Tufport Topper questions! - Page 2

maxswasser · 08-06-2018, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WestyManBC

Hi - Tufport installed it in my 2003 E350 extended van. There is about 6' 1" height in the front, and 6'4" in the back. I built my kitchen in the front, but I am 5' 9" so no problem standing.

Cheers

Thank you for those measurements! How thick do you think your floor is? I'm 6'1.5" and so I'm really trying to decide if I can make it work. Did you have them install it for you? I hate to pay so much for the installation, but I'm not sure I could do it alone if I drove up there to pick it up! They definitely seem like the most economical option that I have found.

Again, thanks!
Max

maxswasser · 08-06-2018, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aranstar

We have one here in Montana. We drove up to Delta last year and had them install. It’s a 28” deluxe so with liner and reflectix insulation. It’s really solid and works really well for our setup. Ended up at around 4700 with onstall windows and export paperwork done! Don’t really know why more people don’t have them.
I still have to add some more pic in my album.

How much was the export? - I wasn't even aware you had to pay for that. I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the detour back to Colorado to drive up there.

Aranstar · 08-06-2018, 07:48 PM

It was 175 for them to do all the paperwork. It can be exported under the NAFTA agreement, otherwise you have to pay BC sales tax. Just have to return to the US through a commercial lane. They are amazing to work with super easy to communicate with, they even called the border for us so it went super smooth. The top got put on in less than half a day. Also they do need some lead time as the Sprinter infestation has decreased their production needs. For reference mine measures 72" at the front barn door in the center of the roof with 1/2" of floor.

86Scotty · 08-06-2018, 08:44 PM

I'm just a laid back country boy from Tennessee but.....why export tax and all that? Why not just drive your van up, have them do the top and drive it back? Are the border people going to notice a van that looks slightly different than a van that went the other way a few days previous? Just curious, seriously.

Aranstar · 08-06-2018, 09:23 PM

I had thought about that too, but BC sales tax is somewhere around 12-15% so that adds 550-600 to the price vs paying the 175 for the paperwork and no tax. ��

Drizzt · 08-07-2018, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aranstar

We have one here in Montana. We drove up to Delta last year and had them install. It’s a 28” deluxe so with liner and reflectix insulation. It’s really solid and works really well for our setup. Ended up at around 4700 with onstall windows and export paperwork done! Don’t really know why more people don’t have them.
I still have to add some more pic in my album.

I hadn't heard of these guys before. Not a bad looking top. As I get more distraught with pop-top prices I'm thinking more about hard tops. But I'm curious, you said you have insulation and reflectix, but the picture looks like the inside of the top is fiberglass. Do they sandwich the insulation and radiate barrier?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aranstar

the Sprinter infestation

I probably laughed at that harder than I should have...

Drizzt · 08-07-2018, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxswasser

I'm interested why they only say 76 inches of standing height for a 28 inch topper when fiberine claims the same standing height for a 24 inch topper.

I asked Fiberine about their conflicting standing height claims. I've seen the 24" listed as 6'2" and 6'3", then their 18" and 20" tops listed as 6'1" standing height. These were from their Instagram posts on Ford tops.

They said that their tops are designed to be aerodynamic (which I found odd for something installed on what has the aerodynamics of a cinder block) so the tops are curved. The 24" has a bare floor to bare top inside height of 6'4" in the front down to 5'9" at the rear. The 20" top is 6'1" in front to 6'0" in the rear. The 18" top is 6'1" in front to 5'11" in the rear.

Was rather shocked at the 24" dimensions! That's a huge amount of reduction.

Aranstar · 08-07-2018, 08:11 PM

[QUOTE=Drizzt;232669]I hadn't heard of these guys before. Not a bad looking top. As I get more distraught with pop-top prices I'm thinking more about hard tops. But I'm curious, you said you have insulation and reflectix, but the picture looks like the inside of the top is fiberglass. Do they sandwich the insulation and radiate barrier

Their Deluxe top has a fiberglass liner so the roof has 1/2” plywood reinforcement strips glasses into the outer shell then reflectix insulation in all the blank spaces and all sides, the liner is then attached around the edges to the outer shell so the whole thing is one piece in the end. They also use real ply vs osb like fiberine. Another nice thing, they work with you on where you want reinforcement, wires, lights etc... I was able to run extra wires for solar in between the liner and spot for powered vent!

Drizzt · 09-08-2018, 05:20 PM

Slightly off original topic but has anybody heard of or used these tops?

https://www.cyclevan.com/hightops.html

**BroncoHauler** · 09-08-2018, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drizzt

Slightly off original topic but has anybody heard of or used these tops?

https://www.cyclevan.com/hightops.html

"This customer was going to install rear seating at a later date. Because of this, we installed a roll cage as required by today's government safety standards. Later, when the interior is finished, the roll cage will be hidden behind the upholstered ceiling panels."

May not be a bad idea, but '...required by today's government safety standards' ?

Having a roll cage held together by bolts in shear probably not the greatest idea, but may be better than not having this structure.

Herb