Best Truck Tents in Various Styles
If you love camping, but don’t necessarily like the combination of roots, rocks, and sticks pushing your kidneys through the night, don’t worry. You’re not alone. It could throw away, but it seemed to be the case in 2022. Pop-ups that stick to the roof of your car are excellent but expensive and can have a significant impact on how your vehicle performs in terms of mileage per gallon. Think of the van tent.
You get all the advantages of tent camping: mobility, flexibility, the lovely sound of rain falling on nylon, and none of the disadvantages (i.e. raking the ground for rocks before pitching your tent and sleeping on it all night). A truck bed tent may seem unusual at first, but once you see what our buyer’s guide has prepared for you, we think you’ll be convinced. So grab one of the best truck tents in our selection, pack a cooler, and strap in your trusty canine companion. Adventure awaits you.
What you will find in this guide:
- best truck tents
- Comparison with the best products
- Tips and buying guide
Top 10 Truck Tents
[amazon bestseller=”Truck Tents” item=”5″ template=”table”]
1. Rightline Gear Truck Tents
Our top pick is the Rightline Gear Truck Bed Tent. It stands out with its floorless design, one-year manufacturer’s warranty (with a US-based service team), and simple colour-coded installation. The hardware bag includes sewn-in installation instructions, so be sure to read them thoroughly before you hit the road.
The water-resistant fabric is seam-sealed to protect against short showers, always a plus for tents. Additionally, the tent is equipped with soft polypropylene straps and plastic buckles so that the tent won’t damage your truck’s finish. Inside the shelter, you have two gear pockets, a flashlight hook for lighting, and an opening for sky viewing. Our favourite feature, however, has to be the glow-in-the-dark zipper, which makes nature’s midnight call even more practical;
The mosquito is connected to the tent’s body by three loops and three ropes. As long as your fly is correctly aligned with the body of the tent, you’re good to go!
The floorless design is a rare feature in this buying guide—every other shelter here has a sewn-in floor. This feature (or lack thereof) is not for everyone. Some people like to have a bit of fabric between the cushion and their truck bed, which can help them keep their gear clean.
But the benefit of the floorless design (and we think it’s a big plus) is that you don’t need to take your gear out of the truck bed to pitch the tent. It is a handy design feature when setting up your shelter in bad weather.
The Rightline Gear Truck Tent is available in three sizes to fit your medium, large, or compact truck.
- floorless design
- Soft straps and buckles
- Colour-coded poles and pole pockets
- Rain flight included
- Two internal storage pockets
- Hook to hang a lantern
- Sky view ventilation
- phosphorescent zipper
- Manufacturer warranty of one year
PROS
- Please click on the application guide under the technical specification below to confirm which tent fits your truck.
- Floorless design allows installation without removing equipment from the bed; Heavy-duty protective straps and nylon buckles will not damage the truck’s finish.
- Waterproof fabric with taped seams (2000mm polyurethane); Colour-coded poles and pole pockets for quick and easy installation
- Sky vision vent for more light, ventilation and sleeping under the stars; all tents sleep (2) adults.
- Includes tent, rain bag, and stuff bag with sewn-in setup guide
2. Napier Sportz Tent
The Napier Sportz tent is designed for trucks with 6.5-foot flatbeds. The size of the tent will be a deciding factor for people with an extended cab or compact van, but if you have a suitable van for this shelter, you’ll love its features.
First, you get a 4-foot-by-4-foot shade canopy that attaches to the truck bed, relieving any claustrophobic feelings on rainy or hot days. A set of protective straps prevents scratching of the finish, and the pavilion even comes with an expandable carry bag for storage. As with our last option, you get an entire floor and a free height of more than one meter.
Numerous mesh panels provide ventilation, and hardware hanging loops adorn the interior for additional storage possibilities. But we think what stands out is the rear access panel that lets you climb into the cab of the truck if you need to—a full rain screen and integrated storm flaps on the windows and doors complete this feature set.
If you have a large family or need even more space, you may want to consider the Sportz Link accessory & MDash; a floor accessory that doubles as a dining area or sleeping space for additional campers.
