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This summer I bought a 1995 Pickup, single cab, DLX trim, 2WD engine.
I would like to get a topper for it so I can keep stuff locked inside, and possibly also so I can sleep inside when camping. Unfortunately all the big brands don't have new toppers for my truck (too old I guess?)
I'm pretty new at this and thus flexible with what I want. What options should I be looking at: soft topper, old toppers from craigslist/junk yard pickups, an actual camper, what about custom options?
Thanks for any advice (or pointing at an existing thread with advice, I didn't find anything with searching).
I'm pretty new at this and thus flexible with what I want. What options should I be looking at: soft topper, old toppers from craigslist/junk yard pickups, an actual camper, what about custom options?
Honestly, it is really up to you and what you want to use the topper or camper for.
Custom toppers can get expensive quick if someone else is doing the work but could be a fun project if you are up for the work.
I personally have an old Gem Top canopy (or topper) that I bought used from a local dealer that also manufactures their own brand of toppers. It was a Craigslist find and has served my well.
I wanted something that looked great and was also fairly strong. I can sleep in the back but haven't so far. However I do like the look of soft toppers too and considered it until I started looking at the prices.
Yeah when I mentioned custom, I meant pay-someone-to-do-it, not do-it-myself. I don't even have a covered parking spot, and nowhere to do the work. Maybe when I make more money I'll get a place with a garage and learn all that stuff. ^_^
I was also looking at actual "truck campers", the kind that sit in the bed. Do they make/Have they made 'em small enough to carry in a tiny Toyota?
I was also looking at actual "truck campers", the kind that sit in the bed. Do they make/Have they made 'em small enough to carry in a tiny Toyota?
They did at some point because my grandfather had one on a 1991 Toyota before he got a bigger truck. I don't remember what it looked like (I was 5 years old at the time)
I think it would be cool to have one. I would imagine that they would be very small.
After a little searching, here is what I have found. Is this what you had in mind?
Jake: yeah something like that first one, maybe a little bigger. The bottom one is WAY too big for that truck!
I'd also be ok with just a topper shell and just using it as a sleeping-hole. Do y'all think a Tacoma shell would fit on a 95 Hilux/Pickup?
This one is conveniently close to where I live: https://houston.craigslist.org/pts/5825720540.html
That shell will not fit because of the angle of the front where the shell meets the cab. I am not sure about the length and width dimensions of the Tacoma bed.
I noticed that particular topper uses a "boot" instead of a front window. I would stay away from those because they tend to leak when the truck is moving (the cab and bed do not flex together causing it to leak). I also found out the hard way (on some boot seals that seal against the paint) that if any dirt or tree debris get into the sealing surface, it can rub off the paint off as the truck flexes.
I agree that the bottom pic. It looks like any kind of heavy steering would put you in a rollover.
They did make some shells and campers with a popup tent in the roof:
Just throwing up some options, though most of these would be hard to find.
If you are set on a standard truck shell / topper, I would just wait for one that was designed for the truck. If I remember correctly the bed rail dimensions are 76" by 60". I would double check that though on your truck.
Happy searching!
Yeah those would be awesome. I found "Four Wheel Campers" has a model that pops up and would fit my truck, but it's 16k$ starting price. That's a few times more than I'd want to spend at the moment.
Thanks for the advice. I'll keep an eye out for used topper shells.
Measure your bed and put a "wanted" ad in Craigslist. I once bought a house that had a truck shell in the side yard and I would have given it away free if anyone needed it. I bet 1995 truck shells are sitting in yards and could be had cheaply. Be prepared to clean and paint it. I have a Softopper on my old 4Runner and it is like having a Jeep top. It's not secure enough to leave tools and valuables in there.
Conveniently, the owner is having trouble selling the truck WITH the topper because the colours don't match, so I think I could get a pretty good price. I asked him to measure the thing, since it looks like it might be the long-wheelbase version. Is there anything else I should check with him before committing to drive over there? What tools do I need to take it off his truck and put it on mine, and do I need to pre-drill some holes in my siderails?
