Hybrid Soft topper/ Bedrack

So I like camping and I want a roof top tent. I will need a bedrack for this tent. I also like the bed soft toppers. My wife is good at sewing so I was thinking I could buy the bed rack from allpro and have my wife make a cover for it that could lock. I could also have zippers on the top for the mounts for the tent to reach through and grab the bed rack. Then I could use both together. I dont need this setup till the summer so the build will be slow. Anyone see any issues I could run into? Has this been done before? Any ideas on how it should be done?







EDIT:
my solution. Got a bestop. Had Bamf custom make some bed bars to go around it to hold my RTT. It worked out great.

Here is the end result

 

I think it'll work... it might be a little painful getting it right however.

 

I wanted to do the same thing with my custom bed rack. Ended up getting a topper instead. Make sure you post pics. I want to see it

 

this. but if and when you do get that figured out i want one lol. be great for crawling malls

 

It is a good idea. One that I have contemplated a time or two myself. Something similar has been done before. Check out the below thread:
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/group-buys/261683-soft-tops-bed-racks-made-order-group-buy-2-a.html

 

Thats pretty much what Im trying to do and have zippers on the top to access the cross beams and I want to be able to lock it. Its going to take me a while to get it right. Just need some free weekends.

 

I've been thinking of doing the same exact thing. In fact, I already talked to All Pro guy about the rack. I was thinking of going to an Army Surplus store since they would most likely have weather treated canvas to wrap over it.

 

If you do anything post pics... Please

 

Okay, just ordered rack. Asked them about a canvas top and they said they were they were working on that idea. I was lucky, their free shipping ends tonight.

 

I was thinking about this as well. Also thought about putting camp netting over

 

I think it's a great idea. Sewing stuff like this can actually be fun. Last winter I made a lot of sunbrella canvas cover stuff for my boat; the stuff would be great for your topper. You can by good quality stainless snaps, clips, zippers, plastic window material, and of course canvas from a place called http://www.sailrite.com/. They also have a ton of good how-to videos for working with the stuff and also basic sewing techniques for guys like us.

 

I've thought about this before, and I see some problems, but it depends on what you want it for.

If you intend to keep water out, having the cutouts for the RTT in the roof would cause a problem. If it's for dust only you should be ok.

Fabric will tend to stretch so keeping it taught over the long term may be an issue. Although if you use fabric made for boat sails you should be ok.

 

I think to solve the water proofing issue with the roof top tent you could make a skirt to go around the tent and hang over the soft top

 

Did this exact thing this summer. Go to a upholstry place and look at boat top material. Ours works rad and the shop banged it out in a morning. Just put eyelets where tent mounting bolts go through. We got it made with a little extra se we can roll it down over a hi-lift and rotopax once we mount those on sides.Can email you pics if youd like.

 

Please post the pics if you can! I too have considered going this route to mount a rtt and still have dry bed space. I would prefer to go with a lower rack that sits a little below the cab. I've also considered mounting a frontrunner roof rack to a bed rack and sealing those mounting points. This way anything added or removed from the rack would not effect the water tightness of the canvas if sealed properly from the start. But that route gets spendy quick.

Anyhow, I'm the service manager at a boat shop and we do custom covers all the time through a local canvas shop. There are materials available that won't stretch over time and are water proof as well. I was making the project even more complicated as I wanted it to function much like a soft topper. Having the sides and rear window roll up is huge to me for the hounds. Anyhow, it is very do able. Paying this canvas shop to assemble the project I was quoted 200.00, for a walk in customer he said a job like that would run around 400.00 parts and labor. Anyhow, I have been hoping that someone else would do it first so I could learn and modify from their design.

My other option is a rtt on a baja rack over the cab and a cab hi shell on the bed.

Decisions!

 

my 2 cents because i've been thinking about the same idea for a while now:

in terms of locking it... why really? it's canvas, if anyone really wants in they'll just cut it..

besides that... i think the eyelet idea is the best option for a few reasons and maybe with a few mods.. instead of just an eyelet to allow the bolts through, put a base plate on the rack under the eyelet with a rubber washer on it. Then the cover with eyelet the goes over that and another plate with rubber washer on top that stews down to the bottom. The reason here is that it could be designed to give you the mounting point for the RTT as well as keep the bed water tight PLUS holding the canvas in place at high speeds. some other benefits off the top of my head that might be an added side effect is that, if you wanted to take the tent off but leave the cover on it would still be water tight and held in place.

 

I got our cover made with 100% waterproof material for $230 incl. labour. Cant remember name of material...ill try and post pics tonight.

we don't have a sealed back on it, so the last 4" of the box gets wet, and we are putting screen on the front so the dogs can have some air flow. And you can get eyelets small enough that the bolt just fits through it, so no need for extra o-rings or gaskets. we got it mid september and drove with it in some of the heaviest rain, and even with the back open at highway speeds, nothing really swirled in. the option to roll up the sides in the summer for the dogs is priceless(and I am toying with the idea to convert one side into a fold out awning )

 

damn... sounds like a really good setup! and my only concern with water isn't so much at speed but instead being parked, like overnight. I know in the past few years i've moved a lot and every time we've either used a lot of tarp or one of our trucks hard tops. The problem with rain never seems to be an issue at speed cuz everything is pulled off by the wind but when you're sitting and it just seeps in, things can get wet in a hurry!

 

camera's dead, n phone sucks....stay tuned till tomorrow kids.........