Dust sealing a dual cab canopy area

I dont know about the other manufacturers but Mitsubishi sell a accessory dust sealing kit for the Tritons to seal the tailgate to the body when a canopy is fitted

Probably a forward facing vent in the canopy to pressurise the tray area would help keep the dust to minimum even if the tailgate was sealed

Also look at the front of the floor area where it meets the front wall of the tray as some trays have drain points there to stop water pooling there & these would let dust enter as well

Regards Don

I find that by opening the front window of my canopy about 50mm, I get very little dust getting into the back. Creates a vacuum I am told ! I have tried a couple of rubber type seals from Clark Rubber with little success in creating a perfect seal.

Regards,

Dave

We had a dual cab Hilux with canopy. Travelled heaps of outback roads and tracks over the years. Initially had a flip up air scoop that kept dust out fine while travelling at a reasonable speed ie.30-40kph plus. Then we fitted canopy bars for a roof top tent and at the same time the canopy was replaced under warranty and couldnt fit the flip up scoop. Firstly where it went was under a roof bar and wouldn't allow it to open fully, secondly we didn't think enough air would flow under the roof top tent to pressurise the canopy.

As the flip up scoop didn't work on dusty tracks at slow speed or worse still if there was a gentle following breeze because under these conditions dust came in, we decided to pressurise the canopy with a fan. Cut a hole in the top (criminal) and mounted a themo fan off a Hyundai Exel 1998 model from the wreckers. I imagine a lot of themo fans would do the trick. Wired up to a dash switch and the auxillary battery, just in case it gets left on or things go pear shaped. We had a cover to go over the opening when the roof top tent was not over it, or when using it as a daily driver.

This effectivley kept all dust out, unless you didn't turn the fan off when passing oncoming traffic or followed a mate too closely, then of course it would suck dust in. This set up never gave any problems, and worked very well over an extended period of time.

Prior to this we had a Rodeo DC with canvas canopy. Had the canopy built about 150mm higher than the cab with a roll up flap across the front. When open on dusty tracks it kept the dust out fine.

Cheers
David & Mary

Thanks everyone some food for though here. I saw a Rodeo yesterday that look like in drowned in a bulldust pit and just hoping to avoid that sort of thing. Thanks again.

Yep - re our Mazda bravo years ago - fitted a rooftop scoop to the canopy - the air pressure negated the need for tailgate sealing - worked well on many a bush trip. At one stage, I ran a duct pipe forward to pick up air forward of a roofrack that went on.

Not sure whether you've bought the vehicle yet, but if you were to buy a dual cab with traytop, you can put a sealed box on the tray instead. Get full width access each side. If theres no rear door, then dust doesn't get sucked in. Mine is dust free.