For other similar quality products, check out our selection of the best rooftop tents available today.
- Aft cabin access
- 4′ x 4 shade canopy
- Stitched integral bed floor
- Lots of room for manoeuvre
- Full sky and integrated shutters
PROS
- Includes a sewn-in floor Exclusive to Napier
- Large interior with over 5.5′ of clearance
- Complete rain fly to protect you against the wettest weather
- Door flap for privacy and protection
- Easy to set up with four shock-corded fibreglass poles
3. LLC-TENT Grand Space Pickup Truck Tailgate Tents
This LLC-TENT is only suitable for trucks with a standard 2.5-meter berth. So this will be a problem if you have a smaller truck. On the other hand, the price of $160 is sky-high.
Slightly less roomy than the last few tents we reviewed, the LLC-TENT is still quite roomy, with solid sewn-in floors and plenty of mesh windows. A small canopy with a storm flap keeps you dry in bad weather. A camping lantern and full raincoat are par for this type of product course, but the specs are appealing. The highlight is the durable ripstop material, which must be strong enough to withstand the inevitable scratches, holes and tears a tent experiences. We also love the black and green style. Do you like wild camping?
- sewn floor
- small awning
- storm shutters
- flashlight hook
- rainbow
4. Waterproof van tent folds truck tail tents awning.
The next pick on our list is a colourful truck tent from the PXQ. Even more affordable than the PXQ, this option can accommodate 6-foot pickups.
An interior gear pocket and flashlight hook provide storage for gear, while the integral floor design keeps your sleeping bag and mattress from getting dirty. The polyester body and raincoat material are tough enough to withstand moderate abrasion. The awning is minimal, and there are more spacious tents on our list, but at just over €100, the price is hard to beat! That’s why it’s an excellent start for the tent.
If you like to travel alone, here are some top-notch solo tents that won’t let you down.
- polyester material
- floor design
- Inner pocket and flashlight hook
- It fits trucks with six-foot beds.
PROS
- QUALITY PROMOTION CONSTRUCTION – Water-resistant fabric with taped seams (PU 2000mm) keeps you dry, while the tent’s heavy-duty nylon straps and buckles won’t mar your truck’s finish.
- ROOM FOR TWO: All truck tents comfortably sleep two adults. Turn any place into a comfortable campsite!
- EASY TO SET UP: Truck Tent includes colour coded poles and pole pockets for quick and easy setup, a rain bag and stuff with a sewn-in setup guide.
- UNIQUE FLOORLESS DESIGN – Reduces setup time. The truck tent’s floorless design allows setup without removing equipment from the bed.
- SLEEP UNDER THE STARS: Sky View ventilation allows for more light, better views, and ventilation.
5. AQWESD 2 Person Camping Truck Tents
The beauty of this offering is that it can accommodate truck beds of different sizes, from 65 to 70 inches. The shelter will be higher on small truck beds because the arched design pushes up. On larger trucks, the tent will be shorter because the poles will slide toward the truck’s rear. Other than that, the AQWESD Truck Tent has plenty of features you’re already used to a carry case, a sewn-in instruction manual, sewn-in floor, fibreglass poles, a double roof, and mesh windows.
The price is right in the middle of our range for this guide, making the Haven a decent option if you’re looking for a good compromise between price and performance.
Our Most Wanted Coleman Tents Buying Guide features more great items like this that you might want to check out as well.
- Stretchable design to fit various sizes of sleeper trucks
- full of rain
- sewn floor
- mesh windows
6. Honda Truck Tents
If you liked the look of our third pick (the Sport Top), but have a Honda Ridgeline, the Honda Cargo Box Top is for you.
Honda Ridgelines are great trucks, but they tend to have short, oddly shaped chainrings. That’s why this shelter is specially designed for the Ridgeline but offers all the same features as the Sport Truck Tent, including the large 1.5m by 1.5m canopies.
Do not miss our list of the best-selling inflatable tents, which will guarantee you a pleasant camping experience.
