Plywood Topper?

[IL8APEX]

Wow! That's awesome!

Looking at the photos you can tell it has some heft to it. The nose down rake in the truck is gone!

Super job. This is definitely overbuilt, but just a fantastically well thought out execution. You should be proud.

-Tom

Sponsored

 

[BcP28]

Looks way better than I was expecting a plywood topper to look! If you're looking for help on the 3rd brake light, here's a write up I did for installing one on my softopper where I tapped into the taillight harness. Was the easiest way for me to get a true brake light signal without buying an adapter for the trailer harness.

Recently added a Softopper to my Ranger. Love the top so far, but am concerned about the lack of third brake light. I realize this probably isn't that big of an issue, but I'd hate to be a victim of someone texting and not able to recognize my brake lights, or a LEO having a bad day, so figured this was an easy solution.

I ordered an inexpensive red LED light strip from Amazon that comes with 3M adhesive tape attached. These lights seem to be good quality, weather resistant, are bright, and have low power consumption (I measured 34mA at 12.8V).

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GRO844G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


Next I had to figure out where to tap into for a clean brake light signal. The Ford Body Builder guide shows a tap in the fuse/relay panel in the driver's side footwell, but I didn't see a clean and easy wire path there, so I started looking into the tail light harnesses to see if there was a good tap. The LED tailights on my XLT have individual signals for the brakes, tails, and turns, so that looked like a good source. Pin 2 is a dedicated brake signal that is 12V, so that should work! This is the driver's side tail light.

Here's the harness disconnected from the taillight. The wire you want is the red one, at least on my truck. I used a simple wire tap. I'm not a huge fan of these, but it was easier than disassembling the harness to get a cleaner splice, so we'll see how it holds up.

I placed the light itself in the center on the rear flap. It seems to stick pretty good to the canvas. I ran the wire along the rail and over to near the tail light area. There is a hole in the bed under the rail that is good access to behind the tail light, so that worked perfectly.

I used a waterproof connector here so that I can quickly disconnect if I ever want to remove or fold the topper.

And here's the finished product. No rapid flashing lights, or flashing with turn signals. Seems to work well.

 

[r1ch999999]

I really like this. I’m curious if a 6’+ one could be done on a supercab with the tailgate down. I’d rather have something like that for the times I need a topper.

 

[HenryMac]

Keep a close eye on those hinges. Unless they are stainless and have stainless pins they will leave rust / oxidation streaks on the paint of your truck.

Some hidden hinges would have been more up to par with the awesome job you did on the rest of the fabrication work.

 

[jeffe]

Nice job!

 

[Tinkerer]

Looks way better than I was expecting a plywood topper to look! If you're looking for help on the 3rd brake light, here's a write up I did for installing one on my softopper where I tapped into the taillight harness. Was the easiest way for me to get a true brake light signal without buying an adapter for the trailer harness.

Thanks for the info. That's really helpful!

 

[Tinkerer]

Keep a close eye on those hinges. Unless they are stainless and have stainless pins they will leave rust / oxidation streaks on the paint of your truck.

Some hidden hinges would have been more up to par with the awesome job you did on the rest of the fabrication work.

Yes I agree, hidden hinges would have been better. Thanks for the good advice about the hinges.

 

[Tiny]

What an unbelievable job, WELL DONE!!!

 

[Blue Streak]

I just went through this thread. Fantastic job. Once a prototype is built you can always find ways to improve or make modifications that do not come to mind during a build. So I give this build a up. Hope you get years of enjoyment out of it. Start planing now for your replacement build taking notes of the what if's & should have's.

 

[RedlandRanger]

I would love to see an update on this project. Did you finish all the final things (brake light, etc)? How is it working out in practice now?

And I assume you had access to a CNC machine to cut the plywood? That is probably what would put this out of range for most people I think.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Simply amazing - when I saw the name of this thread, all I could think was “Nooooooo!”

You’ve rewritten the rules of that game completely. Nicely done!

FYI for the U.S. members - his cost of $500 CAD is about $12.89 USD. ?

 

[RoadtripsOfUnusualSize]

From this woodworker: Excellent job. Very impressive.

 

[2020FX4]

Not sure how I missed this until now... but, Great Job!

 

[r1ch999999]

I’d love to see one that extended to the end of a folded down tailgate.

 

[myothercarizahearse]

just wanted to resurrect this thread to find out how its holding up???

I concur

Sponsored