Let's See Some Softoppers

I have a 2nd gen topper I bought for cheap and just got a 3rd gen rear window and curved bar. Fits the same as a whole 3rd gen. Even the 2nd gen rear window fit OK. Not sure about the whole business about 2nd gens being tall.

 

Yep same experience here. I had nothing back there for a while and any sort of cross wind the flap would go crazy and let water, dust, whatever else in. Magnets don't let it move at all!

 

Woah, i'm sorry y'all had that experience. I ordered this rack in late summer/early fall of 2019, and he rushed to get it to me on time as I had a short time frame + the fires in CA made him lose electric for a bit. He did tell me that he only has like 3 folks total (including himself) who work there. I know he had a baby + some other stuff going on awhile back, which isn't 100% excusable, but shit happens with tiny operations. Nonetheless, he missed out on good business, but my experience was great and i'm assuming he has come a long way since a few years ago. Business growing pains are rough.
If you still need a rack, definitely reach out to him. I'm guessing he doesn't have online ordering available because he wants to speak to you first and make sure the configuration will work for what you want. When we chatted, he was very knowledgable, patient, and thorough with information and options. He probably doesn't want to deal with returns because of user error regarding what they purchased, which I understand for a small operation.
I anticipate purchasing Dissent's cab rack shortly, along with the RTT load bars. Seriously, if you use a Smittybilt RTT + the dissent rack, its a pain in the ass to install. Not at any fault of Bens (dissent), but I think Smittybilt doesnt have a "standard" configuration. I ended up reinforcing the tent further to the rack, but adding the load bars should make the process 10 time easier.

 

I won't disagree at all.

I have a 2nd Gen Tundra with a STopper. I think it looks okay. M

buddy wanted to test fit it in his F150. It looked like it was meant for that truck.

Both trucks call for the same Soft Topper part number.

I'm okay with the imperfect fit. The ST still does everything I hoped for. I still get many peeps asking about the "cool canvas" bed cover.

 

I unfortunately don't have a write up. But I think theres another person that created a thread for a 2nd gen. I'll try to find it.

 

Found it. Hope this helps.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/softopper-third-brake-write-up.620224/#post-21124899

Also, https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...d-brake-light-solutions.643211/#post-22335373

 

thanks a ton. Very much appreciated.

 

Love my Softopper but really thinking about getting rid of it. Last month rear window gets slashed and last night someone decides to unvelcro and unbutton the front a bit, even though I leave the rear flap wide open on purpose when I park. Smh

 

Keep an eye on that as temp rise for summer, Randy. I had the same thing but the summer heat melted the adhesive between the hook and magnets and they slid down and separated. Then I had adhesive goop strips on the top edge of my tailgate. PITA. I eventually used neo magnets sewn into a small envelope out of some leftover canvas material I had and sewed the hook material to that. This hasn't failed me yet and is the strongest solution I've come up with.

 

Ugh, thats so frustrating. The only positive is that rear window replacement isn't too costly with Softopper, but it still sucks when people are assholes. When I owned a wrangler people did the same, my best friend had her window & top slashed multiple times in hers. Especially considering they could just unzip the softopper rather than slashing it, but folks who do that are probably asshole kids who are just being naughty, rather than crooks trying to steal something. We live in the city, and if we have to park on the street, we keep all doors unlocked so they can rummage through whatever they want without breaking a window, etc...but most criminals aren't bright enough to try to open a door before busting it out. I will say that plan has backfired on me once before whenever I found a homeless dude sleeping in the back of one of my pickup trucks. Oh well, he didnt make a mess so I didnt care really.

 

I have a third gen toper on my 2nd gen and there is a visual comparison thread here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...nd-gen-top-3rd-gen-top-on-a-2016-taco.495079/

There's a small difference. I bought the rear window from you (for a 2nd gen) to put on my topper since my rear window was getting hazy. It "fits" but you can tell its a lot tighter and wants to pull the sides in a bit more. Readjusting the clamps fixed that though. I'd venture to say that there is a small difference between gens, but it could also be that there is some variance in the manufacturing side on STs end. I wonder if I got another 3rd gen topper and fit it on my truck, would it fit the same?

 

@corgidaddy dude my wife just said the same to me this morning "what if someone is sleeping in there at night". Haha.

You're right on the rear panel replacement, not too costly. I just repaired mine with some plastic weld though, I figure it'll probably get cut open again anyway.

I do need the topper for camping, so at this point i'm just going to pull it off and use it when we need it rather than have it on the entire time. Got to love it's ease of use.

I've been going back and forth with getting a hardshell, but i'm reading they get windows smashed and locks picked so probably not going to go that route. Seems like more of a headache to deal with than the Softop.

 

I've got the solid panels on the front and rear of mine and have never had any issues with people messing with it.

 

Yeah hit and miss, location dependent more than anything. I'm in an apartment complex close to downtown, so not the nicest to say the least.

 

Same thing happened to me. The AZ sun gets super hot. I made sure before I put the velcro adhesive on a painted surface, I put clear 3m vinyl over the paint. Good thing I did, the velcro adhesive left an impossible to remove residue on the clear vinyl.

 

Any 3rd gen owners can provide me a picture with the rear panel using the curve bar?

 

Thanks to this thread and very little to no negative reviews I pulled the trigger and ordered a ST. They just look bad ass!!!

 

What did you want you to see exactly? I can see if I get some pics.