Tradesman Truck Tops commercial style topper/shell

Nice, that's the one we're looking at for the same reason. Seems like a pretty good set up. Not as slick as the Alucab or Eezi Awn ones but also less than half the price (especially if you have a hook up). Will probably order ours next week so I look forward to hearing how yours works out. Going to be an expensive week next week!

 

Yeah I imagine crating one of those up would be no small task! I know some folks have road tripped out for them instead.

 

Got half of my platform done for a trip to Owens Valley. The slides for the drawer utilize skateboard rails. It does have some issues but not enough for me to go back and redo it. Now I need to get the pax side platform done before school starts next month.

 

Nice! How does the 1/2" ply feel?

 

Not bad at all. I had my doubts until I fixed the bottom brace pieces. We'll see how sturdy the other side feels. It won't be a drawer so may have more give. I guess I could put small wooden cross braces fixed to the bottom of it but that would decrease storage below that side.

 

Did you get the Batwing?

 

Not yet, I guess when you get a deal it ships on the slow boat!
I did get the sliders painted and installed.it went very smooth,even with no help.

 

Sweet! Glad to hear that. Looking forward to hearing and seeing more!

 

I went over to Access MFG yesterday to get a couple more things put on. I had a shelf put in between the cabinet and front of the cap. Also had some covers built to hide some wires I ran for my interior lights. I also mentioned that closing the doors from inside of the cap is a bit of a challenge, especially for my wife, so they added on some D-rings to the doors and built a handy handle. Now I've got to come up with a better way to close the tailgate from inside. Anyone got any clever ideas?



Also had a chance to talk with the owner who I hadn't meet before. He shared some interesting info about the hinges they use vs a LEER hinge.

Here is a LEER hinge


Here is a Tradesman Hinge


You can see an obvious difference in engineering thoughtfulness between the two, and can understand why LEER hinges just don't hold up. The Tradesman hinge is patented, and very well thought-out. There is no way for it to come separated when you open it up, and when it's fully open it's not just hanging on a small lip, the hinge is fully supported the whole length. I also learned that the Tradesman hinges aren't screwed into the body of the cap, they're sandwiched on between two plates. So there's no stress risers through the body of the cap to fail or leak.

I continue to be very impressed by this cap and by the company behind it. The fact that I can go there and have them add in a shelf, or any other customization I want is awesome.

 

someone (am embarrassed not to find the link) added gas pistons to their tailboard. I think it was because of an aluminum plate replacing the factory composite and maybe bad knees came into the picture, too. in any event, that would be my suggestion along with a flat nylon web loop.

edit: found it - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-and-adventures.362772/page-136#post-13369293

 

Cool stuff on the shelf and D-rings. The D-rings look like the same ones I bought from Harbor fright for my drawer/platform. What I've been doing is just reaching out and grabbing one of the bars for the doors and pulling it in to close the door when inside the shell. That shelf on the divers side looks very useful. I'll be brainstorming how to replicate it. I've got left over wood from my project that I may repurpose for that.

 

I added my shelf above the fold down slider.
I almost want one on the DS as well.
I’m almost ready to building my fold down cot and other pimping of the sleeping area.Im going to make screens to Velcro into the door opening and just some paracord pulls for the up haul of the TG and to pull the others down. But if it’s summer, all doors open and screened for cross flow.
Sorry just dreaming of a nights sleep where it’s not 80 degrees!

 

Have you slept in your truck with the shell yet? I found good ventilation with the small slider screens and leaving the back open. I used small office clips to keep a Nimbus mosquito net up on the back and it worked pretty good. Working on using a small expandable curtain rod to put the net on the inside and then clip to the corners and that way I could keep the side doors open if I wanted.

 

I was doing the same thing to close the doors but it was always a little more challenging for my wife to do. The D-rings are definitely a simple but useful solution. I think an easy way to replicate the shelf would just be to get a few L-brackets and rivet or screw them into the frame of the top, then mount your shelf directly to that.

I think your shelf above the fold down slider is what inspired me to put a shelf on the DS. We thought about one in front of the fold down but we often lounge semi upright with our backs against the slider and didn't want to lose that to the shelf. This seemed like a good compromise. Thought about adding one to the PS as well but thought it might make things start feeling too small. Good idea on the paracord. I was also looking at the latch bolts and wondering if I could put some rivets through some webbing to make a strap and bolt them on there.

This past weekend we slept with all the doors open because it was 70-80 degrees at night. It felt great and fortunately there weren't any bugs out there. My mom has a couple decked out camper vans and has made her own bug nets and curtains for them so I'm going to spend a weekend with her this fall and sort something out. They used magnets to attache all their screens but obviously that won't work for the aluminum top. But velcro may be an option.

Glad you guys are digging pimping out your tops as much as me! It's really cool to build off each-other's ideas!

 

Got a new low-profile vent cover. The big bulgy one always bothered me and I'm picking up a Prinsu rack for the top this weekend so I wanted to find something a little lower profile. I found this one on Amazon:

$23 Ventmate 63115 Smoke Low Profile Replacement Vent Lid

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0085IJBAY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Side by side with the old one


Installation is pretty straight forward. Remove the crank arm, inner housing, vent screws, and lift mechanism from the frame. Go to the outside to slide the cover off the hinge and mechanism, then reverse the order to install.



Definitely much happier with the lower profile. The color is pretty ugly compared to the old one but this will be mostly concealed by the new rack so I don't think it will bother me in the long run.

 

Great call on the shelf and I like the D-ring for closing but have been doing the same as @ETAV8R and just reaching out and grabbing the bar.

For the Norcal folks, headed to Bowman lake this weekend, leaving SF late 8/17 return Sunday. PM if you can join. Be great to get a few of us together. I’m so stoked that everyone is as happy with theirs as I am!

 

I'm wondering if I could put a small harbor fright D-ring on the inside of my tailgate. I could just use some cord and pull it up closed. Not sure if it would hold and/or last though.

 

I just ordered up a Mobtown steel skin with the hardware upgrade: http://mobtownoffroad.com/product/tailgate-skin/. They're having a 20% off moving sale right now under the deals/coupons thread.

My plan is to put some grommets through some webbing and bolt it to the skin. One of the Mobtown ambassadors thought that just with the hardware upgrade I would be able to do that, but I figure the extra structure from the skin will help too.

Man I would love to go but really need this weekend at home. Falling way too far behind on home projects.

 

That Bowman Lake is beautiful! I was up there a few months ago. Won't be able to make it this time, but thanks for the invite. Get some shots of the tradesman in action!

 

Ah Bowman. Good spots out there. Lake Faucherie was almost the end of me. Still beautiful country.