New in the USA: RLD Design

hey I had it shipped to me thru adventure ready. Its all black.

 

TY for getting back to me!! BTW your trucks looks clean. DTLA Bunker Hill?

 

That all black does look good!

 

It looks like the same paddle latches as Alu-Cab uses and no, those cannot be opened from inside.

 

I believe the weight rating is on the rails. I've walked around on the top of my Alu Cab and does have some give to it. They're also incredibly slippery on the roof when new. I'm not sure if it's waxed or what. I have a bunch of gripes about some of the design features of these canopys (both AluCab and RLD). TBH, I'm not sure that I would buy the Alu Cab again, and I don't think I'd buy the RLD based off of what I've seen. I will admit that there are some clever design ideas on them but there are still (IMO) significant compromises.

 

well please share your opinion with me on both please. I was looking at a just the canopy but now I’m looking at a AluCab canopy camper.

 

Well, I'll do my best to separate my opinions vs what I've actually experienced FWIW, I live in the PNW. There are times of the year where it's cold and wet. I've had my AluCab for a couple of years now, bought it in Sept of 2017.

I've had issues with my AluCab leaking. So far, I've experienced leaks from the driver side door, front window rubber seal, rear window rubber seal, roof rack tracks and the seam where they bond the roof panel to the frame. I purchased the canopy through @Adventure Ready and have nothing negative to say about my experience with Tom. Tom offered to have me bring it by so that they could take a look at the leaks but that would equate to six hours of driving round trip for someone else to apply an $8 tube of RTV. My concern at the time (and the reason I post about the leaks) is because these canopies can be shipped and I'd rather not have it be a surprise to someone. What happens to the end user when their canopy has a problem and they're in San Diego? Shipping on these things isn't exactly free... On that note, Tom also offered to deliver it himself to my house. That didn't work out due to scheduling issues. I guess I'm just trying to clarify that I'm doing my best to differentiate my issues with the canopy from the service I got from Adventure Ready. I've got no complaints about Adventure Ready.

The paddle latches freeze shut. This is the time of year where we get humidity in the evening combined with dropping temps that leave a nice layer of frost. Unfortunately, the moisture gets into the latches. Morning comes and you can't open the canopy. I've taken to keeping a water/rubbing alcohol mix in a spray bottle that I keep on my front porch in case I need to get into the canopy. I've also had this issue driving in rain up to the mountains to play in the snow.

You cannot open the paddle latch from the inside. This wasn't the end of the world for me, with a DCSB and a family of 4 I'm not exactly going to be spending the night in the bed. I did spend about half a year for three years living out of my 1st gen XtraCab with a Leer canopy and I could open/latch the twist latches from inside provided they were unlocked.

The doors can freeze shut. This is a separate issue from the paddle latches. If you get water around the perimeter of the door (especially along the bottom) and it freezes, it's not easy to open it up.

The front of the canopy is vertical. Previous fiberglass canopies hug the back of the truck cab. The Alu-Cab leaves a wedge shaped gap that collects snow and other crap. It's not really any easier to get into to clean it out vs the extra amount of crap it seems to collect. If you decide to be a lazy bum and not clear the snow out of that gap, you end up with a frozen clump of hard snow that rattles back between the cab and canopy as you drive. It's annoying.

The canopy doesn't sit flush with the edges of the bedrail. Aesthetically, it doesn't look great. Functionally I don't mind it as it allows me to climb onto the canopy very easily (step up onto tire, step up onto bedside, step up onto canopy).

The gap between the rear hatch and tailgate is massive. I can almost fit my entire hand through it. Needless to say, this lets in a lot of dust. I've played around with various rubber seals and have finally come to the conclusion that I'll just need to rivet a piece of aluminum angle to extend the sealing surface down so that it's actually close to the tailgate.

I do really like the design of the canopy inside. The tracks on the ceiling are handy. I've got a shovel mounted up there with QuickFists on one side and a homemade canoe paddle bag on the other side. I've got plans for another paddle bag and a couple more QuickFists. There are perimeter tracks that are used for attaching the canopy to the bed, but as they are tracks they can also be used for tying stuff down. They sit a few inches higher than the factory Tacoma tracks.

I do like that the paddle latches are easily adjustable from the inside to increase or decrease the latching force.

The AluCab is made of rectangular tubing. I'm planning on installing a solar panel to the roof. The rectangular tubing means that I can drill and install Riv-Nuts to help keep my wiring tidy and neat without worrying about poking holes through the canopy.

The wiring for the AluCab third brake and interior cargo light is glued to the canopy and they run right where you'd grab if you were trying to climb up onto the tailgate to get into the bed. I've ripped the brake wire off. It's still connected and works, it just hangs down now. It's on my list of things to fix.

The AluCab door hinges are plastic. This hasn't been an issue for me yet, but it's something that I keep an eye on. It is a security concern though... Anyone with a box cutter and a couple minutes could easily score through the hinge and then open the canopy side doors by pivoting them downwards. This leads to another aspect of the doors...they're solid and opaque. Anything in the back is going to be difficult to see. The downside to that is that it's also a little more work checking your right side before changing lanes. My hinges are a few years old now and see regular use. I haven't seen any signs of failure yet, but they're plastic and exposed to sunlight. I'm already thinking about what I'll do if/when they fail.

