Tailgate pad AND campershell?

Thinking of taking a tacoma to the bike park and camping, i wanna shuttle my bike on a tailgate pad, but be able to sleep in the bed of my truck with a campershell for nice warmer sleep, can you put a campershell AND a tail gate pad on at the same time?

 

Bestop Soft Top.

 

that would work with both?

 

It should because the back window is a flap so you can roll it up and out of the way and put the tailgate pad down.

 

Yes, the whole top folds down in a couple minutes while you are using the bed or you can just remove the back window and use the pad for your bicycle. Its a versatile top that I've been using to camp out of for years now.

 

Oh okay i see, so its versatile enough to put in the bed and switch out?

 

You don't have to take it off. It folds down by the cab.

 

what is a tailgate pad?

 

example:

 

This may be helpful to you.

I can fit two 29ers in the bed of my truck under the camper shell. It's great because I can lock them in there safely! I could easily sleep next to my bike while it was in there. It takes some crawling around to get into the camper shell to put the bike on the fork mount. That's not a problem for me, but if you were doing lots of shuttling in one day, you could still use a tailgate pad and drive with the camper shell open. The gas-struts are very strong and it is okay to leave it open while driving.

I found my camper for $800 on Craigslist, which is only a little more than a soft topper or bestop and is soooo great. It is water proof, holds my bikes securely, I could camp in it nicely, and it locks from the inside for added security while camping. I made the bracket for the dropped fork mounts with parts from home depot. No special fabricating involved.

You could also put the fork mounts on the side of the bed closer to the tailgate which would allow you to put the bike in without crawling into the bed.

PM me if you have any questions!

 

I use a pad with my canopy. I can't throw my bikes in with the tailgate up, but if I open the tailgate and leave the front tire over the edge they do fit once it's closed.

 

I don't have a topper so just thinking out loud, but it might not be too hard to make the topper door hinges quick connect style. Then just pop the door off and wrap in a blanket at the front of the bed when your shuttling, pop er on at night to sleep.

Or maybe remove it all together and get a canvas shop to sew up a best top softtop-like flap you could bolt into the original door hinges, with some magnets or snaps to keep it closed. Then you've got the best of both worlds, hardtop with roll up back door

 

I think the greater challenge is going to be getting the bikes on the tailgate pad while you have a shell. Usually I'm assuming that you drop them down on the tailgate...but you won't have the clearance with a shell.

Why not just put the bikes inside? I put two in my shell all the time, I don't even take a wheel off.

When I do haul long stuff (wood) with my shell though, I either just leave the rear window up if just going slowly, or tie it so it comes down a bit but doesn't touch the stuff.

 

Get a Softopper so you can roll it back! I have a pad on the back of my truck for mtb too.

 

I'm thinking about a similar option but maybe putting the fork mount in the rear for easier access. Is there a reason you didnt do it that way? I'm also wondering how much side-to-side motion there is; is there a risk of your bar end hitting the glass?