Why plano cases on roof?

Perspective is a wonderful thing.

 

Funny thing is I cleared the entry tester

whats a mall crawl without battle scars

Contact pinched the lid to the body. Popped it back out. Sun heat should help it get back into shape.



Who knew the Tacoma is a small truck when you actually start using it. With about the smallest bed you can get on any truck.

honestly cheap HFT is the best case scenario. Rather that than expensive trailer or Roam case.

 

is there a method to the madness?

Current setup is 2 apache cases

looks like everyone does it different
saw a truck with 3, one in the center. Looks good. Probably harder to reach that one.

I see them on the sides. But that can stick out to hit a wall.
Cab rack flat, I can put whatever. Sides vertically, not so much. It would fall.

Is there any difference to move boxes to bed rack?
Farther back, don't know if it:
-looks better
-easier access
-more aerodynamic
(probably not...)

trying to juggle and determine a good "real estate space" layout of everything
boxes, shovel, axe
right now it looks like I consulted a 5yo to throw everything on there or design the setup on microsoft paint

hi lift is on the bumper hoop which is low weight placement and accessible, but kind of ugly

Don't know if shovel and axe could fit into a 3rd box, but that's $$$, may not work, and could waste space
+rattling around
right now my 2 boxes are basically laid out into
1. is anything vehicular related. Recovery equipment, spare CV, tools, etc.
2. is anything camping related
I forget which is which so maybe I'll come up with a label...
Actually began to run out of room in the camping box because, well, camping stuff is bulky. For example a camping chair
3 boxes could look slick and even
instead of 2 looking like humps with a gap in between like some kind of dinosaur head

 

The thing about putting "rooftop" boxes onto a bed rack, is that there's a lot of easier ways to get locking storage incorporated into the bed area. There are bolt-in toolbox options that sit on top of the bed, or that bolt into the bed itself and fit under a tonneau cover, or there's just the option to put a hard tonneau cover on and turn the whole bed into a kind of locking box. There are even options to add racks onto the top of a tonneau which can then be used to carry a lot of the things that would be carried on the roof rack of a car (skis, surfboards, kayaks, snowboards).

It might even be possible to mount a RTT onto the back of a sufficiently strong (or reinforced) hard tonneau, but that'll likely make getting stuff into the bed more diffucult unless you go with something like a "Decked" drawer system (or build one yourself out of plywood if you've got the tools/skills to do it).

Since you really don't need the shovel/axe unless you're hitting a trail, and they're very easy to handle and hang up in the garage, it's just as easy to mount/lash them to the hi-lift if you're looking to either free up a little bit of space on a roof rack or to eliminate the need for a roof rack by moving certain kinds of gear to a bed rack.

 

the truck has a shell and a bed to sleep in
truck stuff stays on the truck, like axe and shovel
don't exactly have a garage. That costs a lot more than a used old vehicle, plastic harbor freight case, or a shovel.

 

If you have a shell, then why even bring up the idea of a bed rack?

Another option to mount the axe/shovel would be to put some quick-fist straps onto the rails along the side of the bed, there's a few different options for track-nuts which can be slid into the track for mounting single-bolt items like eyebolts or quick-fists onto those rails. There are also options for hanging your hi-lift from those rails, or to do it the hard way it's possible to mount the Hi-lift brand stand-off brackets onto the side of the bed like I did; once the hi-lift is mounted in there, I've used bungee tarp toggles to strap a shovel onto the hi-lift with good results, and there's no reason an axe wouldn't go along with it (I just carry a tomahawk rather than a full sized axe, since the rear spike can be used like a logger's pick to drag a downed log).

Axe and shovel are small enough that you could also store them in a closet if you don't have a garage Depending on where you're located in So Cal (and definitely if you have any reason to travel to the Bay Area), keeping an axe stowed outside of the truck seems like it's just leaving the necessary tool out for the junkie who's thinking about breaking into your cab to snatch something that'll pay for their next fix...

