Any update on this?
I had my first softopper for 8 years with zero issues with anything. Changed trucks tjats why I no longer have. The snaps are a little difficult in cold weather but you pull down a little on the top and you can snap. The rear is secured with a bar that goes across the rear, snaps in a holder on each side. I have not had any issues with the rear rubbing the paint.
The sides are holding well, no issues there. The rear flap is held in place by Velcro strips, no issues there either. It doesn't rub or flap. The forward section is held by three (3) snaps and Velcro strips. I had this installed before the winter weather season set in. Layers of ice and snow didn't hamper it's use.
Yes it will give you that room you need. I suggest a bed slide option too. As far as a rack over it, the problem I ran into was the width of racks or hieght of them. To be functional with the Softtopper, the rack needs to be wider than the topper or higher than the highest point when retracting. I'll be doing some tweaking to my setup. I'm also adding expanded metal and cross bracing up front, above the cab to accommodate outlander items. This leaves the bed clear for everyday uses.
I found this by Max-Modular. I think it would work.
Looks like it would fit over the ranger with those height options. I wonder if those side plates are removable so you could still access the bed from the sides of the topper
I’m not sure how structural they are, I’d probably keep them on IMO. At the very least you could raise/lower them as high/low as possible to get in the canopy.
