I'm topless!

[Martinjmpr]

....well, okay, a better way to say it is I'm topper-less.

Built a little "cradle" out of some scrap wood we had in the yard and then one of the GF's sons helped me lift the shell off the truck and put it in the yard. It feels weird. First time in over a year that the truck bed has been "bare." I did it for a couple of reasons:

1. With fuel being as expensive as it is, I saw no point in carrying around the extra weight (topper itself is probably 125lb and the carpet kit and other junk I carried in the back was at least another 100.)

2. We'll be doing a lot of "home improvement" projects on the house and it is a lot easier to put things in and take them out with the shell off (bags of fertilizer, paving stones, lumber, etc.)

3. Kind of like the "stripped down pickup" look, although it does make my white '04 Tacoma look just like every one of the other 1,238,592 (est) white 01-04 4x4 Tacomas in the Denver area. (Seriously, at the light rail station where I park to go to work there are 3 other 95-04 Tacos that park within 1-2 cars of each other. All are 4x4 and all are extended cab. One is green, the other two are white, including mine.)

Anyway, the top is likely to stay off until one of two things happens: I decide to go camping, or they start working on the new garage/driveway and need me to move the shell. It's an odd experience for me, though. I've owned 4 pickups over the last 23 years and up until now they have all had shells on them all the time.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Did you move? I don't remember you living in the Englewood area. I hear ya on the open bed, so useful to have a pickup sometimes. My mileage does not seem to change much with the topper off, I think having a more or less smooth transition over the cab and around the back is slightly more aerodynamic and that offsets the weight to some extent.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Did you move? I don't remember you living in the Englewood area. I hear ya on the open bed, so useful to have a pickup sometimes. My mileage does not seem to change much with the topper off, I think having a more or less smooth transition over the cab and around the back is slightly more aerodynamic and that offsets the weight to some extent.

I moved from Denver to Englewood in September. Moved in with the GF, now we're doing some major work on her house. Nice thing is I'm literally 1 mile from the Oxford Light Rail station so my "commute" is about 7 minutes (actually, now that the weather's getting nicer I need to just leave 20 minutes early and walk to the light rail.)

I doubt the topper has much of a positive effect on MPG. At the speeds I'm driving around town, wind resistance / aerodynamics isn't nearly the factor that weight is. Really, the only reason I didn't do this earlier was (1) no place to store the shell and (2) wanted to keep some weight on the back wheels because of winter ice and snow.

 

[ntsqd]

snip...
My mileage does not seem to change much with the topper off, I think having a more or less smooth transition over the cab and around the back is slightly more aerodynamic and that offsets the weight to some extent.

Ditto, mileage is about the same with or without. Mileage on my turbo diesel Rabbit pick-up ("Caddy") was actually better with the shell even though it slowed it down.

What I really need is a hard tonneau cover that pops up to slightly above cab height and turns into a soft-sided shell of sorts.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I moved from Denver to Englewood in September. Moved in with the GF, now we're doing some major work on her house. Nice thing is I'm literally 1 mile from the Oxford Light Rail station so my "commute" is about 7 minutes (actually, now that the weather's getting nicer I need to just leave 20 minutes early and walk to the light rail.)

My mind is mush sometimes, it's entirely possible I knew that you live close to me (I'm not too far east of Broadway and Evans).

I doubt the topper has much of a positive effect on MPG. At the speeds I'm driving around town, wind resistance / aerodynamics isn't nearly the factor that weight is. Really, the only reason I didn't do this earlier was (1) no place to store the shell and (2) wanted to keep some weight on the back wheels because of winter ice and snow.

True, at city speeds aerodynamics probably has next to no effect. Maybe more on the highway, dunno. If my topper wasn't 300+ lbs, I'd take it off more often. But what a PITA. Ya gotta also remember that that ~300 lbs doesn't make my 22R-E have to work much harder that it already does...

 

[Martinjmpr]

A Wildernest weighs 300 lbs? :yikes:

As I think I've said before, I wish somebody would make a pop-top shell that was somewhere between a cab-high and a wildernest. I can't help but wonder if Wildernest went out of business because their shells were much more than what most people wanted (and were willing to pay for.) A little headroom is great but most of us don't need an entire room sitting on top of our pickup.

 

[p1michaud]

Sans Topper!

....well, okay, a better way to say it is I'm topper-less.

I can totally relate! Roughly two weeks ago, I went from this:

To this:

Patially to address my be re-configuration as partially to give me room to haul stuff for some home renovations. Very odd as you said.

Cheers,
P

 

[Martinjmpr]

Damn! That's perfect!

Too bad they didn't stay commercially viable.

 

[Cackalak Han]

Just did the same. I mountain bike during the summer time, so no way it will fit with my Leer top. I'll put it back on before it starts to snow for added traction in the back and secure my skis.

Quick question for you guys. The top I have was sealed with silicone to prevent leakage (where it meets the truck bed). However, I plan to take it on and off every now and then, so sealing it with silicone doesn't make sense. How do you guys waterproof the tops? I also plan to line my bed with Line-x, probably over the rail, which will make waterproofing that much more difficult. Any tips or suggestions? (Martinjmpr, sorry if this is a jack.)

 

[Martinjmpr]

Just did the same. I mountain bike during the summer time, so no way it will fit with my Leer top. I'll put it back on before it starts to snow for added traction in the back and secure my skis.

Quick question for you guys. The top I have was sealed with silicone to prevent leakage (where it meets the truck bed). However, I plan to take it on and off every now and then, so sealing it with silicone doesn't make sense. How do you guys waterproof the tops? I also plan to line my bed with Line-x, probably over the rail, which will make waterproofing that much more difficult. Any tips or suggestions? (Martinjmpr, sorry if this is a jack.)

I used camper tape (foam filled tape that's sticky on both sides.) Never had any leakage problems in rain or snow. It's cheap, I think a roll of it is about $6 at Lowes. When I took the topper off I noticed the camper tape remained stuck to the topper, not the truck. When I put it back on I'll probably scrape off the old tape and put new tape in.

 

[Cackalak Han]

Thanks! I'll try to find some at Lowe's tomorrow.