Off-road with a topper

Does anyone do any serious off-roading with a topper on their trucks? Is it not recommended? Any downsides? I'm not planning on making a rock crawler or anything but do want to build a very capable truck ( Allpro apex ifs skid and sliders so far) and wondering the thoughts on this. Pics or videos always appreciated!

 

Toppers keep your bed dry.

That's it.

Use off road, on road, or anywhere you want dry storage space in your bed.

 

To be fair, one guy hit a mud hole with a topper on his truck and he died.

So, unless you're gonna get muddy you'll probably be okay.

 

Look at the user Crom and most of the expo community. Wheeling with a shell/topper is very common.

 

Reviving..
any hard-core, off-road downsides to hard toppers?

 

No, a camper shell is critical in my eyes.. Keeps things dry in the back but more importantly has the ability to lock things up. Mine has racks so i can put things on the roof for additional space.

Its my RTT on top of my racks on top of my camper shell that is not great for my center of gravity and driving off road.. lol the shell is negligible.

 

I’ve been running an ARE shell for about a year now, haven’t seen any negative affects at all. Off road and all, no issues. If you want some added security get a pair of bed stiffeners, although I haven’t felt the need to.

 

If you’re going to wheel hard, skip the topper. If you put your truck in places like this a lot...


This will eventually happen.

 

I had a soft topper, blasted through the desert, got to camp.
Soft topper was gone.
Ripped my fiberglass bed. Destroyed the framework of the softtopper.
Found it a little later. Good times

 

Just go aluminum

 

I want a set up like yours, thought about selling my ARE to help fund one of those. Much more utilitarian. Looks badass!

 

hmm... I guess I should go with a softopper and roll it down on the trails, or tonneau with a basket on top for my spare....

 

What make is your aluminum topper? Your truck looks so amazing!

 

Thanks! Alu-cab, South African company that imports their stuff through OK4WD in the US. Look isn't for everyone but very utility-driven and definitely grows on you

 

Thank you very much!!

 

@Bruce988jl

 

no real pros or cons off roading with a camper shell. I would look into getting total chaos bed stiffeners though. just a piece of mind with all the extra weight/flexing you will encounter

 

+1 for bed stiffeners

Our beds are pretty flimsy under load with all the stresses from off reading.

 

YUP! composite beds have more flex than metal beds

 

Mine seemed to do fine in Canyonlands.