- Only for Honda Ridgeline
- Aft cabin access
- 4′ x 4 shade canopy
- Stitched integral bed floor
- Lots of room for manoeuvre
- Full sky and integrated shutters
PROS
- Specifically to fit your ridgeline bed
- Part # 08z04-t6z-100a
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Features to look for in truck shelters
Type – Most of the tents in this buyer’s guide are installed on convertible trucks (i.e. trucks without bodies). All but one of these outdoor shelters have a solid, sewn-in tent floor that sits between you and the surface of your truck.
The advantage of a sewn-in tent is that it won’t get dirty while camping, just like your gear. The downside is that you have to get everything out of your truck to set up the tent, which can be a pain, especially when it’s raining or snowing. So choose accordingly!
Seasons – We recommend that you use all the lodges in our guide during all three seasons: summer, fall, and spring. That said, most of the tents here are double-walled shelters, with rain flies and multi-branched arches. These shelters are warm and stable and can withstand a few inches of snow.
You should always be aware of the limitations of your store and yours. Your best bet is to play it safe.
Truck Tents Buying Guide
Length – This is a critical consideration as not all truck shelters can fit all truck bodies. Many of the tents featured in this buyer’s guide are specific to truck beds of a particular length or design. Our guide’s product page for each offering has detailed information on tent and truck bed compatibility.
Height: almost all the tents in our guide have a free height of more than one meter. You rarely have to stand in a tent, so 5 feet is plenty!
Some of the shelters shown here are variable in height, as they can accommodate different truck bed lengths. For these tents, the shorter the platform, the taller the tent; the shorter length pushes the tented arch design higher.
Poles – The tent poles shown in this guide are plastic, fibreglass, or aluminium, with a bungee cord connecting the segments. To assemble the poles, slide the male and female ends together, allow the elastic to contract, and pull the pole segments taut together.
To disassemble, gently pull on the segments to stretch the elastic and fold the pieces into a compact bundle. Be careful not to pull too hard, or you are breaking the adaptable, a pain-in-the-back malfunction risk that is often not covered by manufacturer warranties.
Buying guide What product to buy?
Waterproof – Most truck tents are made of polyester or nylon and feature mesh panels to allow ventilation. In this configuration, your tent is not waterproof (obviously). It is where a mosquito comes in. It will also be made of polyester or nylon and have an additional waterproof coating to keep you warm and dry in your tent.
Look for a mosquito that offers maximum coverage and connects easily and quickly to its shelter. There is nothing worse than getting soaked while fighting a mosquito in the middle of a storm.
Accessories – Some of the truck tents in our guide come with accessories like flashlight racks, interior gear pockets, canopies for extra space, carrying cases, and more. We rated these accessories when we felt they stood out from the rest in terms of utility or uniqueness.
Ease of setup – How many straps and buckles does a tent have? Do you have coloured poles and sleeves? Is it difficult to tie the mosquito? These considerations are important because no one wants to spend precious time struggling to pitch a tent.
Frequently asked questions about truck tents.
What is a truck tent?
A truck tent is designed to fit in the back of a truck. In our guide, you’ll notice a few different styles, but a truck shelter generally includes a body, a set of poles, and a double roof.
Can I use a truck cover in the field?
Not really. Truck shelters rest on the bed frame of your truck to provide stability. They don’t have stakes to help secure the tent, and they don’t all have floors. We suppose that you could find a way to get one to the ground with a bit of ingenuity and work, but we don’t see why you would.
Can I drive with my truck’s tent mounted?
Bad idea. Truck shelters should not be set up when the truck is in motion. They are expected to fly away at very low speeds, creating debris at best and dangerous driving hazards for other drivers at worst.
The only time we recommend putting your truck in motion with a tent mounted is when you are moving your camp or truck a few feet and at very low speeds.
How can I measure the compatibility of my truck tents?
Each truck shelter has its measurement requirements depending on the design and intended use. Once you’ve identified a truck tent that has the features and price tag you want, browse Amazon for sizing charts, user reviews, and other relevant information. Some truck tents in our guide only work for trucks of specific makes, models and bed sizes, while others are more flexible.
Best Truck Tents in Various Styles