Humvee style PZO fastback truck bed top DIY build

[DanW]

First thought.....

Thetan one actually looks pretty cool, especially with the window, but I just don't see anything practical about it. Form and little function on a vehicle that leans far to the side of function. It's like ice cream with tomato sauce. It just doesn't make sense, to me.

But that's the beauty of the world. Beauty is very subjective.

I thought the same thing about Wrangler fast backs, but they sold pretty well. I see them quite often.

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[AmosMoses]

What are there like 50 different topper choices at this point? They're all ugly on a gladiator however.

I wish a company would step up and be bold by coming out with a better soft top. That would get my attention. Sunrider and rugged ridge tried but fell short.

 

[RubiAR]

All I saw was the Evora in the garage

 

[PZO]

First thought.....

Thetan one actually looks pretty cool, especially with the window, but I just don't see anything practical about it. Form and little function on a vehicle that leans far to the side of function. It's like ice cream with tomato sauce. It just doesn't make sense, to me.

But that's the beauty of the world. Beauty is very subjective.

I thought the same thing about Wrangler fast backs, but they sold pretty well. I see them quite often.

The tan one that was at the beginning of the thread was an artist‘s rendering that was never produced. A squared off topper has more practicality if you are maxing out the volume inside, but you can’t carry anything oversized.. My situation may be a little unique since I carry dirt bikes. I also do longer trips so the aerodynamics might help fuel efficiency. Bottom line is that it is what I wanted and when I started, nobody would sell them to me.

 

[Figmo]

No pics with hatch open? (I assume, it opens) Also assume you have struts to hold it in the open position. Does it open high enough to fit the bikes back there without removing the whole thing? Have you considered spring pins at the hinge point of the hatch? So you could pull the pins and remove the hatch while leaving the sides in place?

How did you achieve sealing it at the cab? (or is it?)



EDIT: here's what I meant by "spring pins" Spring ball quick release pins.

 

[PZO]

I was hoping I would get more technical questions like this. The top will open about 45° upward, but not enough for the bikes. One of my future projects is to make an insert that latches the top at a high angle so it will give me more cargo space than a rectangular top and serve as a wind deflector when we are pulling the toy hauler. It takes about 5 minutes to remove the hatch. In my rush to get this to press, some of the features aren’t complete. Give me a free day and I’ll install the air shocks to hold it up. It Is sealed from the outside with weather stripping along the hatch and where the top mates to the bed. The only thing missing for 360° coverage is a piece of plexiglass on the front. It will mount to the aluminum roll bar and seal against the front edge of the bed.
You may notice that there are no latches on the outside so it keeps the lines smooth. the spring loaded latches automatically engage when the hatch is closed. To open it, I open the tailgate and release the latches. That allows the locking function of the tailgate to secure the back. I could put a separate locking T handle with linkage to the latches in the back, but I like keeping it clean like this.

 

[MoparToYou]

Looks good. I like it.

 

[PZO]

First thought.....

Thetan one actually looks pretty cool, especially with the window, but I just don't see anything practical about it. Form and little function on a vehicle that leans far to the side of function. It's like ice cream with tomato sauce. It just doesn't make sense, to me.

But that's the beauty of the world. Beauty is very subjective.

I thought the same thing about Wrangler fast backs, but they sold pretty well. I see them quite often.

That’s funny. You see a cybertruck, and I see an urban assault vehicle. But you did say it is subjective. Although I was going for the humvee spirit, I did defer the gun turret until I had time to do that project correctly.

 

[brsnow2585]

I was hoping I would get more technical questions like this. The top will open about 45° upward, but not enough for the bikes. One of my future projects is to make an insert that latches the top at a high angle so it will give me more cargo space than a rectangular top and serve as a wind deflector when we are pulling the toy hauler. It takes about 5 minutes to remove the hatch. In my rush to get this to press, some of the features aren’t complete. Give me a free day and I’ll install the air shocks to hold it up. It Is sealed from the outside with weather stripping along the hatch and where the top mates to the bed. The only thing missing for 360° coverage is a piece of plexiglass on the front. It will mount to the aluminum roll bar and seal against the front edge of the bed.
You may notice that there are no latches on the outside so it keeps the lines smooth. the spring loaded latches automatically engage when the hatch is closed. To open it, I open the tailgate and release the latches. That allows the locking function of the tailgate to secure the back. I could put a separate locking T handle with linkage to the latches in the back, but I like keeping it clean like this.

