Would love to hear peoples pro’s and con’s of doing a Platform camper vs doing a Platform Topper and a RTT or Super Light
Specifically on a very small bed truck.
Getting my Topper and Platform RTT installed soon.
I went that route vs Platform Camper solely to enable fitting into my garage. By flush mounting the RTT to the topper, the whole thing is a little over 2" shorter than the camper.
I have a shortbed 3d gen Tacoma lifted on 35" tires and the camper would’ve been 2" too tall to fit in my garage.
I’m not crazy about giving up the floor passthrough but it’s that or nothing. On the plus side, it should look pretty clean with less empty space between the RTT overhang and the cab roof.
I ran a RTT on a shell but switched to the platform camper last year. The RTT (iKamper X-Cover) was much larger when opened but took longer to setup and breakdown. Our RTT was one of the lighter options at 120 lbs but the platform camper feels lighter on the truck than the shell RTT combo.
Our shell didn’t have windoors so the access from the side on the platform camper is another benefit and the clearance is better with the platform camper…even with beef bars it is about 6" shorter than the RTT was on the truck.
With a RTT + topper or rack you don’t get the modular pass-through floor.
No standing room, no place to hang out in bad weather. Less secure storage if it’s a rack, not so much with the topper.
I went from RTT + rack to the GFC platform camper specifically because it’s a huge upgrade in usability and “livability”.
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you don’t know how much it means to have something where you can remove the floor and have a place to stand out of the weather until you have it. It’s great to change out of wet hiking gear, hunting gear or Ice fish gear. I don’t think I could ever switch over to RTT even if it means I could fit in the garage. It is plain and simple that useful, to me at least.
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Yea personally speaking the RTT seems like a bad idea when they offer a full truck bed cover and for your reasons listed above @blackhearse
However, I completely understand that not everyone has a truck or wants a truck, so I do love that GFC makes the RTT. It seems like a step for most folks (especially with pricing). I have a buddy here in Va that bought a RTT and put it on a rack on his pick up. He likes it, seems silly to me, but to each their own. What the hell do i know… lol
Whatever it takes to get you outside, is a good choice.
Thanks for all the input everyone, super helpful.
Honestly, my biggest concern/ rationale for going the RTT route is that I could easily remove it and store it inside when not in use. I don’t have a garage (that I can park in) so I am a bit concerned with the whole water intrusion issue and having to deal with that on a regular basis when at home using the truck for daily use.
When camping honestly the water intrusion stuff isn’t a big deal to me, but if it adds one more thing I have to stress about when it rains on a regular basis, that is a headache.
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Its crazy to hear about all these water intrusion problems. Mine is dry as a bone even with all the rain we had. It seems to be hit or miss I guess.
not all tents leak. at least mine doesn’t and it rains at least twice week here. hell it’s raining right now. am I worried? no. it’s basically a crap shoot if you get a gudun or a TuRD(see what I did there?). the frustrated vocal members of this forum have been dealing with it for a while and are very very VERY frustrated and they have a right to be
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I totally get that and I wonder what the true percentage is that leak. Obviously you are going to hear from a significantly greater number that do. Those with perfectly functional campers have no reason to come post.
I like the idea of the poll that just went up, but even that seems like the percentage may be a bit high given you are probably more likely to even join the forum if you have an issue.
So for me it is basically do I trade the headache of taking the tent on and off regularly for the potential headache of a tent that leaks? I guess I am leaning towards the potential rather than a guarantee
I installed the camper on my 94 toyota pickup with a 6 foot bed. Now that I have it, I would never be without the passthrough again. It’s key to the whole thing.
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So true - even in the morning and having a spot to change/have shelter from the elements is huge!
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Totally agree with you @GainzGFC . Also not having to carry a ladder, being able to use it as a desk (which is my plan), the list goes on.
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I opted for the RTT (SuperLite) and a canopy. I still need to use my truck as a truck for everyday purposes and liked the idea of being able to remove the RTT. If I was dedicating my truck as a “camper”, I would go with the Platform camper. As stated, there are pros and cons to each. The more you specialize a vehicle the harder it gets to be used for other things.
2016 Chevrolet Colorado Z71, RLD Designs Canopy, GFC Superlite
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looks like a third so far:
You think so?
I would guess that those with a leaking tent are much more likely to click that thread and vote or even to be a member of the forum in general.
I am certainly not a master of statistics or polling in general but would guess that of those with leaky vs functional tents a much higher percentage of the leaky tent crowd would join the forum and thus be the audience for the vote.
I don’t have a dog in the fight, but it does logically seem like the numbers will have a significant margin or error
so what you mean is only people with a problem are members of this forum? I was a member long before I had a problem. that’s only because 427 days after initial deposit and a crap ton of BS I finally got my camper. V2 was supposed to shorten lead times when it added 6 months to mine
Order placed Oct 16th - received on Feb 1st on the White Glove Trailer. Just saying…
I joined this forum before i even had a GFC. I wanted to see what folks where saying.
No, not at all what I am saying.
What I am saying is that those who own campers with issues are more likely to either be members of the forum because they are coming here in hopes of finding a solution or they are more likely to be vocal about their issues when compared to a population with a camper with no issues.
It’s not that only people with problems join the forum it is that it is a higher likelihood that one would join (or vote) if they do have a problem vs. someone without a problem. Therefor any poll is going to have a natural slant to it to the negative.
Again, I don’t have a dog in the fight since I don’t even own a camper yet, but it is a pretty simple concept of sociology and I would imagine someone with a high proficiency in stats or polling could give us accurate error rates with things like this (I know I can’t)
Edit: Sampling error! That is the concept I was thinking of, couldn’t think of the term before, my bad.
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Same as my previous response, talking in generalities about sociological norms and statistics, I am not saying that everyone only joins cause they have a problem.
Just that someone with a problem is more likely to join.
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