2019 TRD sport topper/cap ideas.

Hello all,
I'm thinking of swapping out factory 3 piece tonneau cover
for a fiberglass topper cap. I live in the northern US where we have snow 5 months a year.
A family of 4 plus a dog and a small garage. Full size PU wont fit.

I'm interested in your thoughts about cab height vs mid height (mid is 4 inches taller).
I need covered storage for weekends up to the cabin. Hunting weekends and one or two
family camping trips.

I'm considering A.R.E. MX or CX Evolve. I may purchase a Nomad pickup box tent attachment.
Covid may keep me out of hunting shack with buddies for sleep. Mine is a DCSB.

ARE sells toppers with the OTR option. "Durable flat black rough surface finish". Maybe a
little spray in bedliner style???

I have cab factory flat black roof rails, which may make mid height flat black topper look
good.

 

I think the mid-rise is probably more useful, but I just like the look of the cab height better. I usually end up with LEER, but only because I like the local dealer better than ARE. Bought a used ARE for my last truck, no complaints. Their OTR coating does look interesting though...

Mike

 

If I didn't have the cab top rails I would probably get a regular topper. Not sure it would look right on mine as is. The OTR coating is over $400, i'm not sure its worth it. I think it would look neat maybe???
The matching paint always looks good.

 

Totally get that - I also have the factory roof rack on my new truck. Planning to add a roof rack when I get a topper for it. I wonder if the OTR coating would get difficult to clean (because it’s a rough surface, will it hold dirt)? Not having to wax it would be a plus though...

 

Nice looking truck. I think the OTR finish would be easy to clean, things like water spots probably wont show. I am just thinking it might be better than just a close
paint match. I don't like the idea of an additional $4?? to do it however.

 

I have the CX. If I were to buy again, I'd get the MX. The extra roof would be nice. Not a deal breaker though.

 

I bought the CX Evolve as I liked that look and was cutting it close on garage height and didn’t want to push it with the MX. I like the look of the flush with the roof line look and wasn’t a big fan of the tiny glass on the upper/top of the MX.

One thing for me is it seems like it’s taking forever for it to arrive. Ordered on 6/28/2020 was supposed to arrive 8/5/2020 then was supposed to be 8/22/2020 now its 9/5/2020.

 

Another consideration is resale value. I would imagine the OTR option would raise that. Flat textured black goes ok with any paint color while Midnight Black metallic
pretty much is its own distinct paint color.

 

I love my LEER XR 100. It is around $2k depending in your options but LEER is always running some kind of deal. Color matched perfectly. Life time warranty on construction and paint! Cant beat that. It is heavy but what fiberglass top isnt. Definitely love the cab height look. Hope this helps

 

I like Leer but around here they are $400-$500 more than ARE.
I spoke with a dealer who sold both "Leer uses more resin, are heavier than ARE, but ARE uses
more fiberglass and is lighter and stronger. His words.

 

When it comes to brand, I don't really think there's that much of a difference between any of them that you should stress about which one to get. Cab vs mid rise though, that I understand. It definitely changes the silhouette of the truck which can be intimidating if you're concerned about looks.

Personally, I love the extra room of the mid rise topper. The wife and I road trip/overland and sleep in the back of the truck all the time. I went with ARE MX simply because of a sale that my local dealer was having. Luckily, I don't mind the look of it either. Here's what it looks like on a black DCLB for reference.

 

Great pictures!
So mine is a short box 5ft.
Does the LEER 180 in that size come with sliding WINDOORS?
How about ARE MX? Sliding WINDOORS available?

 

I think for the ARE website you can do a build option and it looks like they have several styles of windows available.

 

I'm pretty sure that ARE had windoors for an option. Whether they were sliding or not, I'm not positive, but I would guess so. As the previous post mentions, I'm pretty sure that the websites let you build out a potential topper and let you know what the options are.

 

Spoke to an ARE dealer, no sliding/vented side windoors in MX for shortbox.
Leer dealer is checking with leer about 180 with sliding windoors for shortbox tacoma. He said they are slow to respond to emails. Ill post ASAP.

 

Ah, shortbox. I didn't take that into account.

 

Yea, that is the kicker.
Thinking about ARE MX with regular slide with screen on one side and
flip up windoor on other side. What do you think?
Painted black to match cab or OTR line-X textured flat black?

 

Currently, mine is painted black to match, and it actually matches quite well. That being said... I think I would have liked the flat black look a little more. I think I would appreciate how a slight variation in color/texture looks. Previous to my ARE MX, which I got about 3 months ago, I had an old sliver topper from a 2001 Chevy S10 that I retrofitted onto my Tacoma. I really liked the look of the silver on black, but I chickened out when I ordered the new MX and went with a direct color match instead.

 

I went with cab high for two reasons.
1) With a Yakima rack on the cap, a middy wouldn't fit in my garage.
2) I also have two Yakima cross bars on the cab (total of 4 crossbars on the truck). While all four are not perfectly level with each other, they are close enough to be usable. With a middy, they would not be close enough in height to be usable. Right now I can carry 16 foot, 5/4 inch deck flooring strapped down to all four crossbars. With a middy, I would not be able to do that.

If these two considerations were not an issue for me, then I would have gone with the middy, as that would have given me more headroom when camping out of the back of the truck.

Notice that no where did I mention aesthetics. For me, function is far more important than looks.

 

I really like cab height, gives it a cleaner 'unit' look, especially colour matched.
(picked it twice);





If I planned on sleeping back there I might go for mid rise- more room for activities..
but ours is for keeping gear, Doggo, tools, and everything else -safe, sound, and secured.

Also main load we carry on the Prinsu is our canoe, and with it's rocker a mid rise wouldn't work;