Roof top tent on a A.R.E camper shell?

Hello i know there a lot of forums out there about this. But none really give you a good answer so i was seeing what everyone on here thinks. So i have a Tacoma double cab with a 5ft bed with the A.R.E. CX camper shell. I was seeing if anyone has put a rooftop tent on top and its ok with the weight? So with me, wife and my boy we are looking around 500lbs on top of the shell without the weight of the tent. When i was down at a camper dealer near me. The guy was saying he seen no problem with doing it. He also said if i was worried i could put Reese carry power ratcheting cargo bar in the middle on the shell when I'm at camp.

So i really like my camper shell. I like that i can put anything in it and just lock it and not worry about it or not have to worry about my gear getting wet.

I had two other idea if this doesn't work. Go with Leitner Designs or AT habitat.

So i would have to sell the A.R.E. probably get $ for it. The Leither Designs with the rack and all the extra i would get is close to $. Its a amazing setup but now i can't just leave things in the bed and have to worry about things getting wet. But know i don't care about the weight of my family and the tent cause the thing can hold lbs. So thats BA.

Now going crazy and get the Habitat. I only have to bad things i can think of. One Its almost 10k to get and its not a wide sleep platform like a roof top tent.

ooo another thing on roof top tents. I have 23zero and love but i been looking at the Freesspirit High Country. I seeing what people think of it.

So this is just my thoughts . Tell me what you think and your ideas.

Thanks guys

Does anyone know of a truck cap that can hold a 225 lb RTT and also 4 people? My family will probably never tip the scales at 800 lbs combined, but was hoping to find one that could hold lbs just to be safe. This is what I have discovered so far....

ARE - dealer told me the HD Series can handle that but do not make for my Tacoma DCLB.
Leer - none of their caps hold that much.
Snugtop - nothing holds that much and I don't even think they have dealers east of the Mississippi anyway.

Not even sure if there are any other cap manufacturers. I guess I could also just put it on top of the cab but the model I want (CVT Mckinley) is too long for the cab. Would overhang. Any thoughts or ideas are much appreciated.

There are folks who do it but generally it's reccomended to put some sort of support structure inside to help with the weight. You also need to make sure the tent is secured and doesn't move around as it can contribute to fiberglass cracking. Another issue that can occur is spreading of the bed walls and cracking at the bottom of the rear uprights (there have been a couple of threads with pics).

Lots of threads here:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/forums/138-Roof-Top-Tents-and-Awnings

By the time you buy a new topper with tracks, towers and cross bars (I'd run 3 or 4 bars to spread the load - I destroyed a topper overloading the rack once) and your RTT... You'll be about 4/5 of the way to the price of a Flip Pac - and the Flip Pac is a topper. Just leave it on and you won't have to store anything.

Will call and check both of these out. Little ugly for me and really question sleeping on the overhang part of them but worth a look. On the Tacoma Habitat I feel like my fat ass will make the front wheels lift off the ground.

There are racks that go under caps but most modern fiberglass caps overhang the outside bed rail to improve the looks as well as the weather tightness. This means you'd either need some sort of drop bracket or you'd need to cut the fiberglass which would probably require you to put some extra effort into sealing it. I've seen pictures of both along with an external rack that tied into the sliders in the front and the rear bumper in the back and didn't touch the cap at all; it'd be easy to design one that was removable. Register on expeditionportal.com if you haven't and spend some time searching, that's where I've saw the pics.

Internal bracing takes up your already limited space if you tie it into the floor of the bed but there was a fellow on expo who designed his to attach to the internal tie down channels instead of tying into the floor. Pretty cool idea I thought.

Personally I'd avoid the Flippaack unless you find a great deal on a used one in good shape- meaning the fiberglass in the front near the hinges isn't rotting, the torsion bar hasn't broken and the tent is in good shape. The new AT shell looks much more promising from almost every standpoint.

Will def investigate this more. Really only looking for lbs max so should not be anything dramatic. I keep picturing a NASCAR roll cage but should be doable with much smaller diameter tubes.