"Retrofit" Pickup Topper

Retrofit Pickup Topper PICKUPS Accessories When retired carpenter John Kravenas decided to put a topper on his 2000 Chevy 1500 1/2-ton pickup he didn t like the ones he found on the market I wanted a topper that would fit around the side toolboxes in my pickup bed I talked to a couple of local companies about building me a custom topper but they weren t interested or would have charged a lot to custom build one So I decided to make my own he says He found a used aluminum topper in someone s yard and paid $50 for it After making a few measurements I knew I could make it work He removed the topper s side windows which happened to be the same height and length as the toolboxes but kept the topper s aluminum trim and gaskets The topper was a little shorter than the pickup bed so he had to do some fabrication work to fit the rear window over the tailgate He also added a garage door gasket between the topper and the toolboxes A piece of plexiglass on front forms the front window He sawed out a piece of aluminum that ran the length of the topper ensuring the topper would fit when lowered down onto the pickup bed I have no idea what kind of pickup the topper had been used on originally But the conversion turned out really good and I ve had a lot of compliments on it I spent only about $100 on the entire project notes Kravenas Contact: FARM SHOW Followup John Kravenas 291 North Oak Street Crystal Lake Ill 60014 ph 815 459-1993; kms849@aol com

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