kinda on/off topic
http://www.expeditionportal.com/equipment/vehicles/feature_vehicle/part2/part2.html
Tops
Steve,
Although you have a trailer, a roof rack will be a very handy option or backup if you need it or decide you don’t want to mess with the trailer (or your electrical connection between truck and trailer gets persnicketty). Also will aid in shuttling a bunch of boats.
Topper companies may void the warranty on fiberglass toppers if you install a rack yourself. Leer has some factory rack installed options with Thule racks:
http://www.leer.com/adventure.html
(I like their roof netting option)
With my Leer topper I purchased a factory installed Yakima rack, rail system. Very easy and fast removal – I take it off when not hauling boats. I don’t know if Yakima is still an option with Leer.
Rear cab/topper windows: Biggest problem is fogging up in cool drizzly weather but that blows off after driving a while.
Rear visibility issue: Both of the bottoms of my rear fenders behind the wheels are a bit “rumpled” but that might have happened with or without the top. Sometimes you just need to get out and look before backing.
Tip: Don’t back out of the garage with the back topper window up! I warned my wife about this about a dozen times but guess who tore the crap out of the topper window? Step 1 – close rear window before getting into truck. Step 2. Look into rear view mirror to double check on Step 1.
Step 3. Turn the key.
Lou
Who left it up?
And who left the topper window up? Probably the same guy who leaves the toilet seat up. Am I right?
(Same thing happened with me and my wife)
Hehehe
The step 3 before step 1 guy, of course! How much fun would life be if we always follow our own advice? Doh!
You gonna paddle the Saint with us this fall?
gremmie …
Are you going to let me know when you paddle the Saint this Fall?
BOB
Washing windows
Buy cheap sponge.
Wrap sponge around cheap stick; old yardstick works great.
Tie sponge to cheap stick.
Wet sponge.
Stick sponge between truck & cap on truck.
Wipe sponge on windows; spray windows with water hose.
Clean windows…
With no cap on truck, and truck bed full of paddling/camping gear; what do you do with gear when you walk off & leave truck for an hour? Example: You stop & go into restaurant for a meal on way to/from (maybe dark) your trip.
The loss of 2 of our winter sleeping bags, 2 nice Thermarests, 2 of our more expensive paddles (and a spare) would tear hell out of a thousand dollar bill.
No, a locked cap will not stop a dedicated thief, but it sure will slow down those people who are tempted, when they view all that gear laying (easy pickins’)in the back of your truck.
BOB
LEER cap with Thule system installed
anybody here used one of these? can it carry 2 sea kayaks?
I’m seriously studying a Nissan Frontier Crew cab or the Toyota Tacoma Crew Cab and a cap seems smarter and smarter the more I think about it…but 2 if not 3 boats on top will be required. If it can then it will save the hassle of installed a system contractors use to carry big ladders.
a friend of mine has one
They are nice and cost big $$$. The side windows have screens so you can not access item through them.
There is a pop out window option on Leer
And I hear you, ice9, about side access. The top of the line Leer is $1400 (I priced it thbis weekend) without the optional pop out windows an the rck and Yakimas that the abov poster mentions. I really wouldlike to know also about the Leer roof rack and kayak (17 fotrs) transport.
Thule Rack
I have had a Leer cap since 1996 and have a Thule load bar on it. This is not the newer Leer system which incorporates a factory-style roof rack into the cap. Leer has always had the option of mounting one or two pairs of “gutter brackets” or “landing pads” that allow mounting of Thule or Yakima towers to the top of the cap. These are static in position, however, so that the distance between the load cross bars remains fixed. The newer system allows the distance between the load bars to be adjusted, but is no doubt more expensive.
With the older style “gutter brackets” you mount a universal Thule tower that works with the rain gutters that most vehicles used to have, and few still do. With any type of Thule or Yakima towers you can mount longer load bars, if necessary, to accomadate a wider load.
I have only one Thule cross bar mounted on my cap. The other load bar is mounted on aero-bracket towers on the door frames. The caps are plenty long to mount 2 cross-bars, however, with good separation for stability.
Thule and Yakima both have a variety of mounts to accomadate sea kayaks. My experience with the Thule products has been good. I don’t remember the recommended weight limit for the cap and don’t quickly find it on the Leer site. The Thule rack is certainly strong enough to accomadate three kayaks if you have wide enough load bars.
Unless you need the ability to adjust the distance between the load bars, I would consider checking into whether Leer still offers mounting the gutter brackets. You can do what I did and have one crossbar on the cap and one on the doors, or two on the cap, or even three crossbars, although with three the height of the door-mounted bar might not be exactly level with the cap mounted pair.
Bob
– Last Updated: Sep-24-07 7:13 AM EST –
I'll call. You gotta show me how to do Big Drop right side up.
Lou
what you can do with a topper
– Last Updated: Sep-24-07 8:57 AM EST –
http://omalley.smugmug.com/gallery/428307#139045967
I have since added a bar to the cab portion, so I don't have to put tandems on their sides...
*Edit: Forum software doesn't like the # I guess. Copy and paste the whole thing if you want the actual picture instead of just the gallery...
Cap
get a cap, when you haul trash in your truck the trash cans fit in it!!! Nuff said… If you don’t think you will be hauling trash you are deluding your self!!!
Better yet don’t get the cap and do …
as the red necks do.
They toss their RC cola and moon pah rappers in the bed of the open truck and low and behold when they get home to their single wides the trash has mysteriously disappeared.
No trips to the dump are ever required.
Cheers,
JackL
Opening side windows.
Are a really good thing to have. I never have to crawl in, unless I’m going to sleep in it. My shell is an ARE on an 05 Ranger. I won’t discuss my rack system as it’s “unique”.
Removing fiberglass top alone
Yotaman called removing a 150# cap alone a two person job. Well, yes, unless you do some simple building. I made a pair of long and tall sawhorses, just a bit taller than the bed top, that I place in the driveway along the sides of the truck. I take a pair of 2x6 that fit across the sawhorses, and while pushing the top up a bit with my back from inside the box, work the 2x6 into place fore and aft, and let the top rest on the 2x6. It is then simple to drive out from under it or back in place. A caution, I wouldn’t leave it elevated that way if high wind was in the forecast. I suppose that you could do the same thing using the 2x6, some slings, and a pair of hoists hung from the garage rafters - if you had room with the door open.