but I'd like to know more about what I'm getting.

 

[djb_rh]

The window on a door that small would be useless anyway. The window on the SnugTop, which is about 4” taller than the cab, is *nearly* useless as it is. If you lose 3” or more of that, it’s definitely useless. But if you don’t care and can save by skipping a window entirely, yeah, ”problem” solved.

 

[oldblue]

The DCU finally arrived. A couple of weeks late. It was awful driving around without ladders and good dry storage, but finally the long awaited is mine.

I like it initially. There are areas for improvement. I certainly can live with it.

The estimation of overall height was a guess, at best, in discussions with my dealer and their communications with ARE. I started off thinking I needed 3" additional height, then learned that standard height would be "about 1" above cab height". Standard height for the DCU, at least this very early model, is a couple of inches above the cab and that works well. It is just right for the Maverick and I'm glad I didn't get the 3" additional height.

The fitment at the bed front wall "rim" is just as troublesome as it looked to be in the only photo available before or since I bought the DCU. It's a piece of aluminum angle stock attached to the front rail of the DCU which is double foam taped to the rim. There is no clear way for debris to exit the gap between the shell and the window. Thankfully I don't have trees over my driveway, or places I frequent. I'll just keep and eye on it, and blow it out as needed.

The fitment at the tailgate and corners is the worst I've ever seen on a shell that is supposed to fit the truck. Sure, it's a roundish truck with a squarish shell and that presents difficulties. I hope they rain tested it, because initially it looks like it'll leak at the corners above the tailgate. The fiberglass tailgate adapter cap sits about 3/4" off the tailgate cap, is riveted to the bottom of the door, and doesn't seem adjustable.

The ladder rack is good. I've never had an issue with standard ARE racks, but I don't abuse them. I carry a 18 foot extension ladder and a 8" regular ladder and the truck drives better than any of my past Rangers loaded with tools and ladders.

I can feel the weight up top, and the truck squats just a little. I've already purchased the airbags and compressor to mitigate that. I expect a little airbag assist to make it mostly drive like normal.

Body roll is noticeable but not anything like all the Rangers I've had. Again, the airbags should mitigate that.

I was getting 29.5 highway and 25 city with a tonneau cover. With 6000 miles on the truck, that seems to be fairly consistent. I've driven about 125 miles with the shell and the mileage has taken a hit but it doesn't seen too much. Will report back on that later.

I like the way it looks. Some photos are attached.

 

[notfast]

Thread bump, but as someone who has owned several DCUs, it is great to see detailed photos of the DCU for the Maverick, so thanks for posting!

I started off thinking I needed 3" additional height, then learned that standard height would be "about 1" above cab height". Standard height for the DCU, at least this very early model, is a couple of inches above the cab and that works well. It is just right for the Maverick and I'm glad I didn't get the 3" additional height.

I always thought that I should order the midrise (26") DCU for the very nominal price bump. One of those "better to have it and not need it, especially since it can't be changed later" things. But I always convinced myself to get the 23" and so far, I haven't had a need for a midrise DCU. Helps that a "cab high" DCU has more interior volume than a fiberglass midrise.

I can see how the DCU was a design compromise for the Maverick. The side doors can't really be shorter than that to be usable (I think the ones for the Tacoma and Frontier are the same height), but the roof can only curve downward at so much of a bend radius.

Since the bedrail-to-roof height of the Maverick is on the shorter end for trucks, even the cab-high DCU has to stick up pretty high above the cab to achieve both the needed side door height and the bend radius for the roof.

My Nissan Frontier's cab-high (23") DCU is about an inch above the roof of the cab at the centerline. Same for my F-150 and my buddy's Chevy 2500. My F-250's "cab-high" DCU is actually the midrise (26") for other trucks, since its bedrail to roof height is much taller. It's just barely (maybe half an inch) higher than the roof of the cab at the center line.

I wish there was more than the single set of photos of the yellow Maverick with a DCU on the internet. I'm really surprised that A.R.E. only has a single truck with photos out there. I've got confidence in A.R.E. but I'd like to know more about what I'm getting.

I have the same complaint. For as much as they cost, it would be great if I could've gotten dimensions of, say, the tool box and the vertical clearance before I had to order. It was mostly a game of chance when they arrived.

The fitment at the tailgate and corners is the worst I've ever seen on a shell that is supposed to fit the truck. Sure, it's a roundish truck with a squarish shell and that presents difficulties. I hope they rain tested it, because initially it looks like it'll leak at the corners above the tailgate.

That fitment is at least as good, if not better than the DCUs I've had and seen. I never had leak issues at the tailgate corners. But regardless, I got some low-density weatherstripping from Home Depot to plug the gaps a little bit better on mine.

My major nuisance was dust. Pickup beds are not weathertight like the cab, so sealing the bed around the tailgate and such wouldn't help, since dust would just get sucked in through somewhere else and I'd be chasing it forever.

I was about to install a trailer side vent like this one, but in the roof:
https://nhtrailers.com/product/swva-installed/

But I tried the cheaper and easier solution first: crack open the front slider window. Even with it cracked open just an inch, that was enough to solve the dust problem and keep all but the heaviest rain storms out. I think what helped was the fact that even a "cab-high" DCU is taller than the cab, so air rams the front wall and flows through the crack in the window.

 

[TheWizziard]

"It's a huge improvement over my tired 2010 Ranger"

I am glad to hear you say that. I an replacing an '11 Ranger

 

[Kottonwood]

Do you know the weight of the topper? Thanks ks for the info!

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