3rd Gen Softopper on 4th Gen Tacoma - No Go!!

It "works" but obviously I would wait to buy the new redesign for the actual truck. However, if you already have one for 3rd gen and want to save money... It's doable. I just bent the front tube at the elbows both up but hammering the elbow flatter and bending it back some.

 

I transferred my gen3 soft topper to my gen4 Tacoma, both long bed, and when installed level without any rubbing it hangs over the back by a couple inches. There's nothing available to replace it at the moment so I just tucked the flaps in under the crossbar. Looks a bit silly if you know what you're looking at. At highway speed it stays tucked without any issues. It's definitely not air or water tight, but will be fine for hauling and fair weather camping.
I think that modifying the top bar near the cab with a bend or curve in the center would allow for pushing it forward more. Might gain an inch.

 

This picture is exactly why I think the bestop from the 3rd gen would fit. Bestops front top edge doesnt go forward like the soft topper does, so it would allow the bestop to sit flush with the "spoiler" on the roof of the 4th gen.

 

I'd like to see that. From the side the spoiler doesn't actually extend past the end of the bed. A vertical topper at the end of the bed would work. The soft topper extends forward causing the issue.

 

This is the only picture I can find of my bestop, but you can see the huge gap at the top front on the 3rd gen, that gap would fit the spoiler very well. Infact I have often though of getting one of those terrible 3rd gen roof spoilers to fill that gap on mine.

 

Let's trade! I need to find someone near me with your topper and try it out. I don't like or hate the 4g spoiler, but it certainly is causing an issue.

Great looking truck, btw. I love the color and decals.

 

I modified mine by bending. It works, but not optimal. Been through multiple storms and two 12 hours highway drives zero issues..

I listed above about it.

 

If you were closer I would, my topper gets used for 3 months of the year for ice fishing season, the rest of the time it sits in the garage taking up space. A soft topper brand one would probably work better for my uses anyways.

 

Yup, I saw yours. I was trying to figure something out to keep the top level with the roofline. For now I'm sticking with the gap n tuck.

 

When I called Bestop I asked them specifically about this that from eyeballing it that it might fit. They went and talked to an engineer and came back and said the engineer said it does not fit and that they were informing the marketing department to stop listing the 2024 as compatible. Shortly after that call the 2024 Taco stopped being listed on their site.

That being said, I agree it looks like it would fit better. Maybe there is some other issue with it and why the engineer said it wouldn't fit. Maybe the change in the cab side of the bed.

 

If the 3rd gen fits the 4th gen then thats lost sales of new 4th gen ones, so they have a financial incentive to tell people it wont fit and they need to buy the new version. Im guessing it fits just fine, but probably not optimized to fit the best. After all, bestop sold the 2nd gen top for the 3rd gen for awhile before coming out with the new version with the updated design.

I would love to find someone local with a 4th gen long bed that would like to try it because it just looks so close to actually fitting. The only thing keeping the 3rd gen soft topper from fitting is the spoiler.

 

I just saw this ad. I can't tell if that's the 4th gen taco or a different brand of truck. It's got a spoiler. This topper brand doesn't have 2024 Tacoma as a selection. Though I bet a gen 3 version of this topper would fit.

*Looks like it's a Silverado. The spoiler isn't curved like the taco.

 

I'm working on a workaround. Just gotta make a few more adjustments.

 

Doesn't fit perfect, but it's good enough for me!

 

This looks great! Did you modify the canvas top at all? When will you be sending out kits? =)

 

It can't possibly fold being that close to the cab and all. Could it?

 

It absolutely does, zero issues. The bend goes away from the cab so its no issue at all.

 

Thanks no modifications to the canvas at all.

Hadn't thought of making kits. There's probably not enough Interest, especially when they update the softopper. I kinda just started with a basic idea and made adjustments as needed. Would definitely go a lot smoother now that I've done once..

 

Can you make a schematic and parts list? I'm interested in keeping my 3rd gen topper if your mod works just fine. I'm not a welder so if there's that kind of construction needed I might not be able to. If it's more of a bolt on mod then I'll give it a go.