Flated Air-Topper Bed Canopy Installed

[Mav4Hogie]

I want to camp in the back.
Oh wait... the back is 4.5 feet long and 3.75 feet wide between the tires.

And I am not an Ommpa Loompa.
Or a lollipop kid.

Covering cargo, or animals is one thing.
Whenever I hear "camping" back there I think it is so impractical it is funny.

Carry your camping gear.
Sleep on the ground for pete's sake.

I don’t know Cooper thinks it’s pretty comfy. And I tend to agree. To each his own.

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[Mav4Hogie]

I like this solution except I would fabricate the extension from foam board insulation covered in fiberglass or poor man's fiberglass. It would be much lighter in weight.

Would that be strong enough for the door and hinges? The wooden version probably doesn’t add more than 50lbs ( mine didn’t and has a wooden roof.) I’ve seen lots of people use the foam for tear drop trailers!

 

[urwatuis]

Would that be strong enough for the door and hinges? The wooden version probably doesn’t add more than 50lbs ( mine didn’t and has a wooden roof.) I’ve seen lots of people use the foam for tear drop trailers!

you could glue strips of 3/4" plywood to the foam board and then wrap it in resin and fiberglass. I spent a couple of years watching videos of people fabricating their own campers and dream of doing it myself but I don't have a garage :-(

 

[urwatuis]

Would that be strong enough for the door and hinges? The wooden version probably doesn’t add more than 50lbs ( mine didn’t and has a wooden roof.) I’ve seen lots of people use the foam for tear drop trailers!

to explain a little better I mean glue the plywood strips to the foam to give you something to screw hinges and other door hardware. I really love the idea of fabricating my own camper shell but the Flated topper is so easy, light weight and inexpensive it's hard not to want to go that route.

 

[Mav4Hogie]

to explain a little better I mean glue the plywood strips to the foam to give you something to screw hinges and other door hardware. I really love the idea of fabricating my own camper shell but the Flated topper is so easy, light weight and inexpensive it's hard not to want to go that route.

Yep. Totally agree it was an amazing starting point and I can tear down my entire camp system in about 30 minutes and that includes putting the tri fold tonneau back on!

 

[urwatuis]

Yep. Totally agree it was an amazing starting point and I can tear down my entire camp system in about 30 minutes and that includes putting the tri fold tonneau back on!

versatility and personalization are 2 of the main reasons I bought a hybrid Maverick besides the gas savings and the Flated topper, in my eyes, is a perfect match but everyone has their own needs.

 

[Merrick]

Flated toppers are awesome in the maverick for camping.

Jeff, your backend is awesome but it looks cumbersome to remove and put back. Looks like it gives you some great added room. I’m just looking for a simple hack. Thinking about a small easily removable tarp that goes from the bottom of the air topper to the end of the opened tailgate attached with and maybe magnets at the tailgate end.

 

[Mav4Hogie]

Jeff, your backend is awesome but it looks cumbersome to remove and put back. Looks like it gives you some great added room. I’m just looking for a simple hack. Thinking about a small easily removable tarp that goes from the bottom of the air topper to the end of the opened tailgate attached with and maybe magnets at the tailgate end.

Actually pretty easy single handedly , the camper part only weights about 50 lbs. I just detach it and lift it from inside and then it just sits on a a pair of wheel dolleys . Stores by hanging on a set of hooks on the wall . This one was designed for a three week cross Canada trip later this summer so i
So these are the three previous designs
The third picture is closer to what you are looking to do. I used a Velcro strip in the black plastic at the top of the tail gate to hold it down, worked well. The flat one was just too short. I tried sleeping on the diagonal but even then not comfy.
But yes the design you are talking about takes up very little room and is very quick to set up and tear down!!!

 

[Merrick]

Actually pretty easy single handedly , the camper part only weights about 50 lbs. I just detach it and lift it from inside and then it just sits on a a pair of wheel dolleys . Stores by hanging on a set of hooks on the wall . This one was designed for a three week cross Canada trip later this summer so i
So these are the three previous designs
The third picture is closer to what you are looking to do. I used a Velcro strip in the black plastic at the top of the tail gate to hold it down, worked well. The flat one was just too short. I tried sleeping on the diagonal but even then not comfy.
But yes the design you are talking about takes up very little room and is very quick to set up and tear down!!!

Jeff- all three of your pictures seem be be a solution for me. Do you have information on these?

 

[Mav4Hogie]

Jeff- all three of your pictures seem be be a solution for me. Do you have information on these?

They all started with this tent. My mind took over from there. I got this tent on sale ( I’m in Canada, for $137 at Canadian tire, that would be about $50 US lol) seriously though if you are adding onto a flated the options are wide open the other option is one of those car awnings

 

[Merrick]

They all started with this tent. My mind took over from there. I got this tent on sale ( I’m in Canada, for $137 at Canadian tire, that would be about $50 US lol) seriously though if you are adding onto a flated the options are wide open the other option is one of those car awnings

This is what I am going with so far. Pictures are from the inside and outside. Netting is cheap on Amazon. Made to provide netting for an open hatch SUV. I added some Velcro and a few magnets

 

[MakinDoForNow]

False sense of complacency? The crime rate in KS is higher than it is in CA.

Alternatively, if you want to argue that you live in Olathe and it is much safer than your average KS city, I too live in a safer than average city, Santa Clarita. And it’s much safer than Olathe. But we still have property crimes and I wouldn’t want my plastic windows getting cut open so that someone could loot my pickup.

In actuality the reported numbers of crimes reported can be a little different than shown. The crimes are reported by the town the court is in and when towns are close the courts jurisdiction boundary is not necessarily the same as the city boundary or more frequently the criminals travel from the lessor crime area to pillage, etc the "more dangerous" area.

 

[Phimosis]

In actuality the reported numbers of crimes reported can be a little different than shown. The crimes are reported by the town the court is in and when towns are close the courts jurisdiction boundary is not necessarily the same as the city boundary or more frequently the criminals travel from the lessor crime area to pillage, etc the "more dangerous" area.

Interesting. So you’re saying that people leave their upscale, low crime neighborhoods and head to the impoverished, high crime areas to commit their crimes? That is the opposite of what happens where I live. The poor people leave their impoverished, high crime neighborhoods and head to the affluent, low crime suburbs to commit crimes because there’s more stuff to steal in wealthy neighborhoods, which then skews the numbers to make the affluent neighborhoods show up as having more crimes.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Interesting. So you’re saying that people leave their upscale, low crime neighborhoods and head to the impoverished, high crime areas to commit their crimes? That is the opposite of what happens where I live. The poor people leave their impoverished, high crime neighborhoods and head to the affluent, low crime suburbs to commit crimes because there’s more stuff to steal in wealthy neighborhoods, which then skews the numbers to make the affluent neighborhoods show up as having more crimes.

It can happen either way. The court may be in the safer area but that is the area the criminals are tried in no matter which area the crime is committed in. I once lived in an area next to an affluent neighborhood which showed almost no crime. a lot of the criminals lived in the safer primarily residential area but certain crimes they committed were tried and reported in the adjacent area.

 

[Merrick]

It can happen either way. The court may be in the safer area but that is the area the criminals are tried in no matter which area the crime is committed in. I once lived in an area next to an affluent neighborhood which showed almost no crime. a lot of the criminals lived in the safer primarily residential area but certain crimes they committed were tried and reported in the adjacent area.

Scared is scared where ever you live. I created the net hack for my Maverick and Air Topper to camp at relatively safe campgrounds in Delaware. I will also leave out my cooler and Blackstone with my daughter in a tent at the foot of my tailgate.

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