Fas-Top Installed Yesterday

[charmincarman]

After some discussions with others and perusing this thread, I bit the bullet and bought one of the Fas-Top travel package through Radco. Now that it's installed, I like it a lot more than I did in photos. It gives a very "off-road" sporty appearance, but I mostly bought it for functionality to provide shade/cover for dog kennels in back.

Some impressions:

1) The kit sent out had brackets that were a bit to wide for rails. It still cinched down, but didn't give me confidence it would stay on. I contacted Fas-Top directly and by this morning the GM was texting me to send me a new set of brackets - GREAT customer service.
2) The install could have a little better instructions, specifically on where to put the pivots for the topper.
3) A second set of hands goes a long way in the initial install, but it's manageable.
4) the soft topper is great. very similar to gator or truxedo in quality. it does have a higher profile than most, but I'm willing to give that for the topper.
5) The topper quality is solid and easy to deploy/take down. It took me all of 60 seconds to completely break it down and stow it in the bed. Imagine it would take 2-3 min to expand it back out again, just to get velcro tight

Overall pretty happy with the purchase. Will give the topper section a road test when new brackets come in - don't want to risk it flying off now...

 

[satchamo]

Sorry to dig this up from the dead but are you still liking this system? I’m thinking seriously of picking one up for elk season to setup a truck bed for mobility sake but I probably wouldn’t use it all year round so the option of switching back and forth is very appealing

 

[charmincarman]

Sorry to dig this up from the dead but are you still liking this system? I’m thinking seriously of picking one up for elk season to setup a truck bed for mobility sake but I probably wouldn’t use it all year round so the option of switching back and forth is very appealing

Multiple months in with it and I love it. It’s a breeze to fold down and run it like a normal tonneau or roll it up for a full bed. I leave mine stored in the bed but it would take two seconds to pull it out snd hang it in the garage.

 

[CaptainAmericaRob]

this is the one I plan on getting too. I like that the rails sit ON TOP of the bed rails, and you don't lose any bed width, and the tonneau rolls up so i can get bikes in the bed.
the instant pop up topper is great too. I think its a goldilocks, best of both worlds tonneau.

 

[charmincarman]

this is the one I plan on getting too. I like that the rails sit ON TOP of the bed rails, and you don't lose any bed width, and the tonneau rolls up so i can get bikes in the bed.
the instant pop up topper is great too. I think its a goldilocks, best of both worlds tonneau.

I can happily say however many months in to this I am that it was a fantastic purchase. I us every setup and it’s so easy to switch

 

[CaptainAmericaRob]

I can happily say however many months in to this I am that it was a fantastic purchase. I us every setup and it’s so easy to switch

about how much was it total ? the dealer near me doesnt have them in yet.

 

[charmincarman]

about how much was it total ? the dealer near me doesnt have them in yet.

I purchased through radco. Took me all of 30 min to install bc they sent me the one with the wrong brackets. They are slightly different for the 2021 models. Fastop had new brackets overnighted to me. Lifetime supporter now lol.

 

[CaptainAmericaRob]

I purchased through radco. Took me all of 30 min to install bc they sent me the one with the wrong brackets. They are slightly different for the 2021 models. Fastop had new brackets overnighted to me. Lifetime supporter now lol.

Thanks, excellent to hear! there's a Mid-west Truck Accessories place near me that mainly does tops and tonneaus. they're getting their FAS-TOP display sample in this week. I'll go up and check it out in person, but I love what I see so far!
I'm curious to know how it holds up to the Montana winter out there.

 

[charmincarman]

Thanks, excellent to hear! there's a Mid-west Truck Accessories place near me that mainly does tops and tonneaus. they're getting their FAS-TOP display sample in this week. I'll go up and check it out in person, but I love what I see so far!
I'm curious to know how it holds up to the Montana winter out there.

I’ll know in a few months. Just started elk season and being able to go up and down is CLUTCH

 

[Twg1]

Anybody with a Fas-Top travel package (tonneau + soft topper) have any intel on whether they are compatible with the auto-lift tailgate (either configuration).


Very close to pulling the trigger, but slightly concerned it won’t auto-close (particularly in Tonneau mode)

 

[charmincarman]

Anybody with a Fas-Top travel package (tonneau + soft topper) have any intel on whether they are compatible with the auto-lift tailgate (either configuration).


Very close to pulling the trigger, but slightly concerned it won’t auto-close (particularly in Tonneau mode)

It likely won’t work in either mode. It’s designed with a flap that presses down over the tail gate and I manually have to lift it up on the topper mode when shutting the tailgate. On tonneau mode, I have to close tailgate first, then shut the tonneau.

its a semi annoying nuance of the tonneau that I have to “open” it to close the tailgate.

 

[B177y]

OK, I am going to revive a 3+ year old thread about this Fas-Top combo tonneau and soft topper...

I have been researching toppers for a few weeks now trying to get pros and cons of each configuration and just came across this thread. Hoping @charmincarman still is on here or gets an email ping for a 3 year update with this Fas-Top as it seems to be the most intriguing. If not, does anyone else have this on their Lightning?

 

[charmincarman]

Ha - I got the email ping. What can I tell you about it? I still have it and use it, but I put in a decked drawer system so I rarely use the top portion because it's a narrow window and I hate unzipping the camper. Up until I bough the decked system, it was on my truck all the time. If you want to drive to Helena Montana, I'll make you a good deal on mine!

 

[B177y]

Ha - I got the email ping. What can I tell you about it? I still have it and use it, but I put in a decked drawer system so I rarely use the top portion because it's a narrow window and I hate unzipping the camper. Up until I bough the decked system, it was on my truck all the time. If you want to drive to Helena Montana, I'll make you a good deal on mine!

Ha! I'd love to drive to MT, I just went through there at the end of Oct to go hunting in ND, would have been perfect to meet.

Did you switch between the tonneau and topper much or just use one of them most of the time? Quality wise, did it hold up over three years of use in MT? Is the topper good enough to sleep under for the occasional hunting/camping trip as far as wind and weather protection?

Spring turkey season is coming up fast and I am thinking of a soft topper with a tailgate tent (like this: tailgate tent) for hunting trips with my son, but using the tonneau for the other 99% of the time. Usually combination things like this are never really as good as having the single purpose item, so looking for your real-world thoughts.

 

[charmincarman]

I switched between them quite often, actually. I regularly train with my black lab and would swap up and down based on the conditions. takes about 5-10 minutes to switch between the two. it's still in as good of condition now as it was when I bought it. I still use the tonneau portion and it looks brand new.

you could definitely sleep under it for wind/weather protection.

Sponsored