Plywood Topper?

[Tinkerer]

So do I go with an ARE, or Leer topper?
That was my initial question when looking for a topper. After doing some research, I was ready to make my purchase...........then the world took a turn.
So I was being a bit frugal and came up with the idea to make my own topper, out of plywood!

After a few hours I was able to make a basic CAD model in Fusion of the Rangers bed rails:

........ half a pandemic later came up with this:

There was probably a dozen iterations before getting to this point, many measurements, and a few templates to verify fit. One of the biggest hurdles was realizing halfway through that the bed rails are curved! I had just assumed that they would be flat, but there's about an inch difference front to back.

more templates:

..................and so the build continues!

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[Rinn69]

Are you going with the normal plywood or "the good stuff"--Baltic Birch plywood ? A little more expensive, but MUCH better quality with flatter sheets and almost no voids. What will you be covering it with....fiberglass or "Poor Man's Fiberglass", aka--PMF ?

 

[Tinkerer]

Are you going with the normal plywood or "the good stuff"--Baltic Birch plywood ? A little more expensive, but MUCH better quality with flatter sheets and almost no voids. What will you be covering it with....fiberglass or "Poor Man's Fiberglass", aka--PMF ?

Well I started off with the idea of regular plywood, but soon realized that the Baltic birch plywood is so much better for the reasons you mention. Probably coating with Herculiner bed liner - I know it wont last forever but the goal is to make something that works for the meantime. I will likely get a proper topper in a year or so.

 

[armoredpig]

Off to a strong start! At first I was like ? but now I think it might be awesome

 

[dmeyer302]

I made a plywood tonneau cover for my old Flareside Ranger. It was supposed to be for a one-time trip, but it worked so well I ended up leaving it on for quite a while.

 

[Tracy Bowman]

Very creative! Can't wait to see final results!

 

[Tinkerer]

I think the only downside will be it being quite a bit heavier than a fiberglass topper. But if you can make it exactly how you want it, function properly, and look good then more power to you! Definitely not something I'd be confident enough in my skills to take on. I look forward to the results!

Yes, I think heavier for sure, i'm using about 4 sheets of Baltic Birch which are about 65lbs a sheet, but not all of that is being used, I would think its going to be about 180lbs.

 

[Tinkerer]

Parts are cut and beginning to take shape, I was fortunate to have my boss donate a half sheet of 1/2" Lexan for my windows, it's a little thicker then I would prefer, but beggars cant be choosers!

I think of of the most challenging aspects will be trying to get a good seal around the windows (windoors!) and rear hatch, I have a plan but only time will tell.

Here's the inner frame with notches (tenons?) that locate in the outer skin.

The front windows are not cut in at this point - just testing the fit.

more test fitting

 

[Tinkerer]

gone are the days of using hand saws and chisels.

I did actually use a hand saw to trim the tabs from the CNC cut parts - oh and a chisel to open a can of varnish

 

[PIJoe]

this is so awesome!!! I love it so far!

 

[T Bone]

too cool!

 

[Tinkerer]

Thanks for all the positive messages!

Here's a couple more progress shots, glued and screwed all the joints with PL premium adhesive, it was rather messy, and a whole bunch of glue squeeze out which is a real pain to clean up.

Filled all the screw holes with Bondo and sanded smooth.

Then time for a test fit!

One of the side openings is a little larger to accommodate the windoor!

 

[ldr01rl]

If you buy a $50 topper you can cut and fab it to fit. But your build is crazy cool.

 

[SafetyDan]

Since you have a CNC to cut these you should sell kits. I would build one and glass it.

 

[Tinkerer]

If you buy a $50 topper you can cut and fab it to fit. But your build is crazy cool.

It's funny you say that because there was an old topper in our yard from an 8'bed full size truck - we talked about slicing it down and stitching it back together - but none of the windows would have fit.

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