Tradesman Truck Tops commercial style topper/shell

Hi, I joined the TW because I was looking for a camper shell. I really like the Tradesman configurations I've seen in this thread. Would you mind sending me a PM giving me a rough estimate of how much you spent? Also did you go for any insulation or skin? Thanks!

 

Sent you a PM with the options I went with. Lots of ways to go -- I ended up not getting the Tradesman insulation/metal skin for an additional ~$1200 (went with just carpeting instead). If I decide I want insulation down the line, I'll install it myself.

 

Sent you a PM

 

Mine was just over 4k with no skin or insulation. I think they are all in this ballpark configured similarly as those in this thread. If you get in contact with Tradesman they will give you a quote for exactly the way you want to spec it out. They actually have a TacomaWorld template now and start with that.

 

Would it be possible to tie down long kayaks on the roof with the shell sticking above the cab? I couldn't find any pictures of a 23" tall shell but I think I prefer the look of the 26" shell, adds a nice look to the truck.

 

I don’t see why not. Seems the same as trying them down to the top of a car where both ends would be unsupported. If you were really worried about it you could build an elevated support for the cab to support the front of the kayaks.

 

More additions to the inside for storage and organization. We were obsessively hunting for some organizers to put on the back of the cabinet and front sides of the cap. I came across the inserts that Pelican makes for the insides of the lids of their cases and found this one that fits pretty much perfectly.

It has a hard plastic backing so I just riveted it to the back of the cabinet. The pouches are all ballistics nylon and have really solid zippers.




For the sides we found

$8 AutoMuko Seat Side Organizer, for Use On Any Front Passenger Car Seats for Cars, Trucks, Mini Vans and SUVs with One-Year Limited Warranty

these organizers that are meant to go on the sides of seats. No idea why you would want that. But they fit perfectly on the sides of the top. They have a cardboard backer so I just cut the straps off and screwed them to the inside of the skin. They aren’t nearly as nice as the pelican organizer but the price was right and they fit the bill.

 

Very nice,that will go on the list.

 

Swanky!

 

Yeah that’s what I was thinking. Still have to save up first for one of these bad boys! Thanks for all the info in this thread will definitely use it to build mine!

 

Batwing deployed. FYI - if it's even just a bit windy stake it down. Learned the hard way when two of the hinges broke in light winds. Fortunately it comes with two spare hinges and it is designed to fail there instead of tearing up something else so lesson learned.

 

After some more thought about this I'm not sure cantilevering the kayaks off the top is a great idea. It depends on where the bulk of the mass is, but I don't think you want to strap just the tail of the kayak and then have the majority of the hull hanging off the front. So if it were me, I would mount them centered to the cab but spaced up high enough to clear the back.

 

What kind of a rear bike mount is that and where can i find one ?

 

That’s the Kuat Pivot with a Yakima Dr Tray. I got the Kuat from REI when they were having a 20% off sale which makes it by far the cheapest one. I believe they have a deal with Rakattach which is why they are basically the same thing. Wilco Offroad also makes a really nice one, maybe better since it is geared more towards off roading and doesn't hang down quite as low. But it is the most expensive of the bunch and has a longer lead time

 

Yeah that’s how I would plan to do it, center most the mass on the cab and keep it high enough to clear the cap. I think it would be most stable that way.

 

This is my first post. Sorry it's a bit long. I bought my Cement DCLB OR Tacoma back in July. And aside from some cosmetic changes haven't done much to it yet. But I've been following this thread for the last six weeks and will say I'm really impressed with the builds I've seen here. It was always in my plan to do a topper and was originally leaning towards the ARE MX. But then I found this thread and figured (1) I like the looks a little better for the Tradesman, (2) I like how customizable they are and (3) they seem to be a very high build quality.

I would have like to have bought my Tradesman sooner but have had so many questions and or ideas about how to customize that I've kinda stalled out on any forward progress. So yesterday I went into a local dealer here in Portland and put down a deposit with about 90% of the toppers specs confirmed. But I did want to ask some questions that will probably be follow up for some of you'll on your earlier post. So here are a few of my questions.

