TopperEZLift

Looks like a very practicle and very convienent setup. Not sure what you are calling actuators; or, if they are bolted to the trucks frame or just the bed. As long as you know, whatever the actuator is, its strength is likely in compression you know what you need to know. Your example was good. A single 2x4 will hold ~!,550 lbs in compression. Your concern would be if air get under the topper and the topper thinks it's a sail.

It the actualors are bolted to the frame, and depending on their configuration, sounds like you know you have plenty of strength in tension. Where you would need to be watchful is lateral gusts blowing horizontal and side to side (shear force) or horizontal and from angles that would want to rotate the topper(torsion). Like you said, when the gusts start rocking the truck, and you can easily and quickly lower the topper. I'm sure you'll be fine

Life is too short to worry about what might happen. You've prepared and have a plan which includes reasonable precautions. Enjoy some time under the stars!

 

They get bolted to the bed with a bracket to the channel rail for stability and another to connect to the shell. Diameter of the rod is where the weak point is for strength in shear.

 

Hey OP, how did you do the velcro for the back (cab side)? Also curious about the sides. There’s not much space between the bed rails to place velcro.

I’m thinking of dropping the rails an inch to accommodate but open to any suggestions.

 

I was worried about the same thing since my camper shell has a lip on it that covers the bed down to the rails. I sent TopperEZlift a DM with photos on their Instagram account. They assured me I didn’t need to move the rails and to just place the Velcro strips on the available space. I did it and sure enough it worked. On the back cab side I didn’t have any space on the truck bed for the Velcro strip. When the ARE dealer installed the shell they added a bubble seal to the truck bed and I stuck the Velcro strip on there. Works just fine.

 

Thanks. Yeah same issue my ARE Z series has a lip on the inside. Problem is the cap won’t sit flush when the tent is attached and the cap is lowered again. I want to avoid damaging the tent if I wanted to pick up camp and drive to a new spot without undoing everything.

Also good looks on the bubble seal. I might give that a go. Also saw some people use pipe insulation to bridge that weird gap in the 2nd gen cab side bed rail.

 

Hi, would any lift owners want to share a picture of the nameplate of the actuators? I want to source a longer actuator.