First gen Tacoma bed cap fits on Gladiator

[Alexander K]

So for a long time I’ve wondered if a camper shell from a first gen Tacoma with the 5 foot bed would fit a gladiator.

The bed dimensions are basically identical but I’ve never see anyone do this. Well this past week I finally bit the bullet and picked one up off marketplace. As luck would have it the actually fit really well and for a 7th of July hat a new ARE topper would cost I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Only modifications I had to do was to the inner lip to clear the gladiator bed bump ins at the front by the tailgate and slightly in the back (see images) overall it fits great the cap I got is a glasstite has an inner lip not and outer one and I think this is key to it fitting so well.

I hope this helps someone!

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[Clark]

So for a long time I’ve wondered if a camper shell from a first gen Tacoma with the 5 foot bed would fit a gladiator.

The bed dimensions are basically identical but I’ve never see anyone do this. Well this past week I finally bit the bullet and picked one up off marketplace. As luck would have it the actually fit really well and for a 7th of July hat a new ARE topper would cost I couldn’t be happier with the results.

Only modifications I had to do was to the inner lip to clear the gladiator bed bump ins at the front by the tailgate and slightly in the back (see images) overall it fits great the cap I got is a glasstite has an inner lip not and outer one and I think this is key to it fitting so well.

I hope this helps someone!

Very cool

 

[pharmfrank]

I've had Dodge Dakotas in the past and both tonneau covers and caps, my Lund soft tonneau served me well for over 10 years, then I switched to an aluminum cap and loved the large, dry
space, I could even sleep back there. When I got the 2020 Gladiator the only caps I could find
were 2 grand, over my budget at the time (now too !), so I went for a WeatherTech Alloy tonneau.
The WeatherTech tonneau has served me well but now and then I still think of a cap, you have
given me hope since used caps are quite common but I never knew what alternatives I had other
than new, the odd size always threw me..
Thanks and good luck. Oh and I like your choice of Glad colors too.

 

[ChecksOut]

How'd you end up securing it to the bed? Any mods needed for that?

 

[Alexander K]

I am currently just using regular cap clamps bought on Amazon. No modifications needed just had to sneak them in between my pack out mounts

 

[DADDI8R]

Tell me about your Packout set up!

 

[Alexander K]

Tell me about your Packout set up!

Yeh happy to!
Everything is available at Home Depot and doable for a few hundred including the boxes.
So I didn’t have factory trail rails so I made my own it’s the deep unistrut from Home Depot paired black and thread into factor mounting holes. The threaded holes are M6 I believe.

The plates use 1/4-20 cone nuts and then stainless hardware from Home Depot to mount to those rails. You just need to notch the front of them to clear the wheel well and the back for the bed tie down I also cleared a bit off the top for clearance with my cap. You and see one side here remember they have to be mirrored.

Finally box selection. The pack out deep organizers are the largest that fit without hitting the wheel well and are practically perfect depth to line up with the wheel wells. The toolboxes that have the metal “handle” on the corners won’t fit. All of the half width boxes should fit.

For the front boxes I just bolted on the half width mounting plates above the wheel wells and they fit no modifications only thing is you really want to access those from the side of the bed so if you have a cap like me you’ll want side gull wing windows.

 

[James H]

Yeh happy to!
Everything is available at Home Depot and doable for a few hundred including the boxes.
So I didn’t have factory trail rails so I made my own it’s the deep unistrut from Home Depot paired black and thread into factor mounting holes. The threaded holes are M6 I believe.

The plates use 1/4-20 cone nuts and then stainless hardware from Home Depot to mount to those rails. You just need to notch the front of them to clear the wheel well and the back for the bed tie down I also cleared a bit off the top for clearance with my cap. You and see one side here remember they have to be mirrored.

Finally box selection. The pack out deep organizers are the largest that fit without hitting the wheel well and are practically perfect depth to line up with the wheel wells. The toolboxes that have the metal “handle” on the corners won’t fit. All of the half width boxes should fit.

For the front boxes I just bolted on the half width mounting plates above the wheel wells and they fit no modifications only thing is you really want to access those from the side of the bed so if you have a cap like me you’ll want side gull wing windows.

Nicely done!

 

[Artsifrtsi]

This helps quite a bit... on the camper shell.

All you need now, is to hit it with the Rust-oleum rugged black and then clear to match the Jeep top... Texture is nearly spot on, and really durable, just dulls out after a year or so...

 

[DADDI8R]

Yeh happy to!
Everything is available at Home Depot and doable for a few hundred including the boxes.
So I didn’t have factory trail rails so I made my own it’s the deep unistrut from Home Depot paired black and thread into factor mounting holes. The threaded holes are M6 I believe.

The plates use 1/4-20 cone nuts and then stainless hardware from Home Depot to mount to those rails. You just need to notch the front of them to clear the wheel well and the back for the bed tie down I also cleared a bit off the top for clearance with my cap. You and see one side here remember they have to be mirrored.

Finally box selection. The pack out deep organizers are the largest that fit without hitting the wheel well and are practically perfect depth to line up with the wheel wells. The toolboxes that have the metal “handle” on the corners won’t fit. All of the half width boxes should fit.

For the front boxes I just bolted on the half width mounting plates above the wheel wells and they fit no modifications only thing is you really want to access those from the side of the bed so if you have a cap like me you’ll want side gull wing windows.

Yeah, that's really slick. I might have to try that! Thanks for sharing

 

[Alexander K]

This helps quite a bit... on the camper shell.

All you need now, is to hit it with the Rust-oleum rugged black and then clear to match the Jeep top... Texture is nearly spot on, and really durable, just dulls out after a year or so...

Thanks for the tip I’ll definitely take a look at this as the cap paint could use some love!

 

[Volksparts]

Funny that you did this. I contemplated putting my ARE shell from my '17 Tacoma on my Gladiator a couple years ago and saw the dimensions where very similar. I basically got lazy though to swap it over since I do have a rack and tonneau cover already on the Gladiator. Maybe someday if I end up selling the Taco I will consider it. Thanks for the post!

 

[93civej1]

I am curious if 2018ish and up colorado would fit also. I am using a trifold cover on mine that i swapped from a colorado ZR2 I had because the dimensions were so similar.

 

[NVjeff]

Thanks for sharing this info!
I've also heard that a Chevy Colorado canopy will fit, sorry I don't remember which generation.

I'd like to find a cheap second hand canopy for mine.

 

[Alexander K]

Thanks for sharing this info!
I've also heard that a Chevy Colorado canopy will fit, sorry I don't remember which generation.

I'd like to find a cheap second hand canopy for mine.

I think it would so long as the canopy you get has an inner lip not an outer lip. The first gen Tacoma caps seem to just sit on the rails and have a lid that sits inside the bed. Newer caps I’ve seen has the lip on the outside that falls down over the outer edge with the body line and that wouldn’t line up on the gladiator.

You could of course cut the outer lip and have it sit on your gladiator rails but it would be more more and less secure without that inside lip.

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