ARE Bed cap lock

General talk about the Subaru Baja.

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Sabretooth2213
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ARE Bed cap lock

Post by Sabretooth2213 »

Hello all, I just picked up an ARE bed cap yesterday and I'm having an issue with the lock mechanism on the back glass. I've done a fair bit of scouring and although I ran into some passing mentions of the same issue, I found no solutions, so I figured I could try and see if anyone had a similar issue.

I was lucky enough that it came with the key, but unfortunately the lock on the glass won't allow the key all the way in, or it just won't turn, I'm not sure really. There seems to be a latch of some kind on the inside of the glass that moves slightly with pressure applied on the key, but a fair amount of jostling around yielded no results. The handle and closing mechanism functions as it should, but I would really prefer if I could lock it as well.

Any help would be appreciated! I'm crossing my fingers that I'm just dumb but I couldn't find any info on it. Even ARE has disabled old links posted on here to the original instruction manual.
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Guacamole
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Re: ARE Bed cap lock

Post by Guacamole »

Well I don't own an ARE shell, nor do I really know how the lock is designed specifically on the Baja models... but I did manage to find some pictures hosted on a domain that's been coated with cobwebs since the early 2000s.
According to this picture (assuming the lock isn't modified)
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your best bet is to access the interior locking assembly from the inside using the switchback and fiddling around with it there. Once you have it open from the inside you can determine where the problem lies and apply plenty of penetrating fluid if necessary.
Oh, and ARE still has the Baja index page buried on their website: https://www.4are.com/view/?mk=s_b
Image
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