All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

The toppers aren’t really the problem, it’s the Tacoma bed design.

The water intrusion can take place with any cap because the Tacoma bed has plastic caps on the bed rails and gaps at both corners of the front/top of the bed next to the cab.

All of the design issues can be mitigated which will minimize or eliminate the water intrusion. But it can be a headache and an annoyance. It’s up to the end user to determine how far they want to go with it or if it’s worth the effort.

I personally don’t sleep in the bed of my SB and have done zero prep. I definitely get water in the bed after heavy rains. Most all the water runs under the bedmat. Some pools up on the wheel wells, but I’ve never had my stuff getting soaked.

Just be aware of the limitations and plan for them accordingly if you decide to proceed with the Taco and a topper.

 

I am surprised this would be an issue with a professionally installed topper! Thanks for your and the previous poster's insight!

 

I’ve never had one ‘professionally’ installed. All the toppers I’ve had on any of my trucks I purchased used.

I’m sure shops can be hit or miss on bed prep. Guess it depends on what you pay for vs what the installers know to look for in a given vehicle. Some places might consider just setting a shell on the bed and securing it being an installation. Others might include water intrusion prep in the install.

The Tacoma can meet your needs if that’s the vehicle you want. You just need to do some leg work finding a shop that’s aware of the design flaws and are knowledgeable of what to do prep wise pre-install. Or be willing to do it yourself. Just be sure not to pay them an arm and leg for an ‘install’ that only consists of driving a forklift for 5 min and wrenching on a couple bolts.

 

barrel is a ton of fun. Highly recommend.

 

I agree with what the others have said about toppers. It’s the beds that you have to worry about not the toppers and most dealers do not waterproof your truck bed. They are really concerned about wiring the brake lights and tightening four bolts.

 

I have noticed the the real issue is in downpours when I’m not driving. I think the wind pushes the rain passed the gap so water doesn’t really get in but when I’m parked is when the water gets in

 

Even my DiamondBack leaks a little. Not bad but I wouldn’t leave a load of cotton candy back there in a hurricane

 

Alright question for you guys. I saw a couple of videos from people showing a super gnarly trail at the Land Trust around here called Huck N Roll. From what I’ve gathered it’s unmarked, and not widely shared where it is located. So I asked on a local mtb page on Facebook if someone could help me find it.

one person said it’s down for trail work, and I said that’s fine can you just point it out to me on a map. Crickets.

another person said it’s illegal to ride on. Illegal? How? He said because bikers built it and not the park and it’s too gnarly. But it’s in the land trust, not the state park, so I’m confused. Public land, no? Videos of it on YouTube, did they get in trouble?

what are you guys thoughts on this?

Here is a video posted recently. Doesn’t look too gnarly to me. Not compared to the rest of the park..

https://youtu.be/1SfQkbXLdHY

 

Probably a combination of factors.

There's always secret trails in any area. Secret stashes nobody wants to give away. But if it's also in areas with strong oversight, then people are probably less likely to admit where it is so that the governing body doesn't rip it out. As for the videos, I've seen videos of "pirate" trails in my area that technically could get people fined. But nobody seems to really really care. My vote? Don't record it and post it. That's just asking for trouble and inviting others to it. If you hear about it from a local then try to figure out if it's secret because of legality or "locals only" kinda deal.

 

That’s sort of my thoughts on all of it. Just don’t understand the seemingly hush hush about it. Like I’m cool with you wanting to keep it a secret, just say so lol. But I guess that would come off douchey compared to just not answering me? Idk.

 

Hah. Yeah. If I see someone asking about a secret trail I don't respond. I think the unspoken consensus is not to reply? Not sure. Befriend your local local local bike shop. Maybe you'll find some more info from them. That's how I find out about a lot of the secret trails in my area.

 

I’d guess there are people on the page with ties to the land owner/manager or the local bike organization. They don’t want the trail to get shut down.

The couple of times I heard of unmarked trails was when I used to ride dirt jumps and all the freeride guys used to keep their sketchy shit secret. I don’t think they would have mentioned them had I asked on Facebook. I do think the trails are marked now though

 

I have seen trails unmarked on apps like Trailforks, but marked when I come across them. I usually attributed that to it being hiking trails, or new trails. The fact this one has several videos out I was like, well it’s known, maybe it’s just too new for Trailforks to have it. But there are videos from 9 years ago of it.

just not sure how a trail, in the public land trust, is “illegal”? Yes, not just anybody can go out and start taking trees down and building trails, but this one has been around so long that guaranteed someone actually employed at Monte sano or in some group has heard about it and would have therefore closed it down if it was truly illegal.

 

That video was painful, lol. That trail crosses over bluffline potentially and is on the north side of the power line. Easiest way to find it would be to hike down the right side of the power line until you come across the trail coming in on your right.

 

I’ve been shown the start of it, starts on high trail, and yes crosses bluffline. Some guy private messaged me a pin to the start. Just don’t understand the hush hush about it...

 

for a trail not to show up on trailforks...there's actually multiple reasons. In short, trailforks can see if there's a new trail somewhere. But it might not be on there because it's being removed by people or someone has asked it to not show up for either legal or liability reasons. Also, if people are recording their rides on gps and syncing with strava or trailforks, it will show up eventually unless it's being explicitly told not to. I turno ff my GPS on certain sections of secret trails for that reason.

 

It’s probably they lack the will power to fight the bureaucracy. Back in the day, they were a lot more worried about folks breaking their neck out there. I’m pretty sure it could get approved with a little work.

 

Based off video alone, haven’t seen it in person, it’s not as bad as some other stuff I’ve seen on Monte sano.

 

I agree with you but I think those more difficult trails came much later when mountain bikers were already accepted as responsible trail users.