Not a Tundra topper installed LB

[nomadic]

I need a topper; we had this one in my back yard sitting for 5 years. It was on a 2001 gmc 3500. It does not fit exactly like I hoped but what the heck. The tail gate and the door have a ½ inch gap. After setting it on the truck I thought long and hard about how to secure it to the bed. I came up with this method so that I would not lose my rails. They are 7 inch J (?) bolts from TSC. I had to cut a little off the J to get them to fit. I drilled the cap (it’s a fiber cap but the part that meets the bed is aluminum) with it sitting on the truck. I can insert the J bolts with the cap on the truck. I know a guy that does the one man paint shop thing and he painted it for 300.



pics

[dariusld]

You drilled holes in the bed?

[SE2000]

He said he drilled the topper and used j bolts.
I think it is a good cheap solution and gets the old topper out of the yard.
Would a house AC gasket fill the gap?

[nomadic]

i used the factory holes.



i do not know what all the holes are for in the pockets but the ones that go through into the bed worked for me

[nomadic]

i just ran out to Home depot and got a foam piece intended for the bottom of garage doors for between the cap and bed, with the gap left were the tail gate and cap door meet i will have something fabed on the next work project. i'm thinking like a diamond plate rail guard that is a little thicker than the tail gate. i couldn't justify what they wanted for a new top for this truck when i had this one in the yard.

[SE2000]

I was thinking, that did you see if you could trim the front of the topper at the bottom and slide it forward? Maybe you body shop could cut the fiberglass and reglass it to fit better. since the tundra cab leans forward you would only be doing the bottom and it would blend bettr

[mendonsy]

I guess it depends on how you want it to look. Considering how much you saved, it's not all that bad. Make sure that you check those J bolts for tight occasionally. Most RV stores have the standard bed clamps in stock.

[PPosey]

Pretty good, You may want to add a lock nut on top of the first one on those J bolts,,,, I have had a camper start squirming around pretty bad from the nuts working loose