Let's See Some Softoppers

I read that the softopper for a 3rd gen also works on the 2nd gen. That is great news so I can switch between both of my trucks. It will be great to find a used one but I'm considering buy new.

 

It does. And vice versa. They're just different heights. 2nd gen topper is taller, 3rd gen shorter.

 

That works for me, I'm in Germany and I used frequently the underground park garage that my trucks barely fit.

 

Just got my new 2nd gen soft topper installed on my truck

 

Added a 3rd brake light - mounted to the last bar of the topper. Wire loomed it and used some extra waterproof plugs from all my projector retrofits in the past

Also mounted my Yakima’s.

 

I've been hunting for a used topper for a while and finally pulled the trigger. Super stoked! I'm not sure when mine was manufactured, but it's got the more recent logo stitched on to it. I did notice that the bed rails seem to be different?

I haven't seen any on here that are angle aluminum instead of the full square tube. Even going back to the first posts in this thread. Can anyone shine some light on this? I'm thinking I'll just re-engineer them out of steel square tube once the weather warms up, I've got some pretty serious bending going on with the topper on.

 

Any chance you could post a few more pics or a few more details? Need to do something like this for mine but have been putting it off. Thanks in advance if you can!

 

I haven’t seen that either, and my guess is that a previous owner must have retrofitted the topper with that. You also look like you’re missing the rear bar brackets. Do you have them but just haven’t added them to the rails? You may be able to reach out to Softopper and see if they would sell you the parts.

 

I have the plastic brackets, they just weren’t attached yet. I don’t know if it’s retrofitted.. it’s got all the right cutouts and various mounts for the softtopper parts and was clearly professionally machined. Even the bracket with the pins is clearly produced for this shape. Strange.

 

What light and brackets did you use for this?

 

The light I ordered:

Partsam 1PC Red 15" 11 LED Light Bar Stop Turn Tail 3rd Brake Light Truck Trailer Identification ID Bar Waterproof

$13 Partsam 1PC Red 15" 11 LED Light Bar Stop Turn Tail 3rd Brake Light Truck Trailer Identification ID Bar Waterproof DOT Compliant

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013SLZDDQ


Brackets were made with 1” u bolts, and an aluminum bar that I bent, and drilled to fit. I decided to do it this way so the LED light lasts longer (says waterproof but come on…it’s cheap lol), and so when I swap from vinyl backing to the mesh screen it’s still an easy swap. I’ve seen guys mount the light to the back window and didn’t want to deal with
a) adhesive backing and hoping it holds
b) siliconing/screw the cheap light that god knows how long will last and
c) adding holes into the back window

The pics are pretty self explanatory. I pulled the waterproofing plug out from the taillight cavity for the pic - but it usually resides in there. I can always disconnect it whenever I need to remove the topper.
Hope this helps and was worthy enough








Edit: I tapped into the taillight harness - didn’t use those cheap T-taps either

 

Does this still allow for the topper to fold up?

Does the brake light, when lit up, limit the view through the back? Such as reflect off the plastic or light up the bed area in a way that you can’t see through the back window pane in your rear view mirror?

 

Two of the reasons I went with the light strip under the tailgate instead.

It also just plugs into the trailer harness (very easy).
It fulfills the 3rd brake light requirement in addition to giving me much enhanced turn signal visibility.

 

Not sure. Haven’t drove my truck at night since the install

 

I wish I had thought of that!!! I mounted an led strip just above the softopper window.

 

My rear window is 5% over the factory stuff. But it’s still clear for me

As for the folding - you’ll prolly have to remove the ubolts and unplug the harness (which is fast).
For my application, I either have the softtopper in, or out. Never folded. So this application just suits what I needed.

If you need it to fold I’m sure you can come up with a different clamping method so it’s easy to unplug and remove - then just fold the topper…maybe something with a wingnut? That’s super fast

 

Shoot I forgot to mention, I’m reversed right up, like seriously right up to my garage wall. So it’s also reflecting back quite a bit lol

@hxp05560

 

Not bad at all! I’ve been kicking around adding a 3rd brake light. The only reason I haven’t considered the tailgate led strips is I would like to have it up higher, towards the top of the topper. That way other cars, 2 or 3 back, can also see it when I’m braking.

 

I feel ya.
I considered under the tailgate but I just wasn’t sure how long those things last..I see a few around town and some are showing wear. Also, I didn’t want to run into an issue for my yearly safety check

 

My under the tg light is five years old and working well. Not had any issues yet.
I don't have state inspection requirements.

If I did, I would just fold down the topper on the day of the insp.