 

Shell has a rack
things go outside the bed not inside that’s for sleep and why outside is mountable. But thanks.

nope less crackheads here than CA HQ
if they figure out how to pick a lock for a useless to them cheap tool no problem, insurance.
Hope they figure out how to crack the immo while they’re at it.

 

So whats inside the camper shell look like? Just nothing and reserved for sleep? Or a bed platform/drawers? You can keep the camper shell for sleeping and still mount shovel/axe on the bed rails, or underneath a bed platform. Thats probably a much more reasonable solution than having them clanging around inside a 3rd box on the roof.

I still find it comical this thread went from "why do people do this" to "I did this x3, and then crashed it into a parking deck."

 

The main issue I'd see with mounting "rifle" boxes on the sides of a rack would be that you'd then need to do something to stop your gear from just falling out when the lid is open. Even if you mount them hinge-side down, stuff will fall onto the open lid and you'll have to hold that up with one hand (or add a pair of lanyards on the sides of the lid, which is extra holes in the box which need to be sealed up) while you find what you're after; an alternative would be to use the pluck-foam that comes with most of those boxes to fit each bit of gear into its own pocket, but that'll dramatically reduce the useful capacity, or it should be possible to mount a bungee net into the box (again more holes to seal up) to retain gear that's not smaller than the mesh of the net. If you're talking about mounting the boxes onto the roof of the topper as opposed to the roof of the cab, I don't see how that'll buy you more than a couple of inches in height differential (compared to most off-road bed racks, where rifle boxes mounted on the top would probably still be below the roof line of the cab itself). If there's no issues with clearing relatively low garages (the main one that causes issues for me in my "trail rig" is the 6'8" clearance at Mandalay Bay in Vegas), I'd probably put a case or two on the roof of the cab and a gear basket on the roof of the shell.

If you're handy enough with tools, there's frequently a number of ways to make something workable, but at some point it gets to be worth considering whether what you're trying to do will ultimately be useful.

If you're looking for a use for the sides of your shell, mount traction boards on one side (those will often be too dirty to put back inside after they're used. If there's a rack on the outside of your bed, mounting the Hi-lift there might be a more accessible location when you need it, also there shouldn't be many things easier than mounting some quick-fists onto the rack to hold your axe and shovel. Or work out some way to mount some kind of water storage on there (a 6 foot length of 3" pipe will hold 2 gallons, but it's going to be hot at the end of a day if you use black pipe, PVC might be a better option unless it's going to be a camp shower).

I have one rifle case on my roof (again for stuff that's not fragile and not frequently needed like jumper cables, tire chains, etc.), but I still built a plywood storage/sleeping unit into the bed with a flat top that's flush to the wheel wells similar to a Decked unit but at about 1/3 the price (since I already have a cabinet shop worth of tools in the garage). This gives me about 3-4 more cases worth of lockable (via hasps and padlocks) storage in the back of the truck where I can keep tools/recovery gear and a camp kitchen (I even have a couple of different options for strapping a propane tank in there), as well as a flat surface to sleep on (it does get a little bit sung under my soft topper, but it's workable) and also when I need it the deck fills in the space between the wheel wells for hauling full 4x8 sheets of plywood/drywall/whatever. I've never had any issues with the Hi-lift along the bed rail causing trouble when I'm sleeping in the back

 

Could you repeat that?

 

He writes the same amount of info as @TacoTuesday1

 

Maverick bed is smaller now

 

Or the Subaru Santa Cruz.

 

Macericks not a truck though

 

These days anything with a bed is calling itself a truck, regardless of bed size, frame type, or suspension.

 

Neither is Santa Cruz

 

Ill admit the Ridgeline dual opening tailgate is cool. But thats it

 

Perzactly

 

my 2003 Subaru Baja is a truck, its in the truck section of the books at the auto parts stores. and I know some states require you to plate them and pay truck plate prices.

 

There’s a long list of car chassis mutated into trucks. It’s a useful idea. I imagine some of them at some point had shit strapped to the roof.