Maybe instead think like the 3 panel tonneau setup instead of a full pop top, I could see that working a lot more practically. You'd need some kind of rails on your sides but I can see it working. I love the fast back hummer/Jeep look. I'm thinking about my tonneau where I can fold back 2 sections without unclamping it from the bed rails. That would totally change if the front clamps were up towards the top/back of the cab, you could clear bikes and probably still see out the back window, then just pop two handle clamps, roll up and clip the buckles to keep it from flopping.

 

[Verne]

Love it! Kudos!

 

[GlennBeck]

Aesthetically, I had been turned off by the rear overhang on the Gladiator so I had considered even “bobbing” the tail to shorten it. That would improve the departure angle as well, but I decided that wasn’t worth the effort. I had seen a rendering on this site with a slant back that I thought helped with the appearance. Toppers for the Gladiator we’re just starting to become available so I thought it must be just a matter of time before someone would build something similar to what I wanted.

I saw this a couple months ago.

GAIA Campers Jeep Gladiator Shadow Top (Fastback) Truck Cap

https://offroadtents.com/products/g...NIZyZ0PUFBQUFBR2Q5YkFr&variant=45229131432156

 

[tysongladiator]

Only my opinion! I will start off by saying that I have no use for a fastback topper because I don't really do things for appearance.

Having said that, If I did decide I wanted one, yours looks the best. It's smooth and it curves with the cab. And it looks cool on the jeep with the black top. You get a thumbs up from me. All you have left to do is throw a wrap on the doors and pillars and it would look even better.

Looks good!

 

[Figmo]

I saw this a couple months ago.

GAIA Campers Jeep Gladiator Shadow Top (Fastback) Truck Cap

Almost perfect! Can't believe they put so much thought into this design, yet completely blew the aesthetic of the transition between cab and topper.

I was totally digging scrolling through the pics. Each one had me saying "YES". Until I got to this one. Which had me saying, "wait a second..."

Would have been perfect if they could have closed that gap a little more. I would have left the front window as-is along the top rail of the truck bed, but extended the sides forward to give the illusion of the whole thing fitting tighter against the cab hard top. Much like the jeep bed itself does (the sides curve forward to meet closer to the cab than the center is)

 

[DBravo]

After 30 months and several hundred man hours of fabrication labor, I’m pondering whether my time could have been better spent.

Before the haters chime in because they don’t like the look or think this lacks utility, hear me out. I started this project in 2022 because I had a specific vision of what I wanted for our Gladiator. We had replaced our Wrangler Unlimited 4 years ago because it had limitations that the Gladiator could overcome. The lifted Unlimited with 35s was great for rock crawling so I knew I would have to go bigger on the Gladiator to improve the break over and departure angles. We put the Mopar 2” lift and 37s on before it had 10 miles and I’ve been satisfied with that despite my skid plates testifying that 4” and 40s would have been better. When traveling, we wanted a cover for the cargo area that would secure our contents, but also give us the flexibility to carry oversized items when needed.

These pictures show the final build that I created, but I’ll walk you through how we got here. If anyone wants to pursue a similar project, feel free to DM me for more detail.

For me owning a Jeep is about the opportunity enjoy what you drive and for many, including me, the ability to own a vehicle that presents the possibility of expressing part of yourself or creating a vehicle that works for you in the way you use it. The look is great and I would say "vision realized". I would also add that the profile on your design looks much sleeker and precisely follows the contour of the cab. That slight forward "jut" at the top edge to match the curve of the round over on the cab is fire and the gap looks like the perfect amount. Well done, keep the windows down so that you can enjoy the sound of the lower jaws of fellow JT owners hitting their steering wheels as you pass.

 

[DBravo]

I was hoping I would get more technical questions like this. The top will open about 45° upward, but not enough for the bikes. One of my future projects is to make an insert that latches the top at a high angle so it will give me more cargo space than a rectangular top and serve as a wind deflector when we are pulling the toy hauler. It takes about 5 minutes to remove the hatch. In my rush to get this to press, some of the features aren’t complete. Give me a free day and I’ll install the air shocks to hold it up. It Is sealed from the outside with weather stripping along the hatch and where the top mates to the bed. The only thing missing for 360° coverage is a piece of plexiglass on the front. It will mount to the aluminum roll bar and seal against the front edge of the bed.
You may notice that there are no latches on the outside so it keeps the lines smooth. the spring loaded latches automatically engage when the hatch is closed. To open it, I open the tailgate and release the latches. That allows the locking function of the tailgate to secure the back. I could put a separate locking T handle with linkage to the latches in the back, but I like keeping it clean like this.

Agree with the clean look and love the internal latching mechanism. Same way my Mopar tri-fold hard top works: unlock and open the tailgate, pull the latch to open the hard top. Clean, simple and nothing for anyone to see or mess with.

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