Shop Time w/T.W. Friends

It was you can see the wings are moving !!

I carry dead birds by the feet with the head hanging down or where the head was.

 

Ouch! Harsh!

 

That is what my wife does too, time it right and the meat almost falls off the bones.

 

Not for much longer...

 

@six5crèéd and any others with experience

What is yalls opinion on a cab height camper cover? Pros and cons, considerations etc...

I currently have a fold up hard cover tonneau that works great, just doesn't give me much room for camping gear/ice chests and even just our double stroller folded up takes up half the space. For future trips with all 4 of us and everyone's things we will need more space. We're going to see how much we can load up my wife's VW Atlas but eventually as we have more outdoor toys and everything it won't be big enough on its own.

Anyway it's come to me considering selling the tonneau cover and getting a camper cover like Shane's, I just have to consider what tasks will be no longer doable with the cover on because it's my only truck and I don't want to be taking a cover on and off. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

 

A cover is awesome when you need it -- p-i-a when you don't.
If you have a garage you can rig a block and tackle to pick it off pretty quick and easy, just leave it hanging when you need the open bed.

 

No garage unfortunately, I'd pretty much consider it permanently on because I'd also probably try to seal it up with rtv where it may leak, making it even more of a PITA to remove. Most of what I haul would still fit under a camper, but if you're hauling lumber is it an option to just have the glass open and tailgate closed? I didn't know if it was safe to drive it that way or not.

 

I took mine off and on numerous times...we about dropped it a couple times. I wont take it off again.

 

soft Topper. I'll never be without one. Mine is 5 years old and is just fine living outside every day of the year.

 

I've thought about it, and while it seems perfectly viable and useful I just like the idea of a hard shell better. Plus part of the long term plan will be roof top storage, and I know there are bed racks to use with softoppers but I'm just thinking hard top fits the bill better at the moment. This decision is a way off for me so I'm still looking at options, so thanks.

 

No worries.

I've had rigid caps on all my previous trucks. I'm not going back.

In addition, I won't be blowing a grape taking the Soft Topper off on the occasional times I remove it. They are light AF.

 

Just pull the window down against the lumber and use a bungee cord to hold it in place. As long as the window is held secure and doesn't bang around it is fine.

 

The one I had years ago was aluminum with the middle jalousie windows and smoked bubbles on each side of them. It wasn't heavy but awkward to move. It was on a 8 foot bed Jeep J 10 pick-up. Bet many here didn't know Jeep made full size pick ups.

 

--<Topper club for life. The benefits far exceed the drawbacks. For one, "no sorry buddy I cant help you move houses/fridges/couches again for the 3rd time this year my topper is siliconed to the trim to be water tight and can't come off.
We all know somebody we could borrow a trailer off of in the event of needing one right...

Plus, I've got a 6 ft bed that never has to be made...I've slept in worse places.

 

If it's bolted to the factory mounts that the aluminum crash bar bolt to, they're known to bend on 2nd gens, so I'm sure they're no stronger. A typical solution is to weld 3/16" plates onto the factory mounts and replace the studs with grade 8 bolts welded to the back of the factory mount.

Plan for me is to go to my parents' house. My brothers and nieces and nephew will be there also. My parents will take care of the cooking, and the turkey will be done win the oven. Unless they do something they've never done.

 

I had a tonneau cover for ~3 months before I came across the deal on my shell (Leer 100XQ). It functioned well enough to keep stuff out of sight and out of the elements but I was somewhat limited in what I could carry in the bed. The shell is far more useful for my purposes and it's not so heavy that I can't take it off if needed.

 

I bought some Diode Dynamic Amber fogs awhile back and havent fiddled with them until now.

The videos online make the mounting look so simple. Of course my model 12-15 is the only model I cant find specific tutorials for and the mounting harness looks totally different from the 05-11 bracket from what I can tell. I'm really hoping I didnt get sent an 05-11 model that does not work.

 

I like the hard shell on my access cab because I can keep stuff in it long term and not worry about the elements...other than dust. Have a basket on top and have hauled stuff up there a couple of times. Like mentioned I think it would work fine to leave the back window open to haul lumber if secured.
I wouldn't want to remove it ever. I picked up a decent trailer years ago to haul anything larger. I imagine a trailer could be rented cheap if you didn't want to store it.
I sleep comfortably under the shell. Throw my tool tote on the ground when at destination.

 

I drove 2 hours to go buy a 4runner this afternoon. Yeah a vehicle I needed like another hole in my head. It looks squatty in the back but there's a transmission and transfer case in there, he threw that in, said if he recall 4th gear was out of it.
Rock solid underneath its been in Arizona most of its life.