Best Truck Tents

• Cost: Around $200
• Amazon review score: 4.4 out of 5.0 based on over 2,000 ratings
• Sizes: Five
• Bed liner: No
• Tent material: Vinyl

The Rightline Gear Truck Tent is our top pick overall because it is easy to install and well-constructed. The vinyl fabric is strong and durable, the seams are well-stitched, and the zippers and buckles are made from high-quality materials. This two-person truck tent is available in sizes to fit almost any truck bed and is among the most secure truck tents we tested.

The Rightline Gear Truck tent differs from most other truck tents because it instructs users to build the tent directly on the truck bed. Most other truck tents are assembled on the ground and hoisted into the truck. In some cases, either is an option. While it is a little easier to build a tent on the ground than in the trunk, it can be difficult to lift a heavy tent above your head.

You can see how the Rightline Gear performed in each of our testing categories below:

Below are the pros and cons of the Rightline Gear Truck Tent:

As with most truck tents we tested, the included instructions are mediocre. The pictures aren’t detailed enough to illustrate each step, though the written instructions are clear. Fortunately, the setup process is not that difficult.

Durability: A unique feature of this tent is that it has more straps for securing the tent to the truck than other truck bed tents, notably near the tailgate. To attach these, however, you’ll need to get on your back underneath the truck.

Weatherproofing: We noted that this tent has thick buckles for securing the tent to your truck. All seams are taped to prevent water leakage, the metal zipper heads are high quality, and the tent features a spacious interior.

Ease of Use: What stands out with the Rightline gear are the tent poles. The metal sheaths that connect the fiberglass segments are a bit longer than other tents. This makes the tent easier to disassemble, as you don’t need to worry about accidentally pulling out a joint. This helps make the Rightline Gear the easiest truck tent to disassemble. There are also only three poles to insert, which is fewer poles than most other tents, making setup quicker.

Comfort: The inside of the tent is roomy and spacious, with ample headroom. There is no bottom liner, which means you may need to clean out your truck bed before use. With any truck tent, you’ll want to use a sleeping pad, cot, or blow-up mattress anyway.

Reviewers who like the Rightline Gear Truck Tent say it is offered at a good price, is easy to set up, and effectively prevents leaks. Despite the fact that many feel the included directions aren’t especially helpful, they do feel that the tent is easy to pitch once you figure out the process.

A recurring complaint about the Rightline Gear Truck Tent is that there is no awning over the door. Many truck tents have such a feature and it allows campers to keep their tent flap open while it rains. This cannot be done with the Rightline Gear tent if you want to stay dry.

• Cost: About $2,000
• Amazon rating: n/a
• Sizes: One
• Bed liner: No
• Tent material: Oxford

The RealTruck GoTent is a bit different from our other recommendations. Rather than setting up in the truck bed, this truck tent is attached to a rack and crossbars (which you will need to purchase separately). We used the Rhino Rack Vortex Cross Bars for our installation. You can also install this style of tent on the rooftop of an SUV or other large vehicle with the crossbar setup.

Overall, we rate this truck tent very highly, and it is one of our favorite options. However, it is significantly more expensive than most truck bed tents. We think the GoTent merits the increased cost and is a good choice for those who can afford it.

You can see how the RealTruck GoTent performed in each of our testing categories below:

Below are the pros and cons of the RealTruck GoTent:

The GoTent rivals our top pick when it comes to durability, weatherproofing, and comfort. Where this tent most stands out is the convenience. It requires virtually no setup time: You simply open the latches and the tent unfolds.

Durability: When not open, the GoTent is protected by a hardshell case that folds down to a small size for aerodynamics on the road. When it’s opened, the tent materials and zippers are all of the highest quality and should last for many outings.

Weatherproofing: The wedge shape of the tent helps prevent rain accumulation in the top, and the oxford fabric is well weatherproofed. An optional rainfly can be set up, and there are two mesh windows that can be fully opened for more airflow if necessary. When closing the tent, we had one part of the seal that wanted to catch on each side. If we didn’t keep an eye on the seal during this step, it would have allowed water into the tent – but it was very easy to correct once spotted.

