Let's talk RTT mounts

Alright so I'm a little conflicted. I'm looking for something that meets these criteria.
- More space the better
- Have access to roof rack (i.e. carrying my longboard)
- Can mount my RTT to bed rack (or elsewhere)
- Semi secure (I'd like to put Yeti/camera gear etc back there)
- Ideally would like the side of a bed rack to mount MaxTraxx and hi lift (not a deal breaker)
- Water resistant more or less

My solution thus far:
A bed rack (tbd of what or if it's custom)
Bestop Softopper over top?

What other advice do you have? Options? A camper shell with the RTT mounted on top wouldn't leave me enough room to get my longboard on my Cab rack. So that's kinda out of the picture. Just a plain bed rack would be okay but it'd be nice to have the added "security" of the Bestop to keep thieves honest. Am I missing other options? Not thinking of something?

 

Idk if a canvas top will keep thieves honest. You could get a standard bed rack and weld steel strips on it. Then make a custom canvas overlay. This will give it the canvas look with more security.

 

Yeah I doubt it would BUT it'll lesson my chance of theft. If I leave my Yeti 65 in the truck bed there's a much higher chance of it getting stolen than if a Softopper was overtop of it all (or at least I'd assume). I think I see where you're going. Not sure how I'd execute this, though. Anyone done something similar?

 

Hmm Idk if it has, but most bed racks I have seen are just steel tubing, so I can't imagine it would be hard to tack on some 1/8th in x 1 in strips on to it. You could also leave space for a window. Ill try to design something tomorrow in my free time, but I'm not an engineer, so I can't promise it'll look good.

 

That'd be awesome! I found these threads:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/roof-top-tent-inside-a-soft-topper.454723/
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/fs-bed-rack-with-waterproof-canvas-cover-in-georgia.375582/
^ That one would be too tall but shortened down may work. I really like that first thread. Seems like he put a lot of design/time into that.