areo cab sleeper removal and replacement

I have a 97 aero cab that I need to switch out the sleeper on because it was jacked knifed. KW is quoting close to $4000 dollar and thats just swapping them out. No painting to match. 3
I talked to the body shop manager at KW and he told me how to go about doing it. Said the hardest part is cutting the old seal loose. Told me it a ####ing similar to the stuff used around windshields. I always thought it was just that rubber seal you see from outside but he says that is just cosmetic. If anyone has attempted this please tell me about your experiencs. I debating wether to try it myself or not.

 

The only reason I was considering having the shop do it was in case of it leaking. I'm doing all the wiring and heating and cooling removal and replacement my self. All the trim would also be pulled so they can get right to the mounting bolts. The replacement sleeper is off a different year truck and I will be moving the harness from my current sleeper over to the replacement. To me $4000 seems quite high for what they would be doing. Looking at a drawing I got from KW on this truck I count 16 bolts they would be removing and that includes taking off the airbags and leveling valve. I'm not sure what the chaulking, the seal and the cosmetic outer rubber cost but I doubt more than a couple hundred at most. I talked to a guy over the weekend that quoted me $700-$1000 tops. They run a truck rebuilding shop over in western Washington. He said to stop in next time I'm in the area and he'd show me pics of others he's done. Told me two days max depending on how many guys he has available to put on it, possibly in and out same day.

 

Flatbed the $4000 quote from the KW dealer is with me doing all the prep and finish work. I called to the dealership this morning and talked to the body shop manager to make sure we were on the same page as to who was doing what and the quote is still the same. Told him about the other shop and there quote and he knew all about them and said some of the dealers closer to him farm out a lot of body work to him. I'm definetly going to stop in and check some of his work out. The reason I asked about me doing all the prep work in the first place is this truck is a mid roof sleeper that we have installed the studio couch in because we use it for hauling our old tractors and equipment to shows. With a couple extra people in the truck it make it more comfortable having the couch instead of the bed. Those couches sure are uncomfortable for sleeping though. I keep a 6" memory foam over it though when using it folded out as a bed and it makes decent to sleep on. We've actually taken the couch out of two studio sleepers now and installed the regular bed because drivers found the couches uncomfortable. This also opens up the side boxes quite a bit cause you no longer have the couch dropping into them.

 

I'm not a big fan of the couch or the studio sleepers myself. I like the look of a mid roof better and I don't carry that much stuff with me inside the truck. I put the couch in for when the family goes to the truck and antique steam shows its more comfortable for the wife and in-laws then everybody sitting on the bed. personally I'd like to have my 72" mid-roof with a 36" bunk in it. Put a small instant water heater and a small sink for washing hands and brushing my teeth and leave the rest open. But I usually beat to my own drum instead following the trends