Inexpensive But Functional Cap for JT

[Oilburner]

Hey folks, just thought I'd share my little project I just finished. Needed a camper shell 3, maybe 4 times a year & wanted one light enough to take off & on. As with my life, nothing is easy so after about 6 months of searching I settled on this one:

Width was good, height good but obviously a tad too long. No roof rack either.
I found a bent-up rack at a local camper shell dealer, and went to work hacking away, took about 9" out of the length. This is what I ended up with:

Not perfect by any means, but the 3 doors are handy, the locks even work. And with one more bar over the cab, should be able to easily handle our canoe.
Total cost? About $150 including clamps, weatherstripping and paint. Just couldn't see paying what the really nice ones cost for what I need. Plus some labor, of course...

I am fairly certain a 1st gen Colorado short-bed topper would have bolted on with no modifications but they are Really hard to find.

Anyway, enjoy. Will do my best to answer if anyone has questions.

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[NOTJeepBeerSleep]

That's great. I'd like to do the same

 

[Robtco99]

I've thought about doing something similar. I'd probably only use the cap a few times a year as well. I like the Aluminum ones because they're light, and would be easy to modify

 

[Uparms]

Awesome Job!!

 

[Uparms]

You got any CUT or Build PICS???

 

[Oilburner]

You got any CUT or Build PICS???

I honestly thought it would end up looking terrible so I didn’t take any pictures but there really isn’t a whole lot to this type of topper: a square tube aluminum frame & all the parts are just screwed together with sheet metal screws. I will take some pictures to give you an idea of what’s involved.
I’ll also say this: that rack was the hardest part of the whole deal! It would have been So much easier if the shell I started with had a single bar across the back & front.

 

[Blade1668]

Nice, I would have probably done the same thing. But, at the time I got the topper I had been checking them out. I made a few phone calls to get more information and got offer I couldn't refuse.
I bought a rough condition fiberglass one for my Comanche cheap so I saved $$ and a little work. It was on my MJ bed trailer when it got stolen.

 

[Oilburner]

The whole thing is held together with these extruded aluminum strips that have sheetmetal screws to hold onto the frame. There is a plastic strip that covers the heads of the screws, it's missing on this strip. Same for the pieces the go over the corners.

When I shortened this one, all I did was cut the back section loose from the frame, it was only welded in 2 places on each side, which are circled here.

The top part of the frame was 1" square tubing that just ran straigt back, I cut it at the weld & cut off the length I wanted.
On the bottom, the frame of the rear section was welded to the flat bottom part that rests on the top of the bed rail. Again I cut off the length I wanted. Then I trimmed the aluminum sheet that makes up the top & side sections, then welded the rear section w/ the door to the shortened frame areas. I think it would also work fine if you just made a triangular plate & used it + pop rivets to hold the sections together instead of welding. The aluminum sheet metal gets screwed into the perimeter of the rear section, so it creates quite a bit of strength all together.
As I read this, not sure it is helpful?

I mentioned, if you want a rack, you would be money ahead if you can find one with single bars like this:

(Actually I think this shell would bolt right on, just not sure about the height just never found one for sale)

 

[trust]

Very nice! What was the initial cap on before? Looks like tgats even smzrter thzn my pvc pipe topper in my head

 

[NHJeep4x4]

Looks really clean. I like the old school caps. Goes well with the retro Jeep tailgate!

 

[Oilburner]

Very nice! What was the initial cap on before? Looks like tgats even smzrter thzn my pvc pipe topper in my head

It was in a stack with 2 others in a junkyard If I had to venture a guess, I would say early Ranger. This one is so old, it doesn’t have the gas struts - it’s got the old school spring lifts (which work just great)

 

[trust]

Cool thanks!

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