ALU CAB Canopy - LEARNINGS, SUGGESTIONS, SATISFACTION

[Tom Tanner]

Considering ALU Cab Canopy on a 6’ bed.

Others done so ?

Your learnings & suggestions please.

Suspension changes needed?Added rear springs?

MPG change?

Interior accessories & layout?

Pics?

Much appreciated.

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[armoredpig]

Considering ALU Cab Canopy on a 6’ bed.

Others done so ?

Your learnings & suggestions please.

Suspension changes needed?Added rear springs?

MPG change?

Interior accessories & layout?

Pics?

Much appreciated.

Don't forget to look into RLD and Rsi caps as well. The rsi is shipped flat and assembled at your house, so they can get it to you pretty quickly

 

[RangerMunkey]

Don't forget to look into RLD and Rsi caps as well. The rsi is shipped flat and assembled at your house, so they can get it to you pretty quickly

I've never heard of RSI... Looks like a pretty cool setup/idea! THX!

 

[armoredpig]

An observation--most of these South African caps can be had with an air intake vent that produces positive pressure in the cap and keep dust from getting sucked into the gaps in your tailgate. Super good idea--I'd recommend choosing this option; I think RSI has them by default.

They seem to be pretty light--160 to 180lbs for stainless, 120ish for aluminum. Tough call--I'd like to keep it light, but the stainless will resist dents and oopsies better.

RSI ships to your door (I think shipping is included?). The other 2 will use a freight service, which is a little more hassle. You'll have to assemble the RSI, which doesn't look difficult, but there is some potential for scratching it/denting it if you're clumsy.

These 3 use pressure latches which seem super secure, but are incompatible with keyless entry and can't be keyed to your Ranger's key. A US style commercial cap like an ARE DCU can be had with keyless entry and can be keyed to your ignition keys--but they're pretty ugly by comparison.

For the price of an ARE DCU 2600-2800ish, I'd rather go up some more and get one of these. Wouldn't wanna make my ranger look like it lives at Home Depot!

Personally, I am still using soft tops because I didn't even know these were available at the time of purchase and I'm still not sold on not being able to fold my top (honestly, I've never HAD to fold my top yet). I have a Besttop Supertop for truck 2. It has some advantages over a softtopper--I can open my tailgate without dealing with velcro or even touching the rear flap. On the soft topper, opening the rear flap is easier though since they have a round bar that just pops out after you unzip the windows.

Getting a rack to fit over a soft topper is a PITA. There are only 3 or 4 racks that'll work and they all tend to be full-size truck tall. I bought a generic bed rack and modified the heck out of it to work.

 

[LoneWolf7]

Not sure if you're US based or not but

I talked to Rin at ok4wd a few months back, which seems to be the only "official" US importer of Alu-Cab products, and he stated that they don't have fitment for US spec rangers on their standard Explorer / Adventure canopies. Their canopy builder on their site seems to be wildly inaccurate.

For example I had inquired about the Adventure Canopy but apparently this was discontinued Stateside even though their website still offers it.

They do have fitment of their Canopy Camper with the US Spec Ranger, but otherwise that is it for now. Rin did say they may have fitment later this year but with COVID, who knows.

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