‘Four Wheel Campers’ Reveals Lightweight Pop-top Truck Camper – Gear Junkie
Published Date: November 7, 2019
By FWC Admin
The Four Wheel Campers Project M is the latest lightweight pop-top truck camper to hit the market. It is so new it doesn’t even have an official name yet. It will be the most barebones truck camper ever offered by Four Wheel Campers.
Lightweight pop-top truck campers like Project M fill the void between the traditional truck topper and a full-featured, RV-style, slide-in truck camper.
Four Wheel Campers is probably one of the best-known pop-top slide-in truck camper companies out there. Its full-featured rugged campers have traveled the globe since the company’s founding in 1972.
The concept behind Project M is to blur the lines between truck topper, rooftop tent, and full-featured slide-in truck camper. From the outside, Project M mostly looks like a traditional Four Wheel Camper.
The difference though is that Project M attaches to the truck bed rails, has no floor, and is completely empty inside besides a bed in the pop-top.
Looks Matter
The matte-black, diamond-plate exterior on the prototype camper looks like it belongs on a construction contractor or ranch truck. Luckily, Four Wheel Campers will also offer some clean smooth-sided aluminum options that should look way higher-end.
The smooth exterior option comes in a bunch of colors as well: gloss black, gloss gray, metallic gray, white, gloss khaki, gloss, and red.
Most lightweight pop-top truck campers on the market, like the AT Overland Summit and Go Fast Campers Platform, offer a contoured truck topper that is sleek and matches the width of the truck cab.
The Project M is instead very boxy, with vertical sidewalls, like the OVERLND Pop Top. While this doesn’t look as aesthetically pleasing or offer smooth aerodynamics, it does offer more interior room, a bigger sleeping platform, and the ability to have seating areas in the truck bed with vertical backrests.
Project M Construction
Like all Four Wheel Campers, the Project M is constructed from an all-aluminum welded frame. The frame is then clad in an aluminum skin and fully insulated.
Four Wheel Campers advertises that this insulation “provides comfortable sleeping at or below 30 degrees.” With no heater on board and no insulation in the truck bed itself, we’re not sure how the brand verifies that claim. On the other hand, you can sleep out of the elements in a good sleeping bag in nearly any temperature.
Project M comes standard with three windows. You get one on each side and one in the tailgate. More are available as options.
The pop-top system is carried over directly from the slide-in truck camper models Four Wheel Campers has been making for over 40 years. It’s super-quick to set up and break down.
The system is a full-pop design, which offers the most standing room in the truck bed and the most room to roll around in the bed. The pop-top walls have four large openings with bug screens, clear windows, and blackout shades.
Project M campers are also prewired for solar and batteries. This allows you to easily upfit the camper with a full self-contained electrical system. Think 12V fridges, lighting, and electronics charging in the camper. This will be a no-brainer upgrade for most people.