Canopy Campers - a comparison of options

[PsyRN]

Well on the lighter side. Ovrlnd camper is on the lighter side. I know that one person on here has one for sure. One other has his on the way and mine is on order. Fully customizable absolutely. Jay and Maggie (owners) are a joy to deal with. You have an idea he can make it happen. Tent material. Can be verified as a super heavy duty guide raft material. Three options on doors for the back. Lift hatch with tailgate. Twin half doors with tailgate. Full barn doors no tailgate (my option) also my option is a 75-25ish split full barn doors. I was on my way through Flagstaff got to see their process. Fully handmade in house totally custom. Jay can do virtually anything you want. I'll let @montechie and @PsyRN verify my claims if they want to chime in.

I’m picking mine up in a couple weeks!

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[montechie]

Well on the lighter side. Ovrlnd camper is on the lighter side. I know that one person on here has one for sure. One other has his on the way and mine is on order. Fully customizable absolutely. Jay and Maggie (owners) are a joy to deal with. You have an idea he can make it happen. Tent material. Can be verified as a super heavy duty guide raft material. Three options on doors for the back. Lift hatch with tailgate. Twin half doors with tailgate. Full barn doors no tailgate (my option) also my option is a 75-25ish split full barn doors. I was on my way through Flagstaff got to see their process. Fully handmade in house totally custom. Jay can do virtually anything you want. I'll let @montechie and @PsyRN verify my claims if they want to chime in.

We're enjoying our OVRLND, ours was about 325lbs with our customizations (Tern windows in our side hatches, windows front and rear, fan, half barn doors. The owners (Jay & Maggie) were great to work with and the build quality has been great. For me I didn't want a wedge, even with the short JT bed the queen size bed can stay fully deployed with the other person standing in the back and doing whatever. No moving panels to go to the bathroom at 1am. The loft area is also more usable with the bed panel put away (vertical front wall vs slanted wedge). The tough material for the soft walls can't be overstated, I haven't seen it's like, and it makes the biggest difference in storms. No flap or sound, and we've had it in some wind. I've been kept up by friends' wedges flapping in the wind next to us that were lighter built. All that to say, go for a company with heavier tent material over a belief in a particular shape.

 

[Scratch]

We're enjoying our OVRLND, ours was about 325lbs with our customizations (Tern windows in our side hatches, windows front and rear, fan, half barn doors. The owners (Jay & Maggie) were great to work with and the build quality has been great. For me I didn't want a wedge, even with the short JT bed the queen size bed can stay fully deployed with the other person standing in the back and doing whatever. No moving panels to go to the bathroom at 1am. The loft area is also more usable with the bed panel put away (vertical front wall vs slanted wedge). The tough material for the soft walls can't be overstated, I haven't seen it's like, and it makes the biggest difference in storms. No flap or sound, and we've had it in some wind. I've been kept up by friends' wedges flapping in the wind next to us that were lighter built. All that to say, go for a company with heavier tent material over a belief in a particular shape.

Do you have a website for them? It was too broad of a search with google.

 

[chorky]

Do you have a website for them? It was too broad of a search with google.

https://campovrlnd.com/

 

[montechie]

The tough material for the soft walls can't be overstated, I haven't seen it's like, and it makes the biggest difference in storms. No flap or sound, and we've had it in some wind. I've been kept up by friends' wedges flapping in the wind next to us that were lighter built. All that to say, go for a company with heavier tent material over a belief in a particular shape.

I'll add, I would bet the Project M from FWC also uses a pretty heavy duty material for their pop-up as well. Project M uses the same mechanisms as their slide ins, and at least on the older ones I've seen the material is kind of a rubberized canvas. Their window options and the cost of mods from them, as well as a less fuel efficient shape (although wider) made me look elsewhere. An advantage/disadvantage with FWC is the Project M isn't custom built for the truck, they are sized for the general class (mid-size + length, etc), so depending on what you want you may have something that sticks way out from your cab, BUT can be easily swapped between certain trucks. (JT <-> Taco <-> ZR2, etc).

