Maverick Softopper Bed Cap Install

[Campmohave]

This week I decided to take the chance installing a Maverick Softopper bed capsince I’ve seen several posts about cross-installing a tonneau, along with the Flated cap.

the only changed I made was for the four clamps, which I just used a modified L clamp from Home Depot for the bottom half, kept the top clamp as is, and bought extended bolts and nuts to clamp them together. The clamps go into the tonneau track, so it may not be an option to do this if you have one, but I think it’s possible to get a quick release level on the end of the bolt similar to a bicycle skewer. The clamp is rudimentary but works very well.

the nice thing I noticed too, is the third light is actually not covered, and the three bed buttons aren’t either, which I included a picture of.

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[CBRacerX]

Well, this is interesting. Looking forward to your overall experience, including driving wind noise and efficiency. Is this it? https://softopper.com/products/softopper-ford-maverick/?sku=SO-MVRKO-BSR

 

[Campmohave]

yes that’s the one.

the bracket I used is this one :
https://www.homedepot.com/pep/Super...D-83wqVM1GBMKFqkS0dUaAgTKEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.d

I changed my wheels to 20” and tires (Firestone XT as recommended on the efficient ~34” tire thread, 285/60-20)this week also from the stock 22”. Will see what difference that might bring to the efficiency in the next several weeks.

I’m assuming no significant change in efficiency since caps and tonneaus have traditionally shown no practical difference. If it does in this case, I think I’ll make the assumption it’ll be from the tires.

Edit: just did 120 miles of 65mph with about 30 miles of off roading, no problems or noise.

 

[mkhuffman]

Will it fold down securely against the bed?

 

[HighVoltOverland]

Interesting, this looks like it would work well with a full height cage like from extrusion overland

 

[Campmohave]

Will it fold down securely against the bed?

It can fold without any problems. I have the accessory folding cover coming in the mail in a week or so, but I don’t think that will change anything.

 

[Campmohave]

Interesting, this looks like it would work well with a full height cage like from extrusion overland

I thought it could, but looking at their website, the amount of real estate the extrusion rack takes up on the top of the bed wall, I’m not sure it would work unfortunately, unless you did a lot of modifications and replaced the side mounting rails of the softopper with the extrusion rack.

 

[Rivdog]

Yes! We have hope! Have you tested it against water intrusion? If not, does it at least seem like it will keep water out?

 

[Campmohave]

One negative thing I have noticed so far with the driving, is the front window of the softopper. The softopper window is a little low, which makes it harder to used the rear view mirror. It’s not useless, just takes out some of the top visual field/long rear distance viewing.

 

[Campmohave]

Yes! We have hope! Have you tested it against water intrusion? If not, does it at least seem like it will keep water out?

Thanks for asking, I haven’t tried any water on it so far, but I’m confident it should keep out water well.

On the maverick instructions, there are two small parts of its bed where water intrusion can happen, but they give you some extra padding that you add to the section to help with potential leakage.

The rivian does have four small spots in the front of the bed that are similar to the Maverick, but with the way the foam is on the bottom of the mounting frame, I felt comfortable to not use the extra padding. If I can get time later I can blast it with a hose to see if anything gets through.

Update: drenched the back with water, with a little amount of leakage seen. If I didn’t already mount the front frame, I would use the extra weather strip that was supplied. I’ll probably just use a bead of black silicone caulking from Home Depot instead.

 

[mkhuffman]

It can fold without any problems. I have the accessory folding cover coming in the mail in a week or so, but I don’t think that will change anything.

Very nice! With it folded forward, you can put tall crap in there like a fridge or a giant robot. It makes it more versatile than a hard topper you have to remove. You never know when you have to pick up a fridge.

 

[Yossarian]

Quite attractive and a nice alternative to a hard shell.

 

[CrazyOne]

That's looks terrible. Where do I buy it?

 

[Campmohave]

Here’s a photo with the topper attached and folded back, with full access to the spare.

 

[R1T Preds Fan]

I like the option this provides for bed camping!

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