Let's See Some Softoppers

I'm looking at the Velcro as a last ditch option for mine.

Right now I have a set of 1" x 1/8" round rare earth magnets in my Amazon cart with the thought that I would make a panel with them in it.
On one side, I will use a rubberized material that I got from my aunt when she used to work at BestTop. It was used for the jeep tops somewhere.
Then sew this to a strip of the male Velcro with some pockets for the magnets to be dropped into and then the whole thing be sewn shut.

This contraption will easily Velcro to the bottom of the back panel and stick to the tail gate. Probably put some clear vinyl near the top of the tail gate as well to reduce scuffing of the paint during travel.

Additionally, I may try to incorporate a sew in weather stripping I have laying around into the lower edge that will compress slightly as the magnets pull the flap down to the tail gate and give a seal. We'll see how that goes.

 

Y'all are going through a lot trying to get the tailgate to seal. Sewing magnets and trying Velcro and all that.

Being totally mew to the softopper, I am curious what the reasoning is behind this.

On mine, I notice that the soft side of the Velcro is what is in contact with my tailgate it is overlaps quite a bit.

Does it flap in the wind? Or move around a lot causing scratches in the paint?

 

There is NO seal whatsoever with just the flap laying over the edge of the tailgate. When you drive on dusty roads, the dust is spun around and forced directly up and into that area. With some level of closing that area off, it can reduce the amount of dust that gets inside the bed of the truck. Of course we should also install the tailgate seals as well to shore up that as well. The rest of the Softopper is clamped down or covers tight enough to keep dust intrusion to a minimum anywhere else.

All that and some of us (me) like to just tinker with stuff. Improvement or not, it is something to do. Never know when something turns out to be a miracle or just a shit show.

 

That is something I did not think of. I live on a dirt road, so I will be experimenting too it sounds like.

 

Going above 45mph, it flaps pretty good. When it’s raining, it pulls that rain in. I’m trying to make it as waterproof as possible in my bed.
My next attempt will be sewing in rare earth magnets, probably 5, into the Velcro area. That’ll do the trick I’d bet.

 

Meh.

I have no Velcro or mags on mine. It flaps a little at xway speeds. If I'm on dirt or trails it doesn't flap at all because I'm going slow.

I've noticed no more dust intrusion than when I ran a rigid cap.

 

I've never noticed a lot of water pulled in when running in the rain. If it does, it runs down the inside of the tailgate. Nothing in the bed gets wet that I've noticed.

 

I did 1,100 miles in one day, with about 300 miles of that in the rain. It was wet in the bed. I do road trips as often as possible so it’ll help me. YMMV.

 

Not many rigid caps wouldn't have water in the bed after 300 miles either.

I consider any bed cap rain resistant at best,never water proof. I'm happy with that.

 

How much does a top costs I wish I had 1 thanx

 

Give or take $700.

Go to SoftTopper.com to get the exact price. They are only sold thru the manufacturer. Sure beats the $2k+ price if a rigid cap. In addition, the used softoppet market is hot. You will be lucky to get 1/3 the value out of a rigid cap.

 

Just noticed you are in Denver. That's where they are made. You should be able to score a deal.

 

I like my bed mat, water runs under it when it does come in from the edges.

 

You realize that you have a gen 1 Tacoma, and that the rear flap does not hang over the tailgate quite the same as the gen 3, especially compared to the gen 3 short bed. Also, your topper is narrower than both the gen 2 and gen 3 trucks, possibly leaving the rear flap a tad more pliable in the center on ours.

 

That looks so phucking good on a regular cab.

 

to anyone that has a messed up snap, the replacement kit and tools are awesome and arrived very quickly!

Softopper has amazing customer service!

https://www.softopper.com/accessories-parts/replacement-parts/snaps-caps-sockets-tool

 

Thanks!! I find myself doing the thing where you're walking away but turn around to look at it. Or just look out the window at the house.

I love it!

I think I am going to get the snaps for the front window. The previous owner had C-Clamps around the canvas and the bed rail, which works, but I am worried about how durable that will be in the long run.

Also experiment with the rear window. I am going to get my wife to follow me so she can see what it looks like at highway speeds.

Thanks for the link!

 

Thats exactly what I did, and put some magnets from Harbor Frieght on the velcro on the topper.

 

I've been doing that several times daily ever since I got my truck 3 years ago.

 

Velcro here.... just attached it to the tailgate like the instructions say to do, no issues lol