Different Types of Camper Shells for Toyota Tacomas
After reading so many questions from readers about camper shells, tops or toppers, it has come to my attention that some of you really just want to see pictures of various shells on a truck similar to yours. It always helps to 'see' what you want, and in this regard, the internet sadly is not always your friend. I will put together a series of articles that will mostly just feature lots of pictures of different trucks so you get an idea of what certain models look like.
Right now it seems like the Toyota Tacoma is a very popular truck, at least it is for me on the west coast of the country. The Tacoma first hit the market in 1995. It went through a radical design change for 2005, and just recently got changed in 2016. Here are tops, or camper shells from each of those eras to hopefully give you a good idea of what tops look like on the Tacoma.
It's difficult to have pictures of them all, but I have a pretty good database of photos. I took all of these pictures. As always, feel free to ask me any questions.
First Gen Tacoma (1995 to 2004)
Second Generation Tacoma (2005 to 2015)
Third Generation (2016 to Current year)
© 2018 Tom Zizzo
Comments
AUTHOR@Thannisch Tim -avoid the soft tops, the fit isn't very good, hotter than hell in them and they leak, bad. While it will look funny, you may want to go with a taller shell, for the extra headroom, if you don't care, I recommend the SnugTop mostly because the roof is so thick it's going to muffle out sound the best, and make sure you get one with the felt/carpet headliner. But be prepared that it is nearly impossible to totally seal that bed, they tend to leak in the front corners. A Sport Highliner will give you added headroom, but if you prefer cab-level, even a basic SnugTop Cab High will be good. They sell for around $2,100, after tax, etc. The sport highliner is more like $2,500.
- AUTHOR
Sorry for the late reply, no, won't fit. 05 is the first year of the new body with the composite bed, and it's at least three inches wider than the old bed, if not more. Depending on the brand of top, it might sit on the rails, but I would guess that it won't since the first gen Tacos have very thin, narrow rails.
Need ur expertise. Want a decent camper for Tacoma 2010 sr5 and pretty sure bed is only 5.5 feet or approx. gonna do a lot of living in it as I work at different hospitals around the west in probably off the beaten path places like forest reserve where there’s no hookups Sorry that’s irrelevant. Which model or brand is cheap but also good for sound proof as I work nights and need to sleep during day. Any info at all would b greatly appreciated. I found fabric shells that looks solid for like 500$ but I’m afraid they’ll have no sound reduction
Will a 05+ Tacoma shell fit on an 04 Tacoma and how well?
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