High all

I`m new in the forum and from the other side of the atlantic so please be patient with me..

Last summer I bought a 1989 / 1.Gen 4Runner with only 80 000km / 50 000 miles and I`m pretty happy whith it. The only thing is that the hardtop is to low when we do some camping. My girlfriend and me sleep in the back but there isn`t really sufficient room to breath, move and other things which happen on clear romantic nights with lots of stars.....

Whatever I am looking for a hardtop brand which fits on a 1.Gen 4Runner. I prever a hardtop, no softtop then it gets pretty cold here in Switzerland. Does anybody know a standard product? I really haven`t seen any high hardtop on a 4Runner in any forum!

The most brilliant thing would be something like a Leer DCC Delux Commercial or even a flip-pac..But I guess they don`t fit on the Runner.

Thanks
Fred

 

I've never seen anything like that made for the 4runner. I think your best bet is to find a pickup shell in the shape you want, and get out the saw and fiberglass. You could probably graft the mounting flanges from the stock 4runner top onto an aftermarket pickup top without too much trouble.

 

Time to make friends with a local fiberglass'er to modify the stock hardtop.

 

Thats exactly what I was thinking - shouldn't be too hard for someone with proper skills to modify the factory top

 

First thanks for the fast reply.

This is what i wanted to prevent. The original hardtop is hard to get and I`m not sure how easy it will be to get a approval for a modified hardtop...my girlfriend kills me if I cut the hardtop and don`t get it trough the approval here.
The other solution is to have a professional getting done the work but this will cost me more than the car!

 

Not that I want to get into specifics but what are you and your lady "sleeping" on? If it's a platform that you built you could adjust it to be shorter. A higher hardtop on a 4runner is going to get expensive if you want to maintain the side and rear windows.

Have you thought about an air mattress to sleep on? Truckbedz makes some great ones. I use one of theirs when my lady and I go camping and we have plenty of.... um... room for "things".

That is the mattress that I use (no that isn't my kid). It comes with a pump and is damn tough. You can inflate it in about 30 seconds, deflate it with the pump in about the same time and it folds up into my camping box really easily.


edit: A lot of good ideas here. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f172...camping-62803/

 

Then I have to ask:
Why is there someone else's kid on your mattress in the back of your truck?

 

Buddy of mine that lives across the street owns that child. We were doing some work on the rig and the kid decided the mattress in the runner was just like an inflatable jumping gym at the fair. That picture was taken just after he busted his nugget on the top from trying to jump.... after we told him not to try it.

Reason 1127 why I don't have kids.... They don't listen.

 

Not your kid? Well you should do more camping :-)

Yes we too have a inflatable mattress and the next thing I buy is a little electrical air compresser to pump it up...not that I`m lazy but if you daily change your sleeping location it gets annoying.

I intended to make to boxes with little wheels to pull them easy out. One box on the left side (the kitchen) and one on the right (wardrobe & bathroom). If I pull the box out it will stand on a pair of foldable telescope legs and on the tailgate. In case of bad weather this will be surrounded by a tail tent. (That`s the idea...still the idea)

So the cage of the boxes remains in the car which will cost us aprox. 10 inches of the height. We also think of special foam which is used in camper. But first, I really would like to find a more standard solution for the higher hardtop.

 

We camp with protection.

Yep the little compressor helps a ton, we also move daily chasing new fishing grounds and that little air pump makes it easy to re-set our mobile Motel 8.



Check my link above for more of this and PLEASE do a write up with pictures when you make your boxes.

Good luck on your search and let us know what you build/find/have made. Others would like a little more room in the rear of our runners for camping, me included.

 

Yep I`ll do so. We (including a dog) planed to travel this summer trough eastern europe to the black sea. If I don`t have any planning collision (or a personal financial crisis) I`ll move on with the modifications and post updates.