Tradesman Truck Tops commercial style topper/shell

Looks fantastic and love the Seven! I’ve got an Aerios with Campy Record

 

Damn...that looks really tall without a roof rack in front of it. I'm picking up my 26" topper in about three weeks and I'm getting a little worried about aerodynamics. I'm coming up with ideas for a wind deflector mounted to the topper front bulkhead above the cab.

 

I use a Yakmia wind fairing. It does help with wind noise. I got it for my FWC when I had it.

 

Just gives you an excuse to get a rack

 

Agreed. There are no aerodynamics with these shells. But adding stuff to the cab rack makes it a bit less ridiculous. Probably going to build an extended fairing for my cab rack at some point as well. But yeah. Kiss your gas mileage good bye.

 

I'm almost done putting in my reflectex for winter desert camping. I'm also gonna build a removable shelf to put the buddy heater on but I really think it will be overkill. In the FWC I only had to run it for a short time before it was too warm to bear. I also hope to put some external lights on the bars up top. Finally found the 6gang switch like tacomarin has in his rig. I plan to put it on the drivers side cubby in the bed. That way I can hit the lights should I need to at night. I've rarely ever needed lights at night to that degree though.

 

Here are a couple more pics of the inside of my Tradesman. I had them put these utility hooks in that I got at Home Depot. The main reasons were: (1) When I fish off my kayak I like to hang my wetsuit/waders up as I’m driving home. These hooks will serve as clothes hangers for wet clothes. (2) I just ordered these daisy chain/gear hangers that I will run between two of these hooks. I’ll experiment to see if I like running them the length of the cap vs across the cap. https://www.niteize.com/product/GearLine.asp

I’ve also put some pics in with another of my bikes in case anyone is wondering how much room they will have to put a bike under the cap. I can put my road bike (56 frame) in with both wheels on and the brake hoods just hit the rear door opening by about 1/2 inch. The rear saddle is about 4-5 inches under the cap on the inside. So I’ve got plenty of room. Now I just need to decide what kind of setup I’m going to use to keep bikes in the the bed.

 

Who’s the lucky recipient? Out at the factory today and saw this beauty...

 

You might have also spotted this inside the factory! I just got an email saying it's ready.

 

I somehow missed it. That is going to look fantastic! Post up pics when it’s installed, I gotta see it!

 

The cement one is mine. I went to the factory today for installing it but pushed it out to next week for getting brackets for solar panels. I saw the blue topper today. The color is very pretty and actually prettier than mine.

 

Thanks! I dig the color every time I hop in. I pick my topper up on Monday.

Did you take delivery of your topper yet? Please post some pics, especially of the solar panels!

 

If someone who has one currently can look above the tool box on the inside where they mount/screw it to the frame I'd appreciate it. I need to know how many screws are usually used. When I got mine back in June they had left several mounting screws in the bed of the truck. I emailed Tradesman about it but they never got back to me. Thanks.

 

The first impression is the weight of the topper. It makes the MPG down to 15 or 16 after installing. I guess it would be 400 to 500 lbs. Don't know why the topper mounting clamps are only two each side while others have three. The solar panel is mounted in the center of the roof follow by the fan.

Took pictures of the tool box for the locations of screws.

 

Looks great.
I need a picture of the top of toolbox on the inside of the shell. Thanks.

 

Solar panels look great. I think the lack of aerodynamics is more of a gas killer than the weight. You're pushing a 6" tall vertical wall down the highway. That has a drag coefficient of approximately 1.00.

Not sure on the clamps. I've got 2 on mine and no leaks and no movement that I've seen. They might get away with 2 because I imagine it's quite a bit stiffer than a fiberglass shell so less likely to flex.

What's that latch for on the inside of your toolbox?

 

I've been pretty worried about aliens intercepting my brain waves while camping. As you all know, the higher you get in elevation, the easier it is for them to detect and monitor your brain patterns. The all aluminum shell helps, but with the plastic windows there's definitely opportunity for brain scanners to come in. So I put up some reflectix insulation to protect us from unwanted probing....

Also because winter is coming and I occasionally want to block out some lights. I found some black picture frame hanging brackets and screwed them into the shell with self tappers. Bungie cords to hold the shades up when in use. Panels store under the mattress when not in use.

 

Brain wave scanning isn't a bad thing

 

Not high enough for that gif.... yet...