Ease of Use: This tent is very easy to install. The only difficult aspect of installation is that it’s heavy, and needs to be lifted up onto your truck bed crossbars initially. This can reasonably be achieved with two people.

The GoTent comes in a flat black box, and is almost fully assembled upon delivery. There are optional rack bars you can attach to the top of the tent, but if these aren’t something you plan to use, the only setup required is to secure four brackets that connect the bottom of the GoTent to your truck bed crossbars.

Once bolted into place, the tent pops open like an accordion and is ready to go. It takes less than one minute to set up and put away this tent. We’ve tested other tents of similar design, and there is sometimes difficulty closing the tent and making sure all the material is tucked inside. The GoTent includes handy bungee cables that gather the material and make the stowing process simple.

Comfort: Though somewhat small in size, this tent is one of the more comfortable we tested. The bottom is lined with a foam mattress, which is soft yet supportive. The tent is not as spacious as a full truck bed tent, so may not be a good option for more than two people or especially large campers.

The GoTent is a relatively new product from RealTruck. While it is listed on Amazon, there are not yet any online customer reviews. Other RealTruck products are typically well-rated with online reviewers frequently praising RealTruck customer support.

Having tested many RealTruck products ourselves, we’ve had to contact RealTruck customer support on several occasions. We can verify that RealTruck offers some of the best customer product support of any company. We have never experienced any wait times and are quickly connected with a real person who understands the product or can immediately transfer us to someone that does.

• Cost: About $500
• Amazon rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (approx. 170 reviews)
• Sizes: Two
• Bed liner: No
• Tent material: Canvas

The Kodiak Canvas Truck Bed Tent is made from Hydra-ShieldTM canvas. This material is heavier and more difficult to fold away than polyester tents, but much more durable. Rather than fiberglass, the Kodiak Canvas tent uses metal poles for an overall sturdier tent. The downside is that this tent is both heavy and expensive.

Choose this truck tent if you are able to handle a heavier tent, have a larger budget, and want to buy the most durable tent, which you’ll likely never need to replace.

You can see how the Kodiak Canvas performed in each of our testing categories below:

Below are the pros and cons of the Kodiak Canvas Truck Bed Tent:

Setup for the Kodiak Canvas Truck Tent is among the most difficult of the tents that we tested.  This tent is much heavier and bulkier than the others so it is hard to pack away and lug around when not in use.

Durability: Overall, we found that the Kodiak Canvas uses the strongest materials of any tent we tested. The metal poles’ segments are connected with steel cable, rather than fiberglass and string. This is a buy-it-for-life kind of tent.

Weatherproofing: The heavy-duty construction ensures that this tent has great weather protection. With waterproof coating on the exterior and an extendable awning, we felt pretty secure when we were inside the tent. The tent also holds heat pretty well, so it’s an ideal pick if you plan to camp in cold weather.

Ease of Use: The instructions are clear and the process is simple, but you’ll need to be able to lift a heavy tent from the inside to erect the poles. If you struggle to lift 60.0 pounds above your head, this may not be the right tent for you. If that task sounds easy, you won’t find this tent too hard to set up.

Comfort: Without a bed liner, you’ll have to purchase or bring your own air mattress or cushion to sleep comfortably. However, the tall height of the tent made it comfortable for us to sit and move around in during our testing process.

Reviewers like this tent largely due to the heavy-duty construction. Many call it out as the strongest, most durable truck tent they have used. In most cases, this tent fits well and at least one person pointed out the large number of windows.

Even positive reviews mention that this tent can be difficult to set up by yourself. Another complaint is that the tent holds heat too well. This is a bonus when truck camping in cold weather but it may make the Kodiak Canvas tent a poor pick for summer camping.

• Cost: Around $200
• Amazon review score: 4.6 out of 5.0 based on over 4,900 ratings
• Sizes: Five
• Bed liner: Yes
• Tent material: Polyester taffeta

If you want a truck tent that includes a bed liner, consider the Napier Backroadz. This polyester tent is well-ventilated and comes in several sizes so that you can get the perfect fit for your vehicle.

