Softtopper vs camper shell

Windoors are about $450 each, which sucks, but I use those almost as much as I do the rear. Absolutely Love them. Actually got a flat (IN THE RAIN) on my ATV trailer on the way to camp and needed to access tools and the hi-lift. I have the hi-lift mounted on the inside rail of the bed, and the tool box with the lug wrench in a box towards the front of the truck. I would have needed to pull out all kinds of stuff to get to them (again, in the rain), but I had access through the windoor. When that was going on, I was again reminded about how much I like them. I really don't miss that $900. Next truck will have them too.

 

I totally agree, but the total price was a no-go for me. Also, we have no extra height in our garage, so there are no storage options.

Having the extra dry storage is killer though. No regrets here. I don't miss the tonneau in the least.

 

I got a decent deal on my ST used. The first winter with it I cracked the back plastic. You obviously can’t roll it up when it’s 10 degrees outside, I would unzip it and just flip it over the top of the topper to access the back...... one morning it had a crease in it as I folded it back and that was enough to cause it to split. At the same time, I was offloading a tire out of the back and it clipped my rear taillight and cracked that at the same time. Not a good day, trying to sell a used set of KO2s for $400 and did $300 worth of damage.

you can see it in this link at the end of the album: https://imgur.com/a/sGhUL2C

I just left it split for a month, but tons of road grime would get sucked in and get all over whatever was in the bed. Now I just remove it in the winter and use my trifold, then put the ST back up in the summer with out the back panel zipped in at all.

another negative on the plastic back panel is that it scratches easily. Trying to remove snow or ice in the winter? Scratches.

all said, I still love it for the summer.

 

This actually won't work for the brake signal unless you also get a 2-to-3 wire adapter box for an additional $20. Otherwise your brake light will blink with your turn signals.

I ended up getting this instead to cut up and make a plug and play adapter since I don't want to cut/tap my factory wiring. More than I wanted to spend and I'll be throwing most of it away, but worth it to me to leave the factory wiring intact.

$63 CURT 56349 Vehicle-Side Custom 4-Pin Trailer Wiring Harness, Fits Select Toyota Tacoma

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074HBSQ5B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

You are definitely throwing a lot of that away. I can't fault your reasoning though.

My original plan was to splice the OE side of the harness, but there wasn't much working room without cutting the sheathing. Since I put the split loom and fabric tape on @NoOne 's Full 'C' harnesses, I had more room to work there.

This was after the Full 'C' install. I tapped the slightly hidden connector on the left side of the pic.



I'm certain you have a set, but for anyone messing with wiring, these things are amazing:

$24 IRWIN VISE-GRIP Wire Stripper, 2" Jaw, Cuts 10-24 AWG, ProTouch Grip for Maximum Comfort (2078300)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OQ21CA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I bought those about 7yrs ago. It makes every wiring job pretty much a joy.

 

I have some auto strippers like that, but they aren't self adjusting so you still need to know what size wire you are stripping. Those look nice.

 

I thought that you might.

I went through a few of the kind with the holes for each gauge. I always seemed to take a lot of strands with the insulation. I had a couple cheap pairs of the early auto-strippers, but they either didn't grab the insulation or they cut straight through.

These seem to work on everything. I can't remember if I tried romex, but I would bet it would be no problem.

 

Heres my setup, i usually put all the firewood on bottom and camping gear on top. The platform is made of two sheets so i can fold it up and access underneath. When i get to site, firewood is removed, i sleep on top and can store drinks, cooking tops, etc on bottom. It rocks, especially eith the double size air mattress

 

Always been curious, can you still fold it down with aluminum rack in place? To remove softopper requires removing alluminum rack first?

 

My only concern, is that these thing could be stolen with just a wrench and a few minutes. Has anyone found a locking mechanism for either the back window or for the rotating bar themselves? I was thinking of a lock on the pin the keeps it in place or a lock on the zipper, so it cant be pulled up. Also i wish they made the clip that holds the bar metal instead of plastic. Sometime i carry wood and and bash to one of those would certainly be a bad day. It someone could 3d print that part in metal, maybe with a clip so we could lock the zipper to it, id certainly buy

 

If you secure it, then the bad guys are just going to pull out a knife or yank on the snaps. I have been thinking about ways to secure the rails and bows though. Nothing simple yet.

 

Well with the rails, im sure you could get some tourque bolts that would be harder to remove than just using a monkey wrench. In all honesty, the canvas and bars is whats important as the rails can be bought as replacement pieces. If you could lock the zipper to the black clip for rear bar, you couldnt raise the corner even if the straps were cut. They can try to come from the sides, but they are just gonna take more time and damage than they want. Not alot of things can fit through those trianlges unless they are really intent on making a huge mess stealing whatever

also has anyone considered changing the rails from alluminum to steel, as well as incorporating mounting points that a bed rack could be connected to, similar to kb vudoo bed rack. Something that could easily removed as well. Id love to have a softopper with a kb vudoo style removable rack on top

 

Torx are pretty common these days. I was thinking of a cover over the clamps? Or, maybe something like the Gorilla lug nuts.

More than likely, if I was going to park overnight in a place that I was concerned like at the airport, I would probably just take it all off.

 

I think locking the zipper to the back clip would be most effective, so they couldnt get in, but would require strethening both the zipper and black clip to steel components

 

I’ve got a hard shell and now and even with bed stiffeners i worry a little bit about ripping down washboards and the vibrations fucking up the shell.

Also risk of flex cracking it as others have said. And i do feel like my taco is a overweight now, i’m looking at new leaf packs and i kind of envy the ST crowd.

I’m glad i have a hard shell for security reasons, more of a deterrent. But if u wanna do buck wild shit off road a soft top seems the better choice.

 

I uber to the airport if it's just me for work (usually about the same price as parking for a week). For family trips we take the wife's car.

 

I get where you are coming from, but I have this mental block with uber, lyft, and taxis. About the best that I can manage is the Airporter Shuttles. In the end, we don't fly much for pleasure. Like you, if it is a family trip, it would be the wife's car also.


We were in Vegas for a week and a friend convinced me to use lyft while there instead of renting. We split the fares. I was shocked to total it all up. I could have driven down and had a lot more freedom with what I paid. I would have been happy to cart his ass around.

 

I've had both. The ST is definitely more usable in a lot of situations. Yes, it's not as secure as a hard shell but if someone really wanted to get in or steal either one, they would. For extra security, the clamp can be double lock nut so it's at least time consuming to take off. I purchased 2 additional clamps (6 total) so it's a bit more secure.

 

Great ideas. Thanks!

 

You're welcome. I also used 303 Protectant about every 2-3 months to get a little bit more longevity.