I have the same model and year as you and it was kinda a pain to fit a canopy on it. Someone mentioned it above but you wont be able to fit a canopy from an extended cab pickup or a tacoma or any other modern truck because the back of the cab doesn't lean forward on our trucks. Also being a 95' you have a center high break light added onto the top of your cab and technically any thing you mount to it like a canopy needs to have one too if it covers the one installed on the truck. Modern trucks have a connector for this in the bed, ours aren't even wired for a trailer.
Toyota trucks after 89' have inward lipped beds so you can use standard canopy clamps to attach it to your truck without drilling any holes. If you have a slip-in plastic bed liner you may have to notch holes in it to get the clamps to go under the bed side rails. If you buy a canopy by its self out of someones yard it probably doesn't come with clamps and you'll have to buy 4 of them. They go on and off with a hex head bolt usually.
The canopy i got to fit is from a ford ranger. The early models were common in regular cab and had a similar shaped back side. They were slightly narrower than toyota pickups but i've made it work with a very water tight seal. The other thing to look out for is even if you find a canopy that comes off of a regular cab toyota pickup some of the late 80's regular cabs had a 7' box instead of 6'. I found mine by messaging people selling similar trucks on craigslist and asking politely if they were willing to sell the canopy separately.
Be prepared to do some work on any canopy you buy that's 20+ years old. I've had to replace the window sealing tape, lock cylinder, machine a pivot plate for the locking arms, add window tint, re-caulk the corners of the canopy frame, make riser plates to make the clamps hold without bending the rails, tint the windows and replace the weather stripping foam that seals it to the bed. I'm into mine for about 300$ but its secure, water tight and fits my truck.
Dang, that's a lot of hassle for a fiberglass box. Thanks though, the nuance of my search has tripled after reading your post.
How did you deal with the high-center brake light thing? Does your Ranger canopy have a light on it, and you added the wiring from your regular brake lights somehow?
The requirement for the third light is 94' and onward on light pickup trucks so most stuff you'll find that fits wont have one. I haven't dealt with it yet but plan to wire one in when i add a hitch and a trailer light plug.
I might be interested in getting a hitch receiver too. Mostly just to use one of those S-shaped bike racks. Are the hitches commercially available for 95 pickups?
Yeah hidden hitch and a few other popular brands made them. I don't know if they still stock them but they're easy to find used. Just make sure you aren't getting a 4runner hitch. They have the same frame as the pickup from 90-94 but the 4runner has coil overs instead of leaf springs so the hitch mounts to the frame where the shackle is on our trucks. The pickup hitch bolts to the side of the frame instead of the bottom of it.
So I finally got a topper from a guy on craigslist. I ended up paying $160. The guy said it was made for a 90s Toyota single cab like mine, but actually the bed rails did not line up properly with the rails on my truck. In the end we made some L-brackets out of thick aluminum and drilled some holes in the truck rails and topper rails and bolted everything together. I'm glad I have access to a workshop at work for borrowing tools and a scrap metal bin.
We also installed a 3rd brake light, some stick-on LED thing I got for ~$20, connected to the wire harness in the right-rear tail light assembly. I messed up at first and connected it to the running light line.
Just this weekend we also removed the old handle & latch, as the latch was rusted and only had 1 bar, and the locking handle was missing its key. We don't have the new latch working yet, but it's bolted on. We still need to figure out the rivets for the latch rods, but after that we're pretty much done!
Given that my topper rails are narrower than the 60"-wide rails on my pickup, and your chart, I wonder for what kind of vehicle the topper was meant. 60" is the narrowest width on your chart, except for the stepside models which are only narrow in the back.
Those things aren't so rigid when they aren't mounted on a truck, so the 59 1/2" could easily be 60". The part you'd want to double-check with the seller (or when you go see it) is the cab angle. If it doesn't hit the back of your cab it'll work, but it might still look weird if it's not right. Bring lots of clamps for bringing it back!
10-17-2016, 09:34 AM
