Different Types of Camper Shells for Toyota Tacomas
Tom Zizzo, a journalist, has also spent many years selling truck and SUV accessories.
After reading so many questions from readers about camper shells, tops or toppers, it has come to my attention that some of you really just want to see pictures of various shells on a truck similar to yours. It always helps to 'see' what you want, and in this regard, the internet sadly is not always your friend. I will put together a series of articles that will mostly just feature lots of pictures of different trucks so you get an idea of what certain models look like.
Right now it seems like the Toyota Tacoma is a very popular truck, at least it is for me on the west coast of the country. The Tacoma first hit the market in 1995. It went through a radical design change for 2005, and just recently got changed in 2016. Here are tops, or camper shells from each of those eras to hopefully give you a good idea of what tops look like on the Tacoma.
It's difficult to have pictures of them all, but I have a pretty good database of photos. I took all of these pictures. As always, feel free to ask me any questions.
Third Generation (2016 to Current year)

This is a SnugTop XTR. It's a lot like the SuperSport, except for the mostly cosmetic integrated roof rack.
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Here is an ARE, not sure of the model. Notice the way it fit the front wall of the bed and the rear, it's not as tight as the Leer or SnugTop.
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This is SnugTop's commercial fiberglass shell, with the bolt-on heavy duty rack. It's a very thick top, much heavier than a standard fiberglass camper shell.
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This is the SnugTop GB sport, notice the shape of the sides, it's a little different than their Supersport model.
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This is a Leer model 122. It's much different than the 122 for previous generations. It has a wedge shape that many people don't like, but it's very tall.
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SnugTop commercial shell, but with the frameless back door. The rack is a square style Rack-It rack.
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Second Generation Tacoma (2005 to 2015)

Here is a Leer 100XR with roof rack. This model has sliding side windows and a 'frame less' back door with center twist handle. These models are very popular.
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This is a SnugTop Sport Highliner. Much like the highliner, it's a taller shell, but the back glass is a 'frameless' door. The look is very streamlined.
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This shell is very unique. This is the SnugTop Outback. The tailgate is fully removed. The shell is still cab level. It offers a variety of other options, like back up camera and roof racks.
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This is a Leer 100XL. It's not much different than the 100XR, except that it has frameless side windows instead of sliders. That back section pops out like a wing window.
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This is the SnugTop Rebel. It's very popular, and a lot like the Leer 100XR. The main difference is style-notice the side windows are not recessed into the mold the way the Leer is designed.
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This is a Leer 100XR, but has the side windoors. These windoors are vented, meaning they have a built-in slider. SnugTop offers the same feature, but they do not run lengthwise like this.
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This is a Leer 100R, or Legend. There is no difference between the 100R and Legend but the paint warranty.
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This is the SnugTop Supersport. It's a lot like the Leer 100XL in that it has the frameless side glass with pop-out wing window.
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This is a SnugTop 'cab-high'. It looks a lot like the Rebel, but the back door is not frameless.
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This is the Leer 122-very tall shell, notice the short window and the vertical 'bay' window. The short window here is actually a 'windoor' for easy side access.
First Gen Tacoma (1995 to 2004)

This is a Leer model 122, it's very tall. The side window options are long sliders or a slider and 'bay' window, which is what's pictured here.
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This is a SnugTop 'cab high' shell. Unique to this top is the center t-handle that pops out. This allows you to be able to lock the door from the inside.
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© 2018 Tom Zizzo