For us the OVRLND's been perfect last spring and summer and size-wise was a good balance in between the Project M and the AT Overland Atlas for us. I'm going to be insulating it this fall, and adding some l-track and removable shelving. We'll see how the DIY aspect of the camper does for me since owning 2 jeeps isn't enough projects.

 

[Scratch]

I'll add, I would bet the Project M from FWC also uses a pretty heavy duty material for their pop-up as well. Project M uses the same mechanisms as their slide ins, and at least on the older ones I've seen the material is kind of a rubberized canvas. Their window options and the cost of mods from them, as well as a less fuel efficient shape (although wider) made me look elsewhere. An advantage/disadvantage with FWC is the Project M isn't custom built for the truck, they are sized for the general class (mid-size + length, etc), so depending on what you want you may have something that sticks way out from your cab, BUT can be easily swapped between certain trucks. (JT <-> Taco <-> ZR2, etc).

For us the OVRLND's been perfect last spring and summer and size-wise was a good balance in between the Project M and the AT Overland Atlas for us. I'm going to be insulating it this fall, and adding some l-track and removable shelving. We'll see how the DIY aspect of the camper does for me since owning 2 jeeps isn't enough projects.

I really like their products. I wish that they had more photos including Gladiators.
Do they really charge $550 extra for a mattress?
Scratch

 

[montechie]

I really like their products. I wish that they had more photos including Gladiators.
Do they really charge $550 extra for a mattress?
Scratch

Probably? Have you seen the FWC prices yet? $1150 for their mattresses.

I already had 2 Thermarest 3" foam/inflatable pads and just use those, super warm and save on space when dropping the top down. If I had to get a mattress I would do that again or get an Exped Megamat. There's also places online where you can custom order foam cut to your needs with covers, I think those are still cheaper than $550.

 

[Scratch]

Probably? Have you seen the FWC prices yet? $1150 for their mattresses.

I already had 2 Thermarest 3" foam/inflatable pads and just use those, super warm and save on space when dropping the top down. If I had to get a mattress I would do that again or get an Exped Megamat. There's also places online where you can custom order foam cut to your needs with covers, I think those are still cheaper than $550.

Do you have any more photos of this on your truck?
What gladiator do you have and have you had to modify the suspension at all to carry this?

 

[Free2roam]

Do you have any more photos of this on your truck?
What gladiator do you have and have you had to modify the suspension at all to carry this?

Check out their Instagram page. They have a couple on there as well. I should be picking my one up in late January! I personally am going with a Hest mattress.

 

[montechie]

Do you have any more photos of this on your truck?
What gladiator do you have and have you had to modify the suspension at all to carry this?

I have the gas JTR with steel bumpers and a winch, about 50lbs of typical recovery gear/tools. with my camper build with all the windows it was about 325lbs. I think all told I had about 1" of sag up front and 1.5" in the back with everything. The camper put the sag in the back lower than the front by .25-.5" with those soft Rubicon coils.

Initially I put in a .75" coil spacer in the back to bring back a little rake. I already found the JTR to be wallowy in it's suspension on the highway, surprisingly I didn't notice it to be any worse after adding the camper. At the beginning of summer I put air springs/bags in the back and love the feel way better, and the ability to adjust rake for variable loads. Eventually I'll probably replace my coils with multi-rate springs, but I would've done that before the camper too.

I don't remember what photos I've already posted, but here are some I've put on EP.

 

[Scratch]

I guess I need to create an account over there to be able to see them.
How far forward does the cab over go? I'm wondering if I can keep my Bestop Sunrider.
These have really peaked my attention

 

[montechie]

I guess I need to create an account over there to be able to see them.
How far forward does the cab over go? I'm wondering if I can keep my Bestop Sunrider.
These have really peaked my attention

It's 37" from the back of the cab. If I wanted to I could take my front panels off still.

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