Tradesman Truck Tops commercial style topper/shell

What is the thickest aluminum sheeting they offer?
ARE now offers 0.64 on their ARE DCU.

 

Yea, .035 for standard, 0.064 for DCU MAX.
I believe Tradesman's entry skin is .040

 

Lucid 4" Folding Mattress & Sofa with Removable Indoor/Outdoor Fabric Cover, Full

Thanks! It's a Lucid 4" mattress, full size.

 

Definitely getting this!

 

Thanks I forgot that zero.
My ARE is .034 and it is extremely fragile. 0.040 is not thick enough either in my opinion.
0.064 should be the thinnest anyone considers if they ever plan to take there truck offroad.

 

IMO it's more about the stiffness of the topper's frame than the skin thickness. If your topper's frame is flexing a bunch then it's going to load the skin which will ultimately fail. A well designed topper frame shouldn't be loading up the skin very much. Where you need skin thickness is to deal with impacts/contact with trail obstacles. To me, .063 sheet sounds like overkill for a skin and that they're making up for a bad frame design by adding on a thicker skin.

All that said, time will tell how the Tradesmans (Tradesmen?) hold up. So far so good with mine so far.

 

I am not concerned with frame structure. My experience is from punctures and dents. Any east coast offroading requires contact with the bush.
My 0.034 skinned ARE dents easily. I know 0.040 would do better, but if I am buying new and get to choose my options, I am going thickest possible.

 

Gotcha. I think I was mixing up conversations . I thought someone had mentioned an ARE shell tearing the skin.

I've got a bunch of pin stripes on my topper from branches. No dents yet fortunately!

 

I've had pretty thin skin on my Swiss topper, and yes, it dents easy (even from tools rattling around in the tool box side). I can walk on the roof, but it dents too. I'm curious to see how the ARE holds up. I had an ARE on my work truck and we beat the snot out of it, and its held up great, I'm guessing it was a DCU Max.

So far, I think the difference between the DCU and DCU max is just the skin, frame is the same (according to ARE reps). And for another 1,000 dollars, I opted for the thinner stuff!

 

Does anybody have any side profile pics of a 2nd gen DCLB with a 26” tradesman/dcu? Just placed an order for my DCU (no tradesman in Michigan) and now I am questioning my 26” height choice ...

 

It will look very similar to Chubbyunicorn's 3rd gen.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tacomarin’s-chubby-unicorn-build.536001/

 

What were/are your goals of the shell?

 

Also check out the OP of this thread....he has lots of information and pictures regarding his build. IMO the 26" height looks good when you have a roof rack on the cab of the truck.

 

The goal is for a camping rig, I did barn doors and 26” height. I had seen a number of posters who had the 26” height but they all had a roof racks and gear on the cab of their trucks (which does add a bit of balance visually). With that being said I think the 26” height will suit my intended use better. Thanks for the advice on introspection of use!

 

Damn do I like this setup! He also rides ST Maxx’s IMHO are the best tire I have ever rode (Long live the pizza cutter pizza 235/85/16).

Thanks for the good word!

 

I had a 23" (as seen in some of my pics), it was OK for camping, but very tight, and only good for sleep. We could barely get changed, had to sit sideways to drink, no headspace at all. I'm getting a 26" at cab, rising to 32", hoping that will be a perfect balance of aerodynamics, looks, and functionality.

Sounds like a 26" shell should definitely suite your needs! Throw a Prinsu rack on your truck and it'll help deflect some air upwards, and give you more cargo space too

 

Also, why barn doors?

I see everyone opting for that, I could never get rid of my tailgate.

 

I had barn doors on my last truck, and I agree that I'm never leaving my tailgate again

Super convenient for access, but not having a table to put things down (to cook, to pack, etc) was super annoying.

 

I could never get rid of my tailgate. I just got the Relentless Fab aluminum tailgate skin to make it flat so it’s easier to cook and set things on. I’m going to see how much to get it color matched quicksand Rhinolined

 

The argument I've heard for the barn doors was more room to fit objects inside... but i fail to see it that way, since once the tailgates down and the hatch is up, the area is actually MORE. hahaha.