Torn between keeping or selling

Hey guys! Looking for opinions. Have a 2019 short-bed that currently has a paint-matched Cement ARE topper on it with roof rails and Yakima cross bars. It isn't the heavy commercial one with the higher top load rating but the one below with the lockable solid panels and aluminum frame inside. Nothing wrong with it, been great, looks great, keeps everything dry and the truck came with a bed rug which I pulled out so I didn't destroy it moving things in and out or the bed. I am considering pulling the cross bars and getting a topper prinsu rack to match the one over the cab I have for the larger platform area. However, I can't mount a RTT or any really heavy weight on it (200lb limit from what I have read and since it is a short bed, don't fit it in length wise if I wanted to camp out in it with my girl and/or my son without figuring out something to close off the opening with the tailgate down and panel flipped up.

I had the opportunity to pick up a tacomapocolypse mid-height rack that is currently sitting in my living room that just needs a little touchup paintwork and would allow me to run a RTT or wedge tent that will work for the three of us to utilize on trips as well as gear. However, I would lose the enclosed storage space that I currently have with the topper and the security that comes with it for securing my gear, spare and what not since I don't have a garage currently to store stuff in on a daily basis and would have the tent or wedge on 24/7 until I do have one to pull it off between trips. (She will not tolerate the tent and my gear in the living room too!)

If you had a choice, which way would you go? Thanks!

 

Man that's tough. What's your priority? Daily use or camping? I couldn't live without the lockable storage and weatherproofing a shell gives me, especially with 2 kids. I got a wedge camper so best of both worlds.

I would try to drive a week as the truck is and just pretend like you can't put anything in the back of the truck that could get wet/stolen. See how that impacts you.

 

https://www.topperezlift.com/ Maybe? I’d like to try this….

 

I came across that a while back but didn't really look into it. Interesting. Might be needing a second look.

 

isn't the 200 lbs the dynamic load limit, so 200 lbs max when you're driving around. those shells should hold up to like 500-700 lbs when its parked and not moving?

im moving from a rack to a shell for the security and storage, so kind of the opposite.

or you could look into racks that work with tonneau covers if that would give you enough space.

there are also some new racks that have sides on them that provide some sort of security, but not weather proofing

 

If you have access to a friends place, store it
You’ll never get what you paid, what it’s worth, or find the same for the current price off *free since you have it*

the topper is just better than the racks that are trending right now. They limit space, don’t provide security and are mall crawler pieces unless you use them for what they’re made for every week

 

I couldn't get a straight answer from ARE about the full capability. They said 200 was the max limit regardless of max or dynamic. Kind of vague but they probably don't want to be on the hook for it. Nothing that I could really find on their website when I was searching around awhile back.

 

This doesn’t make sense. For what it’s worth, I had an RTT on my ARE Z Series fiberglass shell, which has no reinforcements, and zero issues. Used it for a few years before selling both the RTT and then the shell because I wanted to keep things light and simple, so I didn’t test long term durability, but 20K miles with a lot of dirt and no problems.

 

I thought that the top rating would be higher as well but don't want to find out the expensive way by throwing a RTT up there and climbing up with me, my girl or my son lol