I told you it was a complicated story and here it is. And why I bought a truck in Denver.

Thanks to those of you who offered help, it did streamline my solution some. GLAD TO BE HOME!

Bernie, Glad you made it home. I grew up in Silverthorne so know all about the traffic and headaches. Moved just south of Grand Junction and don't miss it a bit. Sad that happened on a blue bird day, snow days that stretch will have 50 accidents a day.

Our trucks have toppers, one has a shelf across the bedrails, covers just behind wheel wells to the cab. You can place things on the shelf or under for more storage.
Some kind of system to pull thing form the3 bed too works well with a topper.
Spouse puts his trapping stuff in a sled and slides it in the bed , easy to slide out for access to the stuff inside it. They make or you could build a drawer system that has storage on top and drawers for storage, Decked system I think is one.

Glad you made it home.

Glad to see you are looking well and the boys are unhurt, too bad about the wife getting hurt, maybe strong airbag? On the truck have the cap painted to match, and bolt heavy chain front to back under box rails, you can secure stuff quick and even lock stuff up to the chains, not many thieves will go to that much work to get your stuff.

Interesting thought about the chain, I have never seen that before but it's worth considering. Might be a good way to keep buckets from tipping over.

Because my wife is bruised so badly due to the seatbelt, she doesn't think the Airbag even got to her, it was too small for where her seat was. All the energy was into the seatbelt.

First of all, very happy everyone of you are OK, at least nothing too serious.

I've own pickups for the past 30 years with toppers for all the reasons you stated. I wouldn't be without one. I have a silver Chevy with a black topper that came off the previous pickup I traded in. I found out long ago if you trade in a pickup with a topper, they don't allow anything extra for the topper. So, every time I bought a different truck, I switched the topper to the new truck. I don't care if it matches the vehicle or not. If it were me and I was just using it for bear hunting or trapping, fishing, etc. I'd leave it as is. Painting it to match your pickup is just a cosmetic thing. It's not going to add to the trade in value.

Marathon seat covers, weather tech mud flaps, special oil filter cup to change oil, Roaden M/T tires were the first things I put on mine.

I'm with you on the topper. Although I am not even considering trade in value at this time, I will probably drive this truck into the ground. Cosmetic yes, I guess you could call it professionalism since this would be a truck I would be hauling bear hunting clients in. Most probably don't care, but the overall look of an operation does matter. Really not a big deal, as you say.

Glad you and the fam are ok…I have chains across the top of my dog box between the rigging rails…like you’re thinking, it works great for keeping bait buckets upright….especially once they’re empty. Not that you’d have to worry about it with a topper, but I snap the bucket handle to the chain too so they don’t blow off while driving.

I would not care about the color of the topper. It looks good just the way it is. In thinking about the trucks in the bear crew we hunted with, I would be interested in a good, heavy brush guard and winch for those deep mudholes in the woods roads. I liked the idea here about the chain underneath the rails to lock things to. Good lights front, back and sides would really be nice as well.

Glad you guys were okay. Hope your wife feels better soon.

Moosetrot

Turning around on forest roads at night, hooking up to a trailer, etc. calls for good back up lights. I'm going with that for sure.

Glad all turned out as good as it did. Something like that is stressful ordeal and just a horrible inconvenience. Glad for the happy ending for you and your family.

front and rear trailer hitch to move a winch to where you might use it.
That cab is going to be too low to load 45 gallon barrels
front box hitch area to put a come-a-long to winch bear into it for loading

Maybe get full coverage this time ..instead of rolling the dice to save 300.00. Per year.

Unless you have a bunch of DWI ..speeding tickets..and are a habitual offender..

It's actually closer to $800 per year on four vehicles. 37 x $800 is $29,600. I'm still way ahead by $20,000, plus interest and opportunity. Definitely worth the risk.

The movable winch is a great idea. I use a tandem trailer for hauling barrels which would be done with my F-150. I also like your idea of a come along in the front of the box. Great suggestions.

One thing I don't have on my latest pickup are fog lights. I could have used them a few times this year. I may still have them installed if I decide to keep this one.

As we age ... Reaction time...eyesight ..and depth perception, decision making Dwindle...might be time to put the dice away.

Finding a good Tacoma at a fair price should of been hard to find they were asking some crazy prices not to long ago.

Put your guide business logo on each door...same color as that topper. That'll look good.