The Backroadz is thoroughly (and positively) reviewed on Amazon, with most people finding it reliable and easy to set up.

You can see how the Napier performed in each of our testing categories below:

Below are the pros and cons of the Napier Backroadz Truck Tent:

Overall, we enjoyed testing the Backroadz tent because it was much easier to install than other tents in this review and had some unique features we liked to enhance comfort and weatherproofing in wet conditions.

Durability: The quality of this tent’s materials varies. The outer tent material is made from polyester similar to most other truck tents and the fiberglass poles are also typical in quality. The clips that keep the tent attached to the truck are of good quality, made from thick, sturdy plastic. However, the zipper heads are plastic rather than metal and will break more easily than the Rightline Gear tent.

Weatherproofing: With waterproof seams, that we noticed we thick and durable throughout the tent, we felt confident that this tent could withstand a rain shower or light snow. Because of the thinner tent material, we aren’t sure how well this tent would hold heat in freezing weather.

Ease of Use: The Backroadz Truck Tent is easy to set up and comes in a convenient bag with the instructions sewn in. Because the tent material is thin, the Backroadz is easy to roll up and store when not in use. Thanks to the bed liner, you won’t need to clean down your entire truck bed before putting things in your tent.

Comfort: Unlike the Rightline Gear tent, which utilizes a floorless design, the BackRoadz has a sewn-in floor bottom liner, which some may prefer. A full floor liner also helps seal your tent from insects.

Some people claim they can erect the Backroadz in a matter of minutes with two people, and fairly easily on their own. You can assemble this tent on the ground or in the truck bed, though most find it easiest to first assemble on the ground. Many note that this tent offers good weather protection with waterproof seams.

The fiberglass poles used to hold up this tent could be of higher quality. For several reviewers, the front pole broke after a few uses.

• Cost: Around $150
• Amazon review score: 4.4 out of 5.0 based on more than 700 ratings
• Sizes: Five
• Bed liner: Yes
• Tent material: Polyester

The Quictent Pickup Truck Tent is a spacious, low-cost truck tent that has a rainfly and bed liner to keep out as much water and insects as possible. Zippered mesh windows on the sides and ceiling provide excellent ventilation.

This is a great option for a low-cost truck tent. The tent material and other components, like the zippers and clips, are slightly less robust compared to more expensive options. The Quictent is nonetheless a reasonably comfortable, weatherproof option.

You can see how the Quictent performed in each of our testing categories below:

Below are the pros and cons of the Quictent Pickup Truck Tent:

While spacious in size and lower in cost, we found the Quictent to have its ups and downs when it came to durability and weatherproofing. That being said, this tent was very easy to set up even with it having more poles and pieces than some of the other tents in this review.

Durability: This tent was much lower in quality compared to the other tents in our review. The zippers and clips were somewhat delicate and needed to be handled with care because we worried that with a fast motion or too much force, they could break.

Weatherproofing: The weatherproofing features of this tent reflected similar concerns when we considered camping inside this tent during a heavy storm or freezing weather. In our opinion, this would be a good tent for summer camping trips. We feel confident that it could handle a summer rain shower but might be less comfortable to sleep in during the winter.

Ease of Use: The Quictent is a compact truck tent that’s among the lightest we tested. We were able to easily erect this tent in about 30 minutes even though it features more cross poles than other tents we tested. The color-coded poles and sleeves make the setup straightforward and simple.

Comfort: With a bed liner included, this tent was comfortable enough to sit in but we would recommend a cushion or thin air mattress of some sort. Seeing as this tent sleeps five campers, it was both spacious and comfortable to move around in.

Amazon users say the Quictent has an easy setup and is effectively waterproof. For a low-cost truck tent, it gets the job done and most reviewers are satisfied.

The low cost of the tent translates to lower-quality materials. Specifically, the Quictent uses poor-quality zippers, and several reviewers commented that the zippers on their Quictent broke after a few uses. The other commonly-mentioned issue is with sizing. The Quictent is available in four sizes, but some have trouble finding the right option for their vehicle.