Soft Cap Options

Other then soft topper, are there any other "soft cap" options I should look into? Alternatively any hard cap options that are lighter then the typical fiberglass cap? Thanks

 

I remain very happy with my Fast-Top decision. With one purchase I have any or all of an open bed, tonneau soft topper. I'm pretty sure I made a mini review here. This past weekend illustrated the beauty again. Trip home from the cabin after closing it for the season had a lot more stuff to carry. Fas-Top in topper mode carried it all and the Tacoma handled the heavy duty 1Up rack with 3 bikes just fine.

Pic 2 is maybe a little deceptive making the topper in folded mode look bigger than it is, and it is easy to take the whole topper part out or off if appropriate. Fas-Top also makes a compatible rack system.

Any quirks or bothers with the system are understood by me and worth it. The parent firm has made truck, ag and marine "canvas" stuff for decades. They make proven stuff but soft top solutions might not be for the perfectionist pavement pansy types. My feeling is a soft topper and soft tonneau need to be looked at as consumables.

My pickup bed looks a lot different 3 months later. It has done a whole lot of work.

 

IMO, Softopper is the best option out there currently. I've seen a small handful of other brands/styles and for me, none can beat the softopper.

 

Any clue on why my rails bend up when the topper is on? Brand new, but whenever I tighten the topper the rail bends up. The bolts are tight and I've even tightened them more to fix it and nothing has worked. Does your rail look like this/ is it normal?

 

Those bed rails are "different". What are they?

 

They're the rails fas-top sends that hookup to the stock rails for the tonneau cover/topper combo. 3 brackets on each side, spaced relatively evenly

 

I had a FasTop and it sat flush. I would think it has something to do with how they are bolted to the bed rails.

Take some pictures of where they bolt to your bed rail.

Here is my thread about my FasTop solo
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fas-top-solo-soft-topper.776993/

 

Here's all the photos of how the rails sit. Some aren't level since I last tried to fix the issue, as they were level beforehand but the issue persisted regardless, but other than that I tightened the bottom nuts first, then top.

 

It's definitely the brackets that are pushing the rails upwards.

Loosen the lower bolts then fully tighten the top bolts so the bracket is flat against the topper rail. Then pushing downwards on the topper rail tighten the lower bolts. It should take quite a bit of torque to get them to pull everything flush.

On mine I had the fabric removed when installing the rails so I could get them in position easier.

 

Do you have the brackets installed backwards or oriented wrong? It’s clear the bend in the brackets is pushing it up

 

Agreed. At minimum, loosen the lower bolt, that part of the bracket is slotted so you should be able to pull the bracket down and get it to sit at a better angle. But definitely double check the instructions to see if the bracket is right way up. Either way, that slot on the bracket looks to be your key to dialing in how the side rails sit, looks to be a lot of adjustability there.

 

Having owned several Wranglers, I agree. Soft tops need to be replaced every few years and they are rarely truly waterproof. Zippers are usually the 1st to go.

I still think a hard cap is better. A NEW fiberglass cap will cost about 2 1/2 times what a softtop costs, but it will last as long as the truck. You might need to replace the pistons after 10 years. If you don't go crazy with a lot of options a fiberglass cap for a small truck will weigh about 180 lbs. 200+ for a full size truck. That's about the same weight as having an average adult male in the truck with you.

If you keep your eyes and ears open, you can find USED caps for less than a soft top. And it doesn't need to be color matched. Two tone combos with complimentary colors are becoming quite popular.

I still have my Tacoma but bought this last week. I ordered a new black cap for it today. I'm going with this. They are pricy, but a basic fiberglass cap is around $3000 now. In the long run they will be cheaper.

https://www.na.rsismartcap.com/

 

I'll give it a shot, then post the (hopefully) successful results. Does anyone camp in their fas-top topper? I'm finishing my setup soon and just curious about anyone else
Thanks for the advice

 

Just in reference:
I installed the Softopper within a month of purchasing my 2021 Taco Sport.
My wife and I have taken two cross country camping trips with the Softopper installed (we tent camp, but the Softopper has saved the bacon when the winds picked up!)
The Softopper is in GREAT shape as of today when I washed out the truck bed. I do need to renew the seam sealant at the stow points for the side panels.
I leave the ST on year round. We get winter cold and snow, rain , ice and heat in summer.

Heck, I can still see out the the back window! (when it's clean)

Calling a soft top "replaced after a few years" is just lack of experience.

or,, perhaps you live in a sun beaten region of our nation without a decent car park.

Hmm..How many repacements of "Softoppers" can be had for the $3K that a hard top costs?

3? At say 5 years each (mine is going to pass that for sure)

Not sure how the "economy" works out, when I can remove the ST in 5 minutes BY MY SELF! and store it in the loft when needed.

Hard toppers are a tough sell for me

;-)

 

Agreed, from personal experience these do not need to be replaced every 3-5yrs. Maybe if you beat on it or something. And I'm coming from an area with insane amount of UV sunlight that just destroys everything. So far, mine has held up very well.