Alu Cab Explorer Questions

[Zsblack]

Hi everyone. I recently purchased an alu cab explorer canopy and am going to pick it up soon. When I talked with the shop they said I needed mopar trail rails or something comparable to the mopar trail rails. My gladiator did not come with these. Do I have to purchase the mopar rails or has anyone else mounted an alu cab with an aftermarket rail kit installed?

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[mdyucca]

Don’t have experience with mounting the Alu cab but I do have rails comparable with the Mopar Trail Rails. I found the Unistrut rail mount works well in place of the Mopar trail rail system at a much lower cost.

 

[Batlou]

Yes, I picked up a set online and they are required for mounting the Alu-Cab Canopy Camper. I picked them up on Amazon. Super easy to install and no drilling required.
Mopar Bed Rails

ETA: I LOVE this Canopy/Topper. Access from 3 sides and built like a tank. So much nicer than anything I found in fiberglass.

 

[Zsblack]

Yes, I picked up a set online and they are required for mounting the Alu-Cab Canopy Camper. I picked them up on Amazon. Super easy to install and no drilling required.
Mopar Bed Rails

ETA: I LOVE this Canopy/Topper. Access from 3 sides and built like a tank. So much nicer than anything I found in fiberglass.

Yeah, I went ahead and just got the mopar ones to be safe.

I had experience with a Leer topper on a Tacoma and I liked it but I think I will end up liking the Alu cab much more.

 

[Beemer533]

I have the Builtright rails with my Alu-cab, they work perfectly.

https://builtrightind.com/products/2020-jeep-gladiator-utility-rail-system

I have the explorer and I've been really happy with it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

My only complaint is with the latches here in the frozen north they constantly freeze up. I don't even bother locking them anymore.. I'm probably going to replace them with something else...

 

[Batlou]

Now that you mention it, I am having the same issue with the locks. Like you I just stopped locking them this winter. Need to find a solution for this though as it is a bit frustrating.

 

[chorky]

Now that you mention it, I am having the same issue with the locks. Like you I just stopped locking them this winter. Need to find a solution for this though as it is a bit frustrating.

Early in the winter my locks on my RLD camper iced up a lot. They are the same style of lock as AluCab and others. The first several times I took a small torch to heat it up. Then used some WD-40 and that temporarily resolved it until it hit -20 and the WD froze. So went back to the torch and since then, it's still been freezing at night and morning, no problems. I picked up some graphite lock lube a few weeks ago and will put some of that in this weekend. If you're not familiar it's a nice dry lubricant that won't freeze. Might work for you as well. Worth a try.

 

[Barnaby’sdad]

I ran into the same thing this winter and mine is garaged 99% of the time. Kind of at a loss as to how they didn’t think to incorporate something like this into the standard package.

https://www.alu-cab.com/product/push-button-lock-cover/

I’ve been meaning to pick up a tube of the graphite lock stuff.^

 

[Gray Matter Jeep]

I love my Alu-Cab too. When all 3 hatches are open, you have so much access that it's like the topper isn't even there.
I too will be buying the lock covers. I found out, in addition to them holding water & freezing, they attract tiny dust/dirt & can get gummed up with that trail debris if it's raining.

WD40 spray attracts dirt so don't use that. Graphite spray sheds dirt... but with the lock covers maybe I wouldn't need to spray them very often, if at all all.

 

[Beemer533]

Yeah, being developed in SA probably didn't lead to much winter testing lol, but I definitely wish those covers were included for how much these things cost.

The graphite lube was a game changer for using the locks day to day, but I haven't seen any improvement in the winter.

I carry my dewalt cordless heat gun as my "winter key"

Bottom line I hate having up to 6 fiddly locks to deal with when I'm using the cap a lot. My current plan is to replace each of the existing latches with one of these (well one per door anyway) and add power locks that work with the jeep fob..

https://a.co/d/eczm6xe

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