Let's see those Alu-cab setups

Yea I called the company, only one in Colorado that is a dealer and installs. They said hopefully early August but delays can happen.

I have the factory tonneau cover, it came with the truck. I also have some bed stiffeners I need to install. Dust isn't really a concern for me, I plan on throwing dirty stuff in the bed anyway.

My bed rack and tent are on now so that needs to come off. My bed rails will need to get swapped to some uncut ones also. It sounds like install will take care of wiring.

I don't think there is much else to prep.

I have a trip planned for the first week of September so I'm seriously hoping it gets here by then. I already paid the full price for materials, shell, bars, and mounting feet. Haven't paid for install yet mainly because idk if they will have a slot open between it getting here and my trip.

 

Congrats on your selection! Realistically, I don’t plan to keep much in the back that would attract a lot of interest. I might revisit this a little bit down the road, depending upon if that changes or not. Thanks for the link!

Congrats! I would have gone with self install if I knew I had another friend that could come down during a weekday to come pick it up. The place I purchased it through in Washington is not open on the weekends for some reason.

I would say that prepping the top of the bed rails is dummy simple. Even I managed this one. LOL. The caps pop off with a little force. I then wiped down the surface a bit to clean it up. Then I ran some Nashua Aqua Tape (thin black rubber-type tape). I then used a pencil to make small pilot holes that were just big enough for the plastic tabs to seal around. Besides the holes on top of the rails, there are two large rectangular holes on the inside of the bed, facing the interior, that are located next to the tailgate. I sealed those up too. But that’s about it.

I did attempt to seal up the leading bedside to bulkhead gaps with butyl tape. Ultimately, this interfered with installation and was removed/replaced with their sealant. It would be easy enough to fill whatever voids are left over post installation I would believe. I just wanted to focus on items that would be difficult to revisit once the canopy was installed. So far so good.

One other thing. If you plan on traveling in cold snowy/freezing climates, pick up the optional silicone covers ($12/cover).

 

Taking the bed side caps off doesn't seem too difficult. I'll try that myself since I have to remove the tonneau cover clip bolt things anyway.
Those pictures are very helpful too, thanks

 

definitely recommend getting the brake light t harness offered by a TW member so you do not need to cut into the factory wiring. I just wired mine up the other night. I plan on adding a weather pack in the bed for whenever I take my canopy off. https://fbchs.square.site/product/t...true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=6

 

Was the one that came with the tent. I'm unsure of the manufacturer, but I can take a look. It's surprisingly robust.

 

That looks like a great way to install! Would the other way cause problems if you wanted to take it off?

 

No issues at all! You’ll have to install some sort of quick disconnect (like spade connectors or Weather pack) or splice the wires again no matter what you do when you remove it and plan on reinstalling. The T harness just keeps your factory wires intact.

 

Anyone with explorer or contour canopies in this thread have cargo boxes on the roof using the alu-cab load brackets?

Mine are spaced pretty far apart (58" - basically as far forward and rearward as you can go) to only have to use two brackets to hold my ARB awning up. I can probably get them closer to 50" if needed.

But I'd like to get a big cargo box for the roof for an upcoming trip. Can't really determine how people are mounting these other than just drilling through the boxes, using some fender washers and nuts).

Also, recommendations if anyone has anything other than the typical Roam, Pelican, etc cases. This will be a one time per year use item, so I'd prefer not to spend $400 on a case

 

still expensive like the pelican crowd, but aluminum boxes, like Alu box, are much lighter which i like for minimizing up top weight - but all is relative i suppose. maybe you have already considered, but figured throw it in the mix in case you hadnt

 

Got a sirocco fan to install in the bed area. I wanna rivet it in like the light up here but can’t find concrete evidence if it’s double walled or not. Hoping someone here has experience before I start drilling. Planning on using my magnetic cable routing tool from my mountain bike to help run the wires to the side like the light is. Any input helps thanks in advance

 

I don't have any input, but please relay back what you find out about the ceiling/roof of the tent. I haven't punctured mine yet, but it would be nice to know how it is constructed.

 

Hate to be the first one haha. Im deep in google currently praying for an answer

 

I haven't been able to find one yet myself.

 

the weight thing up top doesn’t matter to me, it’s going to be one long 4ft box which I haven’t seen in aluminum. Haven’t really looked though. Just trying to throw some stuff up there I’ll hopefully never use. Axles, fluids, some tools. Won’t be more than 60lbs probably plus the box.

 

This was the best that I could come up with, given my criteria, which aren't quite the same as yours.

Pelican Roof Box by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Pelican Roof Box by Michael Rickerd, on Flickr

Drilled through the bottom and bolted to the extrusion channel in my roof rack.

The box was expensive (Zarges/etc. were prohibitively expensive at this size), it isn't as large as it could be, but it's what the market had to offer.

I use mine daily while camping and I like it. Weathertight and relatively easy to access.

 

Ya this would be a little easier with a roof rack. But just with two load bars I'm stuck with very very few options.

They are currently 58" apart, which are setup that way to provide my awning with maximum support using two brackets... I could add another set of load bars and then I could get a smaller box. Or I could move my existing load bars closer together somewhat (maybe to 48" apart). Always something...sigh.

 

Yeah, I recall reading that earlier.

Are you using a 270 degree awning? Or a square awning with support poles?

If the latter, I wouldn't hesitate to bring the load bars in so that you can mount a box.

If you have a 270 degree, like a Shadow Awn, I would definitely keep them as near the ends as possible.

 

It's just a square 8ft ARB touring awning with the aluminum hard case. It's about 40lbs or so. The brackets are standard L brackets with gussets. As you can see in this pic, there's already a good 3' unsupported in front of the front load bar, that's probably the one I would move rearward. I don't see or feel any sag with this setup currently. I'm not concerned about support when deployed, it's more support while driving and over bumps. It does not stay on the truck full time, only for trips.

 

$35 Plano Storage Trunk - 108 Quart w/ Wheels (1819) - Hunter Green

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TY4AMZQ?ie=UTF8&th=1
i got one of these for like $25 last year. it went on sale again not too long ago. for the price it works. i wouldn't be afraid of drilling through it either. others have added weather stripping to keep water out.

 

Ya I'm not opposed to one of those cheap Plano cases, but they are too short. Needs to be about 50" internal to work, leaves me with about 2-3 options that I can find.