Pros and cons of a camper shell

I'd rather have a little more weight in my bank account and a lot less weight on the back of my truck.

Seriously, I had one for about a month. Hated driving around with it.

 

You can't. If someone wants what you have they will take it, doesn't matter what you have. They can cut a soft top or bust the glass out of a hard shell. Locks only keep honest people out.

 

Honestly don't think the dad vibes are a thing you need to risk... it looks pretty chill imo.

 

Oh, I wish I could do that here in my jurisdiction. I'd swap plates between my car and the truck instead of having both insured at the same time.

 

Love mine!

 

Shade, items obscured from view, weather resistance, wind and sun protection, bug protection when sleeping back there, easily folded up when you need to haul big and tall.

 

To protect your stuff, again, it or anything else will only keep an honest person out.

 

rain, snow, blistering sun...

 

Being able to keep things secure, out of the elements and pack it to the roof are the pluses.

Yeah, hauling large items can be a pain but I can rent a trailer at uhaul for $15 a day and it also keeps me from having all my friends without trucks asking me to help them move.

Every truck I've owned I've had a shell on. Wouldn't have one without. You can't put nasty wet, muddy dogs/gear from duck hunting or coolers full of fish that are slimy on the outside in the back of a 4Runner without getting it dirty as shit or smelling like crap. Can't hose out the back of a 4runner.

 

That's an excellent point; even being especially careful I still managed to get a nickel sized drop of gear oil in the back carpet of my 4Runner taking the oil to the collection center and I could smell it for months until I saw a Stanley steamer guy at the neighbors and slipped him a couple bucks to do my rear carpet while he was already set up.

My Tacoma? Don't care as like you said I can just pressure wash it all out easy and use whatever cleaners I want.

 

I had a normal height cap on my last truck and it was good, but sometimes it would have been nice to have a bit more overhead space.

My current Taco came with a tonneau cover, which was quite fine except the dive gear is too tall (when transported in various bins) for a tonneau. I adapted but it was not the greatest.

Ordered and finally got a mid-height fiberglass topper/cap/canopy and I love it. It's high enough I have room to maneuver and tons of room for the dive gear.

 

Start with a commercial anchor chain and wrap it around the leaf spring... wait, wrong thread.

It keeps things hidden from prying eyes, which eliminates like 95% of truck burglaries. It only stops the crimes of opportunity.



The other part of it is that I minimize storing valuable shit in the truck. At worst I'll leave it unattended for all of three hours for a lunch or day hike, with my camp gear unsecured (but hidden) in the bed. It would royally suck to have a cooler or my inflatable kayak stolen, but those items are easily replaced.

At night, my truck is empty. And when I'm not camping, my truck is both empty and locked in the garage.

 

Curious, since you've had both does the mid rise cap have more wind noise than the cab height?

I really like my low profile tapered cap it's almost tear drop like the back is actually lower than the front though hardly noticeably but it certainly seems to improve MPG while being very quiet.

 

I do a lot of surf fishing, so I keep my gear back there all year long and it works out perfect for me.


The one Con is that Toyota won't do the 3rd light recall unless I remove the Cap...and that ain't happening, so I have to figure out a work around.

 

Adding a camper shell makes it a whole different vehicle. More like an SUV than a pickup truck, but at an overall price cheaper than a comparable SUV.

Here are mine, old and new (2000 Ford Ranger and 2021 Tacoma).

 

I live in a small town far away from any cities, so there's very little crime. People still don't lock their doors here. I went the Softtopper route because of that. Money well spent so far. Leer base models are almost $2,000, add-on stuff and you're intel the $3,000+ range. I can use that extra $1-2k for fuel and ammo to go do stuff instead.

 

I love canopies, or camper shells as they are know in 'Merica. If nothing else, they offer a great mounting point for roof racks. On longer trips with no racks, my mileage is the same as without, as they are more aerodynamic. I built a platform system and can now sleep my family of 3 in the back in comfort with all our supplies below the bed. The only downside is they can be really heavy. I just moved to a new house with no off street parking, and have nowhere to store my 200lb+ canopy. I got the highest roof one I could. I would love to find an aluminum one like I had for my Ranger, which weighed 60 lbs.

 

Reversing is difficult even with the camera. Also you get asked “do you go camping a lot?” Frequently.

 

You get used to reversing. Hell, I just backed a uhaul trailer into a tight spot this morning with the shell on with no issue.

No one has ever asked me if "I go camping" with a shell on.......

 

Why can’t people figure this out? It’s not rocket science. It keeps people from easily grabbing your stuff, but it’s like your truck cab, or house, or bank. Nothing is theft-proof.