Go Fast Camper claims to have made the world’s strongest truck topper, and it did it in Bozeman company supports his legal action with an over-the-top test with an ignoramus Toyota Tacoma and a precariously balanced one Ford F-250.
Technically, the latest GFC Platform Topper can withstand up to 800 pounds of dynamic loading, but it’s reportedly stronger than any pickup truck’s bed rails. To demonstrate the strength of the platform topper under static loads, GFC carefully lowered a single-cab Ford weighing 4,500 pounds onto the roof.
I can’t stress how dangerous and silly this is. As jalopnik alum Wes Siller warns the elaborate stress test is a terrible idea, but, uh, it really gets to the point: the GFC Platform Topper is ridiculously strong.
Stronger even than the second generation Toyota Tacoma bed used during testing. GFC had to weld 500 pounds of steel into the Tacoma’s bed to strengthen it—to make sure it wouldn’t buckle under the weight of the Ford F-250. That way, if the Platform Topper gave way, it would be due to its own weakness rather than the Tacoma’s.
But neither the reinforced Tacoma nor the GFC truck topper failed. If you’ve ever wondered why these camper cases cost so damn much, then this – along with their cost of materials and being made domestically in the USA – is why.
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The Platform Topper has a trellis frame with diagonal braces to support any weight placed on the roof. The aluminum outer panels of the mobile home are not really load-bearing components; They’re more like metal skins protecting cargo, and can also open up to provide shade with a “Cabana” mode.
According to GFC, the topper is reinforced with billet aluminum parts right down to the clamps that attach it to the truck. And the frame is bolted, not welded, at every seam to avoid stress fractures. The whole weighs 135 pounds when sized for a short-bed Tacoma, meaning it’s lighter than other hardshells.
As you can imagine, the average camper did not do well on this test. GFC put a fiberglass lid on the Tacoma and let the F-250 hang for a minute. The Tacoma’s suspension looked like it was hanging for its life before the fiberglass shell rippled like a soda can.
GFC says the same model of fiberglass topper isn’t much cheaper than the platform topper, which will cost $3,995. Of course, the GFC won’t look as pretty as a color-matched camper that follows the lines of a new truck, but at least it’s objectively and outrageously stronger.
