Help on fitting bed liner WITH topper!

Hey guys,

I recently bought a camper shell for my '98 Tacoma in anticipation of doing some traveling. I found a used A.R.E on Craigslist; looks great, love the utility of it.

However, when I bought my Taco, it came with a nice black bedliner. Unforunately the material goes over the rails, so I had to take it off to fit the topper on the bed. Here's the bed liner, off the truck:



I put the bed liner up on Craigslist, but it's not looking like it's going to sell. So my thought instead is to see if I can install the bed liner with the camper shell on top. I'll have to cut out some holes in the bed liner to make room for the shell clamps, and this liner is somewhat thick plastic construction.

My question for you guys: anyone tried this? Any suggestions on what to use to cut holes for the bed liner? It already has cutouts for the metal tie-down loops, so I've considered enlarging those so that the camper clamps can reach the bed rails. The only tools I've considered are metal ductwork snips, or a hole-cutter drill bit.

Also, is there any reason I might not want to do this? If I go through with it, I'll post more pics for you guys to see how I did it. I just hate to see a good bed liner go to waste.

 

I've got the same sort of set-up with my '98: a plastic bedliner, with four holes cut into the corners to accommodate the canopy. It works quite well. I can think of no reason not to do it. I'm eventually planing on replacing the bed-liner with Line-X, but that will have to wait for a while.

what do I have? camper clamp things that are long enough to reach down to the tie-down points, then snugged up with a ratchet. They appear hand-bent to accommodate the curves from the Canopy down. The clamp-things appear to be 1/4" inch steel, and there's a hold drilled through the bottom of the canopy flange where it sits near the plastic bed-liner. The steel clamp-thing passes through the hole, and then around the tie-down. Then I snug it up. Hope you can understand my explanation.

 

Yes, I have done that. I cut holes to fit 2 clamps on each side. I now have a drop-in TOYOTA bedliner that goes under the rails though, which is so much better. I would recommend trying to find one of those...

 

Well, I got antsy and went ahead with this little project today. Pretty happy with the results!

The bed liner produces a black line on the outside. A little "different," but it doesn't bother me much.


The other side. I really wish my new headlamps would come in the mail… mine are fogged as hell.


Here's a view that shows the interior. Quite happy with it! I just cut out taller holes where the tie-down holes were, you can see the clamps in the corners. I had to run and grab some longer bolts since the liner was further-out horizontally from the bed rails.


Damn you Des Moines! First week I moved there, someone gifted me with a hit-and-run. It's only thing that really marred the appearance of the truck.


Now I just need to figure out how to hook up the taillight to the camper shell, and I should be pretty well set. The shell uses a 3-pin plug, while most aftermarket parts are 4-pin... might have a lot of wiring to stuff underneath.

 

i used a hole saw on my 2002 taco.my liner went over the bedsides as well

 

I was told you can vut the uper lip of it and it should fix snug under the rail

 

Nice looking Tacoma. Too bad about the bent tailgate. I've had to replace the rear bumper twice in the nine years I have owned my reg cab because of hit and runs.

My liner had openings for the lockers to hold the the liner so the clamps for the topper went in there.

 

could you get a side shot in the same profile as this one?

I'd like to show people that there is a difference in extended cab vs standard cab camper shell designs..

thanks

 

was my request too much to ask for?

 

I don't think there's a difference. I have an extended cab with A.R.E. shell and it looks exactly like your picture

Edit: A.R.E. does make several different styles, though. You may be referring to that.

 

your truck should look exactly like mine, my truck is an extended cab..
the regular cab trucks on the backside of the cab don't have as much angle to them..

If you used an extended cab shell on a regular cab truck, you'll be about 1/4" away from touching, one good speed bump and your in the body shop..

 

This might help you. It is what happens when you put a shell designed for an access cab on a regular cab truck. It looks nice but rubs at the top. There is a definite difference in the two types of shells.

 

Here is a shot of the Tacoma with the correct shell on it. Both shells are ARE Impulse shells.

 

My liner is from Toyota and fits under the rails. The shell is correct for an extra cab, but rubs anyway. The extra headroom on the ARE MX line saves your head when you have to climb in to remove something that slid up to the cab end.

Both of these came off my last Taco, hence the color mismatch. Will paint in the spring.

Did you get the center light to work? I have to replace my center light. The LEDs must have burned out. I should also add an interior light.

 

You guys with the picks of your 4x4 Tacos are making me jealous...

I would like to, but the connection on my A.R.E. is a 3-pin, while all the connectors I've found at Autozone are 4-pin. I'm not convinced it's worth the splicing work just to have a third taillight, although the interior light would be nice (mine came with one).

 

Your truck looks good. I own the 4x4 for utility only. I am off-road for construction related projects often and I would never get in or out of my long hilly driveway in winter without it. The rest of the time the gas economy sucks (well under 20 mpg), particularly at $3 plus a gallon. But it is a hell of a lot of fun to drive, which makes me forget all the rest. I guess I should get a Prius for commuting.

 

That's my (semi-realistic) dream two-car garage scenario: a Prius for economic commuting, and a new 4x4 Tacoma for fun.