Today’s RV review is about the Flated Air-Topper. Very specifically, this covers the 6’4” high top bed model which I bought last November and have been using since. What you have here is an inflatable pickup camper shell, or topper.
A while ago we weighed our travel trailer, which is a 23’10” long Rockwood Mini Lite 2205S. This would be something every RV dealer on the planet would tell you to tow with a half-ton pickup truck, and that’s exactly what we were doing.
First of all, if you’re towing a trailer, go get it weighed. I’ll wait.
What we learned was that, as loaded the way we travel, this sucker had about 900 pounds of tongue weight. Our Ram 1500 had about 1,700 pounds of total cargo carrying capacity. So you subtract 900 pounds from that and now you’re at 1,100 pounds of capacity. Not bad.
But I also had a fiberglass topper, or camper shell, on the back of our truck. There’s 200 pounds. And those fancy running boards on the side? Another 120 pounds. Oh, and don’t forget the weight distribution hitch which, all told, is almost 100 pounds. Wow.
So that leaves us with about 720 pounds of remaining cargo carrying capacity.
The bottom line is, I bought a 3/4 ton truck to tow a trailer most dealers would claim could be towed by a half-ton truck. Oddly enough, I found the same model year truck as what we had with very few miles on it, so I also got a smokin’ deal because I am a cheapskate.
So what has my experience been? I will never tow a travel trailer with a half-ton truck ever again. Never.
The degree of control which results in a more relaxing tow is remarkable.
But, because we bought this bigger truck, I wanted to put a topper on it so that I could tote my eBikes around and just keep stuff under cover when I’m on the road.
Why get an inflatable topper?
In shopping for a proper fiberglass topper, like the one we had on the half-ton Ram, I realized that toppers are flipping expensive as all heck. Further, if you order one to match your truck, you could be waiting weeks and weeks.
Since I had been doing searches for toppers, the gods of the Interwebs chose to serve me a bunch of adverts about the Flated truck topper.
Like most modern consumers, I watched a ton of videos about the Flated truck topper and even interviewed the founder of the Flated for our RV podcast.
So I bought one and installed it. That was easy—you inflate it with the included pump and clamp it to the bed with the included straps.
The advantage of the Flated over the fiberglass camper is that it’s significantly less money (remember, I’m cheap). But it’s also easy to take on and off. When you take it off, you can deflate it and it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of space in your garage.
I also like all the pockets and straps inside to hang things.
How has the Flated Air-Topper held up over 8 months?
Since we got it, we’ve traveled almost 18,000 miles. We store our junk at our home base near Albuquerque, which is as high as Denver. Not only are we over a mile high, but we also grow better chiles than Colorado.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Oh, yeah We have that stuff, too.
But we have gone from here to Indiana three times with it, to California and all over Texas and Louisiana. We get around.
Other than getting dirty, it has held up exceptionally well. There are literally no signs of wear, and that’s what you’d hope for. But I still am concerned with an inflatable thing getting this much sun exposure and wind exposure.
At no point has it gotten wiggly or wonky so long as we keep the straps that hold it taught. Not that you have to go nuts, but it should be snug.
We have also been in some incredible rains with this and it’s remained dry in the bed. I am very impressed with that, too. My expectations were that water would get in. It hasn’t.
One thing to note. On our most recent trip to Indiana, it did deflate a wee bit. But you just pump it up to the recommended 5PSI when it’s cold and all is back to normal. They do include a manual pump. However, being one of the laziest people around, I rigged it so that my Ryobi battery-powered inflator does the work for me.
I will say I keep an inflator with me all the time, too, for both truck and RV tires. I’m pretty meticulous about this.
My one complaint
I am very, very pleased with this purchase.
Funny thing. As I write this, we took the topper off because we’ve been hauling truckloads of tumbleweeds to the dump. I truly do live in the desert.
But the one complaint I do have about this is the back “window.” Like the convertible top on your dad’s ’63 Corvair, this is one of those plastic folding windows which actually is held in the topper with both hook-and-loop fasteners (Velcro) and a zipper.
The bottom of the flap is supposed to be secured with a strap that goes around your tailgate with hook-and-loop fasteners on one side.
Getting this off the strap is fiddly. Once you’ve opened one side, the other side reunites with the strap, mocking you.
What I’d like to see is some sort of magnetic provision on that flap instead. That may be happening on ours—when I get around to it.
Because this is outside and has a zipper, I tried this EZ Snap Zipper and Snap Lubricant, and that makes all the difference. That stuff works well. The zippers did start to bind up over time, so keeping them clean is a must.
Conclusions about 8 months with a Flated Air-Topper
So, would I buy this again? Absolutely.
Is this a camper? Well, kind of. Friends of ours heard the podcast and saw the video. They bought one and crossed the country with this as their camper.
In fact, we used this on a tent camping adventure to go see the Big Boy steam locomotive in Wyoming. It worked great, along with all those RV gadgets I’ve shared with you here.
If I were going to permanently mount a topper to the truck, I might lean toward the fiberglass variant just because it’s more permanent. But the idea of taking this on and off so you can change the use case for your pickup makes this an absolute home run.
Check out Cheri Sicard’s review of the Flated Air-Topper here.
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Thank you, Tony! 🙂 Interesting idea. I am surprised that an inflatable topper has withstood so much use so well. It seems for an occasional kind of deal. I guess it is better made than many things are these days. Thanks again, have a great week, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
That was also my concern – how would this hold up to sun and wind (80mph in some parts of the country!) and all of that. Thus far there is literally no sign of wear.
That is great! 🙂 I wish you and it well! 🙂 Safe travels and stays, Tony! 🙂