Review of the Four Wheel Camper Project M Truck Topper (Truck Camper Adventure)
As a former Marine I take a lot of pride in getting by with the bare necessities. We’re known for a lot of things in the Marine Corps, but having an abundance of gear is not one of them.
So when I began to consider the options for an overland setup for my 2017 Tacoma TRD Off Road, I was able to talk myself out of just about every option on the market. I had a ground tent and a nice camp mattress, what else did I need?
Yet my mind wandered… I couldn’t help myself. I spent more time than I’d care to admit on Instagram mindlessly swiping through images of low profile camper setups from GoFast Campers, AT Overland, Alu-Cab, and of course Four Wheel Campers. I liked the simplicity of the GoFast design but the size of the bed and wedge style made me wonder if my fiancé and our two dogs would actually be comfortable up there. The AT Overland came a little closer, but again the wedge-style of their Summit model through me off. Then Alu-Cab introduced their newest slide-in camper model, the Canopy Camper, and I thought I’d found it. It still has a wedge-style top, but the wider footprint seemed to offer more sleeping space than the other models on the market. But then I noticed what I consider its fatal flaw: the sacrifice of my beloved tailgate.
This was a deal breaker for me. I spend a lot of time on the road as an author and public speaker, exploring the backcountry between events, but when I’m home I need my truck to be a truck, hauling everything from groceries to firewood. The Alu-Cab model retains use of the bed, but swapping my tailgate for a door would turn my truck into too much of a dedicated camper. What if I needed to haul something that stuck out past the end of the truck bed? A very real concern given the 5-foot bed on my Tacoma. Above all else, the tailgate is my favorite piece of furniture, it’s where I do my best thinking. I just couldn’t justify getting rid of it. I convinced myself again that my ground tent was all I needed.
