Not sure how much it will increase/decrease the aerodynamics of the truck/shell...but I put some wall baseboard/cove to cover up the gap. Got three 4' strips and ended up cutting the side ones down so it would look "normal". Cost fer the three strips was about $10.
Got tired of dealing with the water running in between there when it's raining...making it harder to see out the back than it needs to. I'm using this as a primary method to reduce the amount of water dropping back there...kinda like an umbrella. I only have it attached to the cab as the bed/shell will flex some as I'm driving down the road due to bumps and twists in the road. If I were to attach it to both the cab and the shell...it would have a tendency to rip one or both sides out and cause it to leak or fall off (eventually).
I tried this with my old 1993 T-100 with the 8' bed and a camper shell but with clear packing tape. The UV rays beat up that tape after about 2 weeks so I would have to re-tape more often. I tried various adhesives...but those didn't hold up at all.
So this time around with my new 1998 T-100 xtra cab with a 6.5' bed and a camper shell, I decided to give it another shot.
I tried clear shelf liner but as the UV rays hit it...it got weaker and only lasted a couple days before tearing/blowing out.
With my current camper shell, I had to cover up the top of the cutout fer the 3rd brake so the baseboard doesn't cave in that gap and also added some coroplast support under the bottom. I might eventually clean up the gap cover so it's cleaner without the small hump. Might make it easier to git a better seal from water leakage.
I ended up gitting some
2" wide (6 mil thick) vinyl tape from
Identi-Tape.com. The tape will allow me to easily pull the gap cover if I need to.
I guess this will act some what like a trip strip...
I won't be able to collect any long distance data until I make my run out to the LA area.
Piccies!!
Side view...
Top/side view...
Top rear view...
Cab to camper shell gap...
Today
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