Let's See Some Softoppers

It's a softopper! I have 2! Unless you just have too because your at home!

 

I think you underestimate just how bored I get at home while working sometimes. It's always nice to step away from the desk for a little bit.

 

Now that reply makes since!

 

WFH crew checking in. I get it.

 

I'll time myself folding it down today too lol.

 

Just to clarify what I mean when I say folding it down, the timer will start as soon as I undo the first snap, and will stop once I fold it over and strap it in place to secure it. (just so there's no miscommunication here)

 

Please tell me no!

 

You're next, except you have to time yourself folding down both of yours!

 

haha. Haven't heard that one in a long time.

 

New topper will be here Friday. Don’t ask me to time myself LOL!!

 

Lol, it’s an Internet forum dude....what did you expect?

 

I didn't go with the soft topper for maximum speed of deployment. I can't even fold mine down without removing it from out from under the rack first. Still not a huge amount of time, maybe 6-7 minutes to unsnap, unbuckle, unpin, and with a buddy, just slip it straight back and then fold it up. I'm just happy of being able to remove the soft topper wherever I am, and stow it as needed.

A basic reason I went with the soft topper is that it keeps my stuff 95% dry in a monsoon, reduced visibility to passing eyes, and the bed clean of organic debris from trees, birds and the like. However, the bigger reason I went with soft topper is the weight savings.

The soft topper is about 16lbs, my aluminum rack is 26lbs (+3lbs for the kayak bar). The awning is something like 25lbs as well. All combined, its well under 100lbs.

 

Just got my softtopper on this weekend. Just gotta do the doggy window up front.

 

Got it done. Super stoked

 

Wicked quick shipping from Softopper. Ordered on Friday, was here by Sunday. Diggin’ the dark tinted replacement rear panel.

 

I'm in Southern CA, what shop and how much?

 

The bars over the softopper were made by unique fabrication. You will have to talk to the owner about cost. He is a friend of a friend so I got a bit of a deal. The rack was home made. you can find the cross bars on tnutz.com and the sides are two pieces of aluminum 6ft long x 2.5 inches and 1/4 inch thick. I painted it with spray on bed liner from home depot.

 

i'm back from a few quick trips last month and doing some deep-cleaning/tlc... i have to say, off pavement it gets awfully dusty underneath the softopper... i've had it for a few years and never really cared much, i'd always just pack things up in bins, etc., and it seemed fine.

but i recently built a sleeping platform and lazily left some blankets/sleeping pads unpacked one day (expecting some mild dust) and discovered a heavy coating of dirt on everything by the time i stopped for camp. whoops!— that was probably about 70 miles though, so i'd imagine a quick jaunt to a trailhead or something would've yielded less dirty results...

so i've got 3 major areas where dust is clearly getting in (picture below), but i'm not sure how to tackle those zones without sacrificing the convertibility or modularity of the softopper. i feel like a positive pressure vent/pipe *could* theoretically work and might be the simplest solution, but i'm worried that might end up damaging or wearing-out the canvas or fasteners. i'm not looking for perfection, but it would be nice when traveling to leave some bedding or a foam mattress or something on the sleeping platform without having to completely pack everything away every morning. and i didn't mention it, but i've already done the tailgate seal a while ago... that's partially why i was expecting better results this time.



so my question is: has anybody had success attempting to "dust-proof" their setup? any tips or tricks you could share? i came across this guy's blog/post, he offers some loose suggestions on dust-proofing, claims success, but without explicit details...
https://www.wildernessshots.com/toyota-tacoma-overlander-expedition/