If you’re wondering “Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before,” well, they have—similar products are already on sale in the aftermarket
- New patents from GM have just surfaced for an inflatable truck cap or topper
- The new accessory would offer a quick way to get cargo out of sight
- It’s not really a new idea: toppers of this type already exist from aftermarket suppliers
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Filed with the U.S. Patent Office and unearthed by an outlet south of the border is this innovation General Motors seems to be working on, an inflatable cargo cover for its pickup trucks. Despite what you may read elsewhere, we will argue this is an inflatable truck cap or topper, not a tonneau cover. Generally speaking, tonneau covers lie close to the bed lip, and their deployment retains the traditional truck shape of a cab-and-bed silhouette.
This patent, conversely, permits the unit to rise so far as the cab roof to create an SUV-like overall shape. However, the patent drawings seem to indicate this topper could be deployed in a tapered shape, slanting from the roof to tailgate like an enormous triangle.
Inflatable covers of this sort have been around for a spell, with the aftermarket currently providing a number of options. One example, called the Flated Air-Topper from a Michigan-based company called RealTruck, is available in a raft of sizes, and can be spec’d with screen windows plus a bunch of D-ring tie downs. Retailing for approximately $1,500 south of the border, we estimate a factory example would probably cost around a grand, given the price of factory tonneau covers.
Benefits of these inflatable toppers include not having to store the freaking thing when not in use, since a traditional fibreglass unit consumes a huge amount of space. That’s why there are plenty of the things lounging outside the sheds and garages in your author’s rural community. The sloped option may also benefit fuel economy.
As you all know, it isn’t uncommon for a manufacturer to file a patent and do nothing with it, sitting on the idea for a future use or simply claiming the idea as its own so a competitor can’t beat them to market.
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