Tradesman Truck Tops commercial style topper/shell

What's the ballpark cost of a topper like that?

 

X2

 

That's probably about right. I don't have a great sense of what Leer's and ARE's cost but they all add up quickly once you start adding on all the creature comforts. The Tradesman tops do technically start at around $2k for a completely bare shell with no side windows or doors, carpeting, insulation, etc. They will do anything you want too. They had a giant cab-over top for an F-250 long bed that they were crating up to ship out to NY. If you can dream it, they'll build it, just bring your check book. No ragrets here!

 

LOL!

 

think ~$4k and up based on what I can see.
I had a Leer on my Tundra and it wasn't cheap but a great topper for sure.

 

More detail pics for @JKDer

Fully insulated and carpeted inside. Security screens on all the windows.






Interior lighting turns on when any hatch door is open


Side cabinet will most likely house our dishware. I took the recommendation of @Toynado and decided not to do carpeting inside of the cabinet. I will probably try to find some rubber matting to put in.





Full hatch with two windows on the passenger side.

 

Wow. These are awesome.

 

Really cool. Any reason you didn't get the carpet for the inside of the tool/kitchen box?

 

Yeah, it's likely going to be where are dishes and stuff of the like go. We're pretty good about drying stuff, but inevitably moisture would get in there and don't want it to end up moldy. Most likely going to get some rubber matting and cut it to fit but still be removable.

 

Awesome!!! Thanks for the pics Steve!

 

Guys, @Toynado @tacomarin I am working with Maria at truck tradesman on all the options, it is basically just like yours. Is there any after thoughts you wish you would have requested or deleted since you have it installed. Thanks for the help

 

You're going to love it! I was just there yesterday as well getting a little work done on mine so it's fresh in my mind. Here are a few of my observations:
1) Security screens - not sure how I feel about these and if there is anything I would omit it would be these. I think I'm going to love the security of them when all our gear is in there and we are off hiking/biking/playing all day. But they are a bit... prison like. Not sure if you can tell from the other pictures, but they used to cover the whole window which made opening them from the inside a pain... literally and figuratively because I slit open my fingers more than once on them. Fortunately now they are cutting out a small window in the security screen around the latch and opening track so that it's much easier to open and close them from the inside. Even better they retrofitted mine yesterday. I'll try to get some pics of that up later to show you what I mean. @Toynado, you should definitely get yours done too, it's so much better!
2) Per the recommendation of @Toynado I omitted the carpet inside the toolbox. I think that's a good call given that we're going to be putting all our cookware in there, but depending on your application you may want carpeting. We're going to find some rubber matting to put in there but for now it's just bare aluminum.
3) I went with a drop down and sliding front window. If you ever want to clean that window it's a must, because there's no way to clean the other side of the window unless you take the cap off otherwise.
4) The interior lighting they have is pretty good but only works when the hatches are open. I'm sure they could wire in a switch to allow you to turn it on even when they're closed, but I'm not sure you would want that anyway because it's not that substantial of a light. It's perfect for just having some light in there when you open the hatches, but for a living light it's not enough. So if you do think you will want other interior lights later you may want to plan out where those will go and have them run some wires for you. Or you could even ask them to wire in some other interior lights for you too. I didn't think that far ahead. Now I'm planning on doing more lights on the interior and didn't have a great way to conceal wires. But Maria is brilliant and came up with the idea of building a small aluminum channel (and carpeting it) and running it across the width of the cap so I can pass wires across the cap in a more concealed manner. On that note, they also enclosed the top of my cabinet on the inside yesterday. That's where I'm going to mount all my interior switches. It's also just a good spot to put things. You could even turn it into a small cubby for phones, etc. I'll put pictures up of all that stuff later as well.
5) Double check the third brake light before you leave. Mine had a faulty fuse, apparently from the factory, so unfortunately I had to take another trip out there to get that repaired. Fortunately I had a list of other add-ons by then so it all worked out. They're probably double checking these all now anyway.
6) The standard vent sits up pretty tall. I'm not sure if the fantastic fan is more low profile or not. From what I can tell online it's not much more low profile but you may want to look into that more if you're going for a more streamlined look. Although these caps are far from streamlined anyway!
7) I went with the full rear window vs the smaller one that @Toynado did. My thinking was that it will be easier to load bulky things like sheets of plywood in the back if the hatch opens all the way. And I can confirm, you can load a full sheet of plywood in the back, but it does have to angle underneath the cabinet.
9) The way they do their back glass and latches makes the rear glass pretty high up. You won't have great visibility out your rear view mirror afterward. It's not a big deal for me because I'm pretty used to not being able to see much out out of the back of a truck anyway, but you may want to do an anytime rear camera down the road. I just installed one and really dig it.
10) The guy that paints these things would prefer if we didn't send in mirror covers to match the paint. It's by far the easiest thing to send in, but matching paint on a curved piece of plastic is apparently pretty tricky. He got mine spot on, but he did say he would prefer if you can send in your gas door. I'm pretty sure those are riveted in though so..... just keep that in mind.

Overall I love the cap. It is super rugged, durable, and looks the part. The best thing about them is that they are all custom made by hand by a handful of very talented folks and there is pretty much endless opportunity for customization. But also bear in mind that they are not mass produced from a mold in a giant factory so there are going to be some things that are a little less polished (like the security screens). At the same time, there will be many other things that show a level of attention to detail that will really impress you. I am super picky about these kinds of things, and in my opinion this cap is as close to perfect as you can get.

Let me know if there are other things you want more info on!

 

I was just looking at my vent and fan today on my camper and they are much more flush than the vents on these caps/shells. Maybe I have more insulation in the camper.

One thing to think about if you are only wanting a view out the top is asking them to put a window up there. In their gallery there's an older white truck with a cap. That one has windows in the roof of the shell. It isn't visible in the following pic but somewhere on the interwebs I read about this one and the owner wanted to see out at night. The windows are smaller than the one on the rear door but run sideways similar to the one on the rear door.

This one:

 

Steve, This is great info thanks so much. I have been researching this for months.
I am with you on the security screens, I see they are fastened in with rivets. Going to check on some type of molded insert. I would like to have the option to remove them but install when needing the extra security.
I have already omiited the carpet as per @Toynad he told me this while back.
Good info on the lighting, I will discuss this with Maria.
I will request the full rear window, I have the small on the quote now.
I will discuss the painting issue, not sure why the painter has to match paint. He should just use quicksand color paint code 4v6.
Inside top of your shell I assume the wing nuts and black covers are for the load bars?

Thanks Will keep you updated

 

Great Idea on the top window, will look into this also.

 

The security screens are actually screwed in with sheet metal screws so they're easy to remove if needed. On the painting they can use the paint code but also like to match it. They typically start at the paint code and adjust to get it perfect. Every paint job is a little bit different even when it's mass produced, and especially changes as it ages. Correct on the wing nuts and black covers. The wing nuts are now covered by the new enclosure so there's no mis-match anymore.

Yeah I'm not sure. This site gives the overall height as 4.5 inches which is about what mine is right now too. Not sure if there is a more flush option or not. I'm going to be putting a roof rack on top of the cap at some point anyway so it probably doesn't really matter that much.

 

Those darn sheet metal screws rust if you live close to the ocean....

 

Little things like this are good reminders. Thanks

 

Here is the cabinet enclosure on top of the cabinet


And the new security screen opening

 

Looks good, I forgot to tell Maria about the screen openings but will in the morning. Got lucky and have a Friend that is delivering a Harley in June 29 miles from truck tradesman. So I want ave to pay the freight.