Colorado truck topper innovator Radica Products has never been known to follow convention. Its very first product widened out the common pickup cap to create a low-profile but roomy camper capable of sleeping two people across the width of the truck. Its subsequent launches picked up on the theme and ran with it, and its latest build takes the most extreme tack yet. The all-new Stargate lands as a hard-sided telescopic pop-topper that creates standing height in the bed and sleeps up to five people.
We've seen telescopic pickup campers and travel trailers a number of times in the past, but Radica launches the first telescopic camping topper we've seen. A camping topper differs from a complete pickup camper in that it mounts to the pickup bed rails, repurposing the truck bed floor as the interior camper floor. This saves a lot of weight and cuts costs in comparison to complete slide-in campers, creating a more versatile way of turning even small trucks into capable camping rigs.
Radica
Likely one of the reasons that hard-sided telescopic pop-top designs remain rare in the topper space is that all that extra material means more weight, complexity and price – all things toppers were designed to minimize. But Radica still manages to keep base weight down between 500 and 575 lb (227 and 261 kg), depending upon truck size/bed length.
That's well more than the 300-to-400-lb (136-to-180-kg) range common for toppers, but the Stargate's weight is in line with some of the lightest pickup campers on the market. But since all the Stargate's weight is being planted atop the bed rails, buyers will likely want to look into some sidewall reinforcements before dropping that quarter ton down.
Unlike Radica's Moonlander X and its partial alcove with storage shelf, the Stargate brings aboard a full sleeper alcove below the telescopic-lift hard roof. There, you'll find a proper 80 x 60-in (203 x 152-cm) queen-size bed in the midsize truck version and an 80 x 66-in (203 x 168-cm) super-queen bed in full-size models. Radica includes a cushy Hest mattress as standard.
The bed is surrounded by an available panoramic array of long windows and offers 35 inches (89 cm) of space between the mattress and headliner, enough for many adults to sit up comfortably. Should that prove too little, Radica offers an optional bubble skylight that extends sitting height to 40 inches (102 cm).
During the day, the sleeping platform folds up to clear standing height in the pickup bed below. That height ranges between 6.7 and 7 feet (2 and 2.1 m), depending upon truck model, plenty for nearly any person to stand up comfortably when getting changed, rifling through cargo boxes, etc.
Like all Radica models we've seen previously, the Stargate has flared sides that extend out past the outside edge of the pickup bed to increase interior volume. Radica then offers both single and double lower sleeper platforms optionally so buyers can set up a lower bed for one or two people. Those panels measure 68 to 74 in (173 to 188 cm) long, and Radica offers a variety of widths, with single panels ranging between 16 and 36 in (41 and 91 cm) wide and double-panel sets offering 52 or 58 inches (132 and 142 cm).
As for the company's five-sleeper billing, that likely puts three children – or two adults and one child between them – on one of the beds, two adults or children on the other. Fitting three on a bed will be most feasible on the 66-in-wide upper super-queen for full-size trucks.
Beyond the beds, Radica keeps the interior simple, leaving the pickup floor available for hauling cargo, just as it was intended. It does include standard L-track on the interior Stargate sidewalls, letting owners easily attach mounts and accessories. The prototype we looked at during Overland Expo Mountain West last week used those tracks to secure things like a snowboard rack and storage bags.
The Stargate features an aluminum body and honeycomb panel roof atop a welded aluminum frame. Radica installs a lockable hatch door on one side and mounting track for things like awnings, shower rooms and lights on both sides.
The Stargate roof raises and lowers by way of a standard electrically actuated lift system. It lowers down over the main body to a unit height of 43.5 to 47.5 inches (111 to 121 cm), depending upon truck size/model.
Radica debuted the Stargate at Overland Expo Mountain West and is offering it for preorder now at prices starting at US$16,899 (for a midsize short-bed truck). Options include various window selections, a solar-charged battery system, a rooftop ventilation fan, several awning options, and an exterior propane tank mount.
Source: Radica Products
