Taking out back window while having shell on and connecting everything?

Guys,

I have a 06 A/C TRD Sport, 4x4. I am looking for shells as we speak. What i would ultimately like to do is to take out my back window, have the front window on my shell fold down or come out completely, and connect where i sit and drive to the bed that obviously has the shell on it.

The reason for this is because i have some long surfboards that wont fit in the bed(for example, 9'6") and when i go on long road trips up north and down south with multiple surboards, there will be times that i will take one board out in the water but i will need to be able to fit and lock the larger board in my truck and the only way to do that is to have it go all the way through and that tiny rear sliding window is not wide enough for a surfboard which is why i need to take out the whole window. Now i realize road noise is probably going to suck, but i still want to do it anyways.

my questions:

Is there already a thread on this?
Has anyone done this?
What did you use to seal everything properly? (i know the shell comes with a boot but i heard that does not seal it 100%
Is this a bad idea?
Can you please help?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

I'm not sure this is a great idea. Since the bed and cab have their own seperate mounts they can move independently from each other, so trying to connect your top to the cab would cause a lot of stress on the connection between the two.

 

I have seen something like that in the past with rubber boots of a sort (which would be flexible to deal with frame twist), but not sure where you can get them off the shelf. I think it was for a full-size domestic truck.

Google some truck supply stores or even Cabela's?

I would advise against any rubber boot that merely pushes up against the back of the cab on the paint, because it will wear off the paint.

I'd be a little worried about hitting the brakes in an emergency and having surfboards decapitating me or sailing throught windshield or into the dash. Have you devised a restraint system?

Is there no external locking rack system that would work for you?

 

yeah I have heard of those shells that connect to the cab but they always remove the paint within a few years because of rubbing. Also I can't see it making a perfect seal so you may have to deal with some leaking. It may be easier to either make some kind of secure mounting system for the top of the shell, or buy a SUV.

 

Why won't a roof rack work?

 

I think they call that an suv, but im not sure.....

 

seems like a lot of work. what about a low profile box that you can lock that bolts to a roof rack and extends over the camper shell. Either way if they want to steal your board they'll break the window or the box

 

I would also be worried about carbon monoxide poisoning if the cab and the canopy would be open for a pass through all of the time.

 

In the '70s and '80s there were a number of 'sleepers' available for fullsize domestics. They were basically a bolt on extended cab for some extra storage and they connected to the cab like that. You can get a flip down front window in a canopy for easy cleaning but you'd still have to have a good seal to the cab to keep the cab dry.

I'd be concerned about the flex between the cab and box, weld on sliders should help with that.

I'd say the best bet is a canopy with the flip down front and try and rig up an Avalanche style removable cab window or 4-runner style roll down. Or maybe build a fiberglass bubble for the back door of the canopy and push the boards out the back instead of thru the front. Either way I don't think there's a bolt on solution to what you want.

 

Cap manufacturers make a rubber boot specifically for this type of application. I would think your easiest/cheapest route would be to start with one of those boots and find a better way to secure the boot to the cab. Maybe some 2 sided tape or even bolting it to the cab. That way the rubber will still allow the bed and cab to move separately but would be a positive seal. The problem is you wouldn't be able to remove the cap and you'd be permanently altering the truck.

 

It's called a boot as mentioned above .

 

What's this all aboot a boot, eh?

 

you cant put a 9'6 in your bed? i can easily fit 3 9'2 takayamas in my bed with bungies around them and the back window up...oh and my dad has a 9'6 takayama that ive put in my bed along with my 9'2 takayama.... WITH a shell

 

He wants to be able to lock the board in the truck

 

oh i probably should have read more than the first sentence

 

lol, I normally don't read anything over 4 lines.

 

Ya bud, i need to be able to lock everything up. i cant have them sticking out.

 

gotchya, bud.

 

everyone, thank you for your input. a few things:

i dont want an SUV, thats why i got a tacoma. come on. i effing love my truck, just like everyone else.

I dont want to do the roof rack because i am sure that it would be heavy and not very aerodynamic, especially if it had to fit a 9"6'.

So they do make boots for this very purpose? Does anyone know exactly where to get these? if not, ill do some more research.

thanks again to everyone for your input. its good hearing all of the different opinions and ideas.