Leer 100XR and the case of the unlatching latches

When we bought the shell for the Tacoma, we selected from three different manufacturers: either it was going to be Leer, SnugTop, or an ARE. We quickly whittled that list down to two, because in talking to the local SnugTop dealer, we discovered that a) he was kind of a dickhead, and b) SnugTops are quite the pricey option for what seemed like the same basic set of features.

The ARE seemed nice and actually had the upper-hand for a good length of time in our 4-day search, as the window option we were looking at was better-implemented on their model. However, once we decided on the old, crappy-looking sliders so that we had maximum airflow, we found the Leer 100XR to be the best value: it had the sliders, a rear pop-out window, and the newer, “better-looking” rear glass panel with the quick-release twisty knob thing in the middle.

Many months later, we have discovered this is a flawed rear glass panel design if you have dogs.

We would go out on our little trips and find that one side or the other was unlatched. We sort of figured that it was probably from the bouncing & whatnot, but still this is not an excuse for the behavior, just an explanation. Anyway, it became an issue once on the freeway when I looked back and discovered that there we were, flying down the road at 70mph with the back door wide-the-f*ck-open. I decided that the dogs had to be culprit, and that it was probably due to them snagging on the emergency release cable.

That promptly got cut off.

So we’re good. No more accidental unlatches, problem solved, where’s my medal, right? I wish I could say that. Some time goes by, we find ourselves parked in a parking lot with a truckload of dogs as we stop inside to get this one thing real quick and then we’re be right back we promise be good puppies, and come out to see that the glass door is again wide open. No bumping, no jarring. No emergency release cable. How the hell did this happen? And thank goodness the dogs are still actually in the damn truck.

For a quick minute we thought perhaps someone had a great idea to try and open the door and steal some perfect dogs, before they realized that these perfect dogs are perfectly guarding the perfect truck with their perfect lives. But it happened more than once in more than one place, and eventually I had to take a closer look at the mechanism.

What seems to be the problem, is that the door latches are spring-loaded pieces of crap that require no more than a bump of the ‘lock mechanism’ – if you can call it that – to unload the clasp. So, take a new Leer shell, add four dogs, and you have the right recipe for an unsafe, unfit travel rig.

Now the ‘bob must put on his creative hat, and figure out a solution. He thinks he has one, but it will require some fabrication, and I might have to contract out that part of the deal. I noticed that the mechanism itself rotates around something that has what appears to be a threaded hole at its center. If it is threaded, then I think I might be able to rig up a guard that is secured there.

Bastards. They probably built that design flaw in, so that they could sell some sort of “guard” in the future for like $50 a pop or something.