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Truck toppers, also known as truck caps, camper shells or canopies were a stagnant industry for a long time, however, that has quickly been changing. While in the past, we only had options for the heavy toppers that took multiple people to install, we now have a range of modular toppers, inflatable truck caps and even camper shells that quickly collapse and transform into a tonneau cover.
In this article, we will be going over the best truck toppers on the market, and give you different options that will work well for your life!
- 1. SmartCap EVO Sport – Best Overall & Best Modular Truck Topper
- 2. Fas-Top Traveler – Most Versatile Truck Cap
- 3. Flated Air-Topper – Best Inflatable Truck Cap & Easiest to Remove
- 4. ARE Overland Series – Best Traditional Truck Cap
- 5. LEER 100XQ – Cleanest Styling
- 6. Bestop Black Diamond Supertop – Best Budget Truck Topper
- 7. Fas-Top Solo – Best Collapsable Camper Shell
- 8. AT ATLAS – Best Overlanding and Camping Topper
- 9. Snugtop Hi-Liner – Best for Contractors
- Conclusion
1. SmartCap EVO Sport
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Best Overall & Best Modular Truck Topper
This is hands down my favorite truck cap on the market today. If you are on the hunt for a high quality topper, that can be put together with one person, and is fully customizable to your needs, then this SmartCap Evo Sport is the one you should get.
While it is also one of the most expensive options on the market, you get a stainless steel construction, integrated roof rails, gull-wing doors (think Mercedes 300SL, but just on a truck topper) and a hefty 770 pound rating (when parked), so that you can fit your rooftop tent on top without worry.
While all of these features are great, what really sets this camper shell apart from the competition is the customizability of it as well. Remember those gullwing doors we talked about earlier?
Well, you can add components to them, including a kitchen, bins, drawers, and more, so that what matters to you most is easily accessible.
2. Fas-Top Traveler
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Most Versatile Truck Cap
I don’t know how often I have wished that I could have both a tonneau cover and a truck topper on my truck. Toppers are awesome for storing larger items, having your dog hang out with you and so much more. However, tonneau covers do an awesome job of keeping the original appearance of your truck, that you liked so much.
Well, the Fas-Top Traveler fixes that problem! This soft topper looks just like any soft topper, where it can be attached and removed by a single person, and gives you an easy way to keep things in the bed of your truck without them getting stolen or rained on. But, in just a few moments, you can collapse the truck topper portion out of the way, and roll the tonneau cover right over top of it.
This is an awesome option for those that don’t like truck toppers, but need the functionality when they need it most.
3. Flated Air-Topper
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Best Inflatable Truck Cap & Easiest to Remove
Who says that a truck topper has to be a permanent fixture on your pickup truck? I know that many people would prefer to keep the sleeker styling of the truck, but still be able to have the capabilities of storage for hunting trips, transporting stuff outside of the rain, or just having an easy place for their dog to hang out on-the-go.
For people that want an easily removable truck cap, that is where the Flated Air-Topper becomes an awesome option.
This 35 pounds truck topper can easily be inflated, or deflated with ease and be installed on your truck in an easy 5 to 10 minutes or so.
While you may think that an inflatable truck topper might be compromised in its features, you’ll be surprised to find that it still has windows all around, tie downs all throughout, and has plenty of headroom in the interior.
4. ARE Overland Series
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Best Traditional Truck Cap
I really like the styling of these ARE Overland truck toppers, as they offer a unique rugged 2-toned style that is perfect for pushing through the brush, without damaging the paintwork on the topper. This is of course a “paint to match” style topper that is able to have the exact same color as your existing trucks paint, making it a seamless style.
The topper has a half sliding window on either side of the camper shell, and has rails on top to allow for cross bars to be installed on top of it. This means you can add anything from a truck tent to a cargo box for added storage (even over what a topper provides). There is also the added benefit for this topper, that it starts at under $3000, making it a good value as well (many others are well over this price).
5. LEER 100XQ
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Cleanest Styling
Sometimes simplicity is key, and that is what stands out with this 100XQ from Leer. As one of the largest names in the truck topper industry, Leer makes an awesome single window pane topper in this model. It comes standard with interior lighting, a headliner, paint matching exterior and so much more. However, if you want to up your game a bit, you can get remote keyless entry, and even a sliding front window (so you can access the bed from inside of your truck).
If you are looking for a no-nonsense, high quality fiberglass truck topper, the Leer 100XQ should be at the top of your list. Just don’t expect it to be modular, or be able to take it off with one person like some of the other options on this list.
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6. Bestop Black Diamond Supertop
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Best Budget Truck Topper
Staying on a budget with a truck topper can be difficult, as many of them are well north of $4000.
However, if you are hoping to stay under $1000, then this Black Diamond topper from Bestop is an awesome option. Much like the Fas-Top topper we talked about earlier, this cap will fold down into itself when you no longer need it (it just doesn’t have a tonneau cover as well).
This soft camper shell is made from a fabric material that has built in windows on either side and the back of the topper. You won’t have to modify your truck in any way, as it is built to be used with existing mountain points on every truck bed.
7. Fas-Top Solo
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Best Collapsable Camper Shell
You probably thought we were done with the Fas-Top truck toppers eh? Well, you would be wrong if you thought so. I added this one to the list, so that those that liked the topper from earlier, but didn’t necessarily need the tonneau cover would be able to get that option as well, as well, that is what this is.
If you like having a truck topper that easily stows away, but collapsing forward in the bed (so you still have your full bed size to work with), and don’t want to fully take the truck cap off every time you don’t need it, then this is for you. That, in combination with the sub-$1000 price point, means this truck topper makes for an awesome value, from a high quality brand.
8. AT ATLAS
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Best Overlanding and Camping Topper
Alright, now we are getting into the serious truck toppers! The AT ATLAS is an intense way to completely customize the bed of your truck. It essentially is the combination of a slide-in bed camper, and a truck topper.
If you are someone that is considering getting into Overlanding, this could be a great solution for you! It offers tons of storage in the truck topper portion, but when you are ready to sleep, pull over, and hoist up the truck tent that is built directly into the roof of your topper.
With space for two people in the rooftop tent, this lightweight alimnum shell can hold up to 100 pounds of cargo on the very top, and still be able to deploy the tent. If you are in colder climates, you also should know that it has an available Thinsulate liner, which helps keep the cold out, and the heat in (and the other way around if needed).
Now, just like most Overlanding gear, don’t think this awesome piece of automative gear is cheap, as the starting price is just shy of $15K.
9. Snugtop Hi-Liner
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Best for Contractors
Now, I am personally not a huge fan of these higher truck toppers, however, if you are in need of one, this is the one that I would choose! The Hi-Liner from Snugtop has a sloping roofline (upwards) that gives you quite a bit more headroom, as well as storage space in the rear of your truck, without affecting your gas mileage too much. Much like other fiberglass toppers, you can have this one painted to match your truck, so that it doesn’t look off.
It comes with interior lighting, sliding windows, roof rack mounting points, and so much more! It also has available options such as Pet Screens, carpeting, window options, and the list goes on. Snugtop is one of the biggest brands on the market today, and they back this one with a one year warranty.
With the additional headroom and storage of this topper, it would be perfect for contractors that need to fit a lot of gear inside of their truck.
Conclusion
I really hope that this article helped you out in your journey to finding the right camper shell for your purposes! This industry has changed a lot over the past couple of years, and there are not tons of great options on the market today. These are by far my favorites, and I hope that one works well for you.