The black canopy gets really hot in the summertime. At the time I bought mine gray canopies were a special order item. I'm probably going to wind up painting the roof white or silver (Rustoleum Aluminum is decently close to the '15 silver sky whatever)

That's been my experience on the AluCab. Now onto RLD.

I've got a strong gut feeling that the RLD is going to have the same issues with the paddle latches and freezing. I think that the paddle latches look great and sit nice and flush so that there's nothing to snag. On the flip side, I traveled for years with my 1st gen and Leer canopy and never had an issue with the twist style window latches. I think that Tom from Adventure Ready and I disagree on the chance of the RLD freezing shut. I recall a discussion about it and his feeling is that the raised side panels will alleviate this concern. I'm not that confident. I've also discussed that issue with Go Fast Campers early on in their product development as they use the same style latches. They had mentioned knowing about the issue and told me that they were working on a new latch style to eliminate the problem. As near as I can tell from pictures, GFC is still using the same problematic latches.

I also think that there's a potential for water getting around the perimeter of the side doors and freezing the door shut.

I'm concerned about the security of the hinges used on the RLD doors. They look very much to me like a couple seconds with a hammer and drift would let you knock out the pins holding the hinges together and then open the door from the top.

I'm almost certain that RLD will have the same issues with snow and debris buildup between the cab of the truck and the canopy. It's just the nature of the design. It's a natural funnel. It would be better if both canopy makers (Alu-Cab and RLD) followed the angle of the back of the cab.

I'm curious to see how the RLD canopy roof rack track is attached. I've had leakage issues with canopy tracks on three canopies now (two Leer and the AluCab). I'd keep a close eye on the area underneath the tracks.

Stainless vs Aluminum... I'm not really sure I'm sold one way or another.

I'm curious to see more pictures of the positive pressure vent on the RLD. As far as I've seen, Caravan Camper is the only domestic canopy maker that offers a positive pressure vent, though it's also been a couple years since I've looked at mfg offerings.

You can probably tell that I've given some of this some though, but that in no way means that I'm 100% right. I also realize that I could have gotten a canopy built on a Friday afternoon which could explain the issues I've had. I've got a pretty good handle on which issues are design problems vs manufacturing problems with my canopy. In the end, would I buy the AluCab again? I'm not really sure. I've got it and it works for me, though it's not ideal. Problem is that, IMO, the ideal product isn't on the market. You just have to find the product that ticks the most boxes and compromise on the rest

 

They updated the Alu Cab so it fits flush with the bed rails now. Not sure when it was done but mine that I bought earlier this year sits completely flush.

I have the same issues with the latches. They either get so dirty they don’t open or freeze shut. I usually just pry them lightly with the tip of my knife and they come open. I think the latches would be much better if they had a little tab or lip you could pull out on them with.

Mine has been pretty leak free although we barely get rain here in the high desert. I wasn’t expecting it to be water tight though.

 

Yeah I went to a Alu Cab dealer about two weeks ago. And they are no longer coming standard with the steel latches they are coming with plastic latches on the standard canopy. But you can’t upgrade to the steel latches.

 

Any idea how much it would add to the cost to go perhaps 4" taller, similar to an ARE MX or Leer 180?
Any idea if you could add a "slope" to the front edge of such a "tall" cap to help aerodynamics?
(If not, I might be able to add an air dam to the roof of the cab...)
Any idea how long a special order would take?

 

Any pictures you can post of a taller version?

 

Anybody have any pics of this on a 2nd gen ?

 

didn't see anywhere on the thread about attaching load bars/racks that are not RLD. I am about to purchase as I am selling my drifter (already spoken for), tired of my truck being broken into while I am gone for work and it sits not being used for 6-8wks and is sitting duck. At least in a storage locker/garage it will be out of site and covered should a window get smashed/etc. The drifter was a great unit, I just couldn't fit in any parking garages/etc and I daily drive my truck when I am home. SO back to a canopy and either a hammock setup/tent or possible a trailer I can store.

Anyways, from what I can tell from pictures there appears to be three rails/raised areas on the top that are predrilled and ready to direct bolt the RLD accessories?? Presume this is more like a time that does not allow access to the centre of the cab. However does this allow the use of non RLD products? Like pretty much every other canopy? My alucab one was great, I just used M8 bolts everywhere an voila. sometimes I kick myself for ever getting ride of that and over complicating my setup with the drifter.

Anyways, I have the invoice in hand just waiting on a few answers to come back from ADV Ready, given it is xmas I expect to see it at the end of the week).

Steve

 

So did you sell your drifter?

 

It's spoken for and deposit paid.

 

Stool well let me know if he bails on it. If so I’ll take it.

 

@aaen Check out post #88 in this thread (https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-in-the-usa-rld-design.593043/page-5#post-22031444). @Tacosoul installed a Front Runner rack (non RLD product) on the RLD canopy. I imagine it would work with any rails but you may have to drill new holes in the canopy if they don't line up with the RLD factory holes.

 

I installed a Front Runner rack to the top of my RLD using the universal tracks from Front Runner. I had to cut about an inch off the tracks to get them to fit on the raised sections and had to drill new holes to mount the tracks. I did most of it by myself and it took about 4 hours going slow. I did use one of the factory holes in the RLD to run the wiring for the lights I added to the rack.

 

Can anybody post up pictures of the positive pressure system, inside and out? I'm a bit curious how they went about setting it up.

 

its just a small hatch on the roof that you can open that lets air in while you are driving.