Height
(1.A) Because of a parking garage situation I've chosen a 24" topper just to give myself a little more wiggle room. I've measured it out and I feel like I'll be safe but sometimes there are unexpected add-ons that perhaps I'm not accounting for. Can anyone tell me if they've gone above 7' from the top of their vent/rack to the ground? It seems like most of you'll have done the 26" toppers but wanted to see if anyone knows how high their topper sits from the ground. I understand in asking this that people will have different lifts and tire/wheel sizes but I may in the future consider something you've done and as such want to know the range of heights.

(1.B) I'm wondering how many inches it is for those of you'll with Prinsu racks from the top of the Prinsu to the top of your topper (Not including vent/rack)? To me, it looks like about two, three inches.

(1.C) For bike fit, how tall is it from your bed to the top of the door and to the top of the ceiling?

Vents
(2.A) Curious as to why some of you'll went with a vent vs the Thermostat option? They look like they're about the same height above the topper but not for sure.

(2.B) Are either Venting systems a liability as far as car washes are concerned? For that matter I'm assuming I can run my Tradesman through a car wash but haven't asked Maria that.

(2.C) Is there an obvious choice of where to mount a vent so that it is the least likely to get in the way of a rack and is ideal for cross ventilation (Front third or middle)? Can you actually stargaze through the vent?

Security
(3.A) When sleeping under the topper at night do you just leave the rear topper door shut but unlocked? Is there a way to lock from the inside. Has anyone put a handle on the inside rear window/door to grab when pulling the topper door shut from the inside? Pics?

(3.B) Is the security screen on the rear window constructed and or attached to the topper differently than the side windows?

I feel like there are more questions but will leave it at this. Thanks for any help. Oh and I saw one on a third gen in Portland last week in traffic, if you're reading this I'd love to see yours up close.

 

Hey Jerrol,

Just wanted to let you know I saw this and will try to get back to you in the next couple of days when I have some more time.

Steve

 

Welcome Jerrol!
Good to see a fellow BHA member in here. I’m out of the country right now, but if tacoMarin gets to you first your in good hands as he helped me with a few things before I bought mine.
Cheers!

 

Mine measures 84” from the ground to the top of the prinsu rack. The vent top I have is about another 3/4” taller. It’s 86” to the top of the batwing awning. I have the 26” top and have about a 2.5” lift and my tires are an inch taller than stock.

I measured 3 inches from the roof to the top of my prinsu

I measured 44” from the bed to the top the ceiling. The door ends about 3-4” below that but I didn’t take an exact measurement.

I just didn’t really see a need for it since all the doors can open wide open to cool off. I also liked the idea of having a fairly unobstructed view through it.

I wash mine myself so I can’t speak to a drive through car wash. I would be hesitant to in general just because of all the crap on my roof anyway.

I think the bigger deal is putting in between the frame supports of the roof. That will basically limit you to a few options. Here is a pic of what the inside looks like. The spacing between the prinsu cross bars is 9” and the vent is 14” square so if you remove one bar you can fit the vent in between. If you put it in the forward position then you should be able to keep the mounting feet positioned in equal spacing. That may not be ideal for ventilation but would probably be better for star gazing. I didn’t do that and just put the mounting feet just behind the vent since most my weight will be at the back of the rack. Yes you can stargaze but it’s not in the ideal position. Worst case you can always buy additional mounting feet if you can’t get the rack perfectly positioned. They also have some other vent options that are flush to the roof but I think they cost a lot more. @moweryaviation just found an auto opening vent option that flips open but not sure if he has installed it. (This is his roof btw)

I just leave it unlocked and unlatched unless we are stealth camping somewhere dodgy. You can latch it from the inside but can’t really lock it. I have seen other people put a vise grip on the bar on one side of the latch so that you can’t rotate it all the way but we have never bothered. We sleep with our dog in the bed generally and he’s a good guard dog and let’s us know when anyone is nearby so that’s our main method of defense, along with some bear spray . Tradesman mounted some d-rings to my doors to act as a handle. They also made a nice hook to use to close them. I put some pics of that in a post above. It wasn’t bad for me to close the doors myself but it was a bit harder for my wife.

It’s attached the same way. Sheet metal screws.

Hope that helps answer your questions. Let me know if you have any more!

 

tacomarin Thanks so much for your thorough reply.