#allterrainfamily #minimalistoverlander #SmartCap
0:00 preface
0:44 Intro
1:04 About the SmartCap
1:13 Compared to a Snugtop
1:44 RSI SmartCap weight and capacity
2:21 Total Chaos Bed Stiffeners
2:32 Roof Rails and Racks
2:52 RSI SmartCap Advantages
3:31 The Side doors!
4:37 Rear Access
4:52 Steel and Magnets
5:34 Breather Vent
5:58 Looks and styling
6:15 RSI SnartCap Accessories
6:25 Installation tips
7:04 Locks and Latches
9:33 Conclusion and Recommendation
Read the whole story here: allterrainfam.com/minimalist-...
The nice thing about an SUV is that it’s easy to get stuff in and out of the cargo area.
The nice thing about a pickup truck is that the cargo area is a lot bigger, even on a short bed like our Tacoma. But if you have a bed cap on it, you get some shelter from dust, elements, and thieves, like an SUV, but it also reduces your access to your stuff,
because, unlike an SUV, you can’t get at it from the front.
To help with access to our 4Runner, I built a nifty deck to make storage more efficient, and you can see a video about that out here.
To help with that in our Tacoma with the Snugtop on it I build these drawers.
That helped a lot, but I still wanted more.
What is it?
The RSI Smart Cap is a modular stainless steel truck cap or camper shell made in South Africa and shipped in 5 pieces to a dealer or your home.
Weight and loading
For this video, I’m going to compare it to the previous cap, which was a Snugtop GB Sport with the Sportsmen’s package, carpet, and single rear hatch. The sportsmen’s package gave it a 500# load capacity with extra fiberglass and roof rails. The top was very rigid and strong, and I never saw any cracks or flexing in it at all.
I do not know how much it weighed, but I can tell you that it took three of us to lift it off the truck, which I only did a couple of times, including when I took it off the Tacoma and put it on the truck I sold it to. So I’ll say it weighed 200+ pounds.
The RSI Smart Cap is listed as weighing between 168 and 198 pounds on their model comparison page. Since this is the smallest one they make, I’ll say it’s in the 168-pound range.
I know that’s not precise, but I’m confident in saying that it’s lighter than a fiberglass cap with a high load capacity and 2 windoors.
Weight capacity is 330 pounds dynamic and 770 pounds static. So you can load 330# when driving and #770 when parked.
So asl long as we all weigh less than 192 pounds each (and we do), we’re good.
Whether the Toyota Tacoma bed is strong enough for all that weight is debatable, but to help, I use these bed stiffeners from Total Chaos.
The Snugtop did not give separate dynamic and static loading stats for the GB Sport.
The roof rails on the Snugtop were rhino or Yakima rails with tiny stainless steel bolts, while the rails on the smart cap are big and thick and integrated into the bolts that hold the whole cap together.
The feet and bars I have here are from Frontrunner Outfitters, and I got them at Rack2Roam in Reno, where this smart cap was originally purchased, assembled, and installed.
Features
The RSI Smartcap has a lot of advantages over a fiberglass cap, but let me get two things out of the way first:
First, there are multiple other companies that make nearly identical caps, including RLD Designs, Alucab, GoFast Camper, and BYND 4x4.
Second, there’s nothing wrong with fiberglass. They like to use steel as a marketing point and say that it’s built like a truck, not a boat, but boats are certified and have a lot more riding on them than a truck topper.
Doors and Access
You can get side doors on a fiberglass cap, but on these steel caps, the doors are much bigger.
Rear access on this allows me to load in my biggest cooler or fridge, even on top of the deck. The side doors allow tremendous access to the back from both sides and lets us use the space way up near the cab in ways you just can’t without those side doors.
Locks and latches
These caps have two locking latches on each door. As far as I can tell, caps and campers all use the same ones. They take the same key, of course, and are secure enough.
They can be a pain, though. Locking six locks is tedious, and the keys are flimsy. Also, they are not watertight, and they can get frozen shut in the winter. I did find a solution to this, though. Either WD40 or this lock de-icer works well and actually lasts a while. Once I figured this out this winter, I could get through most of the late winter without any more lock freezing after just one application. And we had a lot of cold storms.
Windows
The side and front panels on the Eco Sport model have sliding window openings if you need to let fresh air in. They slide on a track and have a nice gasket seal. I haven’t had any leak issues with these at all.