Frontier & Summit

Assembly instructions

For disassembled shipments. Work through the phases in order, and read the whole page once before you start.

Before you begin

Lifting the pop-up topper onto the canopy requires a forklift, gantry crane, or four to five people minimum. Do not attempt it alone or with two people. The topper is heavy, and dropping it will damage the canopy, the topper, or you.

Work on flat, level ground with enough clearance to walk fully around the camper.

What arrives

Large crate

Pop-up topper assembly

  • Pop-up topper, fully assembled

Small crate

Canopy panels, hardware, and accessories

  • Front, rear, and side panels
  • Hardware: nuts, bolts, weatherstripping, bed C-clamps
  • Corner gussets Frontier only
  • Exterior gear panels, if ordered
  • Camper jacks, if ordered
  • Thermal liner, if ordered
  • Roof rack crossbars, if ordered

Tools and materials

Included

Packed with your hardware

  • 5mm hex wrench
  • 13mm wrench

You supply

Have these on hand before you start

  • Torque wrench. Every fastener here is torque-specified.
  • Scissors, for cutting weatherstripping
  • Hoist, gantry, forklift, or four to five people
  • Dicor lap sealant, fan installation only
  • Sikaflex 221, optional, for miscellaneous sealing
  • Drill and 11mm or 7/16 inch bit, gear panels only
  • Rivnut setting tool, gear panels only
11–15FT-LB
Torque spec, all bolts

Do not over-torque. These panels are aluminum and they will bend. Each bolt needs to be tight enough to compress the weatherstripping and no tighter.

Hardware reference

Assembly Hardware
Weatherstripping EPDM double bulb seal with adhesive tape, 59 ft roll Used throughout: panel seams, top and bottom of the canopy, and bulkhead or tailgate shimming if needed
Pop-up topper 11 M8 bolts, 11 M8 nylock nuts, 11 24mm M8 washers
Canopy panels 16 M8 bolts, 16 M8 washers 4 bolts and washers per panel connection, weatherstripping between panels
Corner gussets Frontier 32 M8 flat head hex bolts, 32 M8 washers 8 per gusset, 4 gussets
Bed clamps 8 C-clamps 4 per side
Exterior gear panels Optional 16 M8 rivnuts, 16 35mm M8 bolts 8 of each per panel, 2 panels
Roof rack crossbars Optional 8 channel nuts, 8 12mm M8 flat head hex bolts, 8 M8 T-slot nuts, 8 15mm M8 flat head hex bolts
01

Unpack & inventory

  1. 01

    Unpack and account for everything

    Open both crates and check every item against the hardware reference before you start assembling.

    Missing hardware?

    Tell us right away so we can ship replacements. Far easier to catch a shortage now than four steps into the build.

    Crates unpacked with hardware laid out
02

Canopy assembly

  1. 02

    Weatherstrip the front and rear panels

    Install weatherstripping on both sides of the front and rear panels. Each panel has 8 M8 holes. Punch or drill out the weatherstripping wherever it covers a hole. That is much easier than trying to force a bolt through the material.

    Weatherstripping applied to a canopy panel Weatherstripping detail on the panel edge Bolt holes punched through the weatherstripping
  2. 03

    Bolt the panels together

    Run the included M8 bolts through the weatherstripping and into the M8 rivnuts on the side panels. 16 bolts total, 8 into the front panel and 8 into the rear.

    Check before you torque

    Confirm the tops of the canopy panels are flush and level with each other. Once everything lines up, torque to 11–15 ft-lb.

    Bolting the front panel to the side panel Panels bolted together and squared up
  3. 04

    Install the corner gussets Frontier only

    Install the four corner gussets with the included 32 M8 flat head hex bolts and 32 M8 washers, 8 per gusset. Torque to 11–15 ft-lb.

    Summit owners: skip to the next step. Your canopy is now fully assembled.

  4. 05

    Weatherstrip the top of the canopy

    Apply a single strip across the top of the canopy. At each corner, cut a small notch so the strip bends cleanly around the turn instead of bunching. Punch or drill out the weatherstripping over the 4 holes on each side panel and the 3 holes on the rear panel.

    Cut too much?

    If you over-cut a corner notch, seal the gap with Sikaflex 221. Easy fix, but do not leave it open.

    Weatherstripping run across the top of the canopy Corner notch cut into the weatherstripping Holes punched through the top weatherstripping
03

Pop-up topper installation

Crew and equipment required

This phase needs a forklift, gantry crane, or four to five people. Have everyone in position and clear on who is doing what before the topper leaves the ground.

  1. 06

    Suspend the topper and load the bolts

    Suspend the pop-up topper using your hoist system. Slide 4 M8 bolts into each side of the topper and 3 into the rear, 11 total. These line up with the 4 holes on each side panel and the 3 holes in the rear panel of the canopy.

    Topper suspended above the canopy Bolts loaded into the topper channel
  2. 07

    Lower the topper onto the canopy

    Lower slowly. As it comes down, slide the bolts along their channels so they drop into the holes in the canopy. Once seated, install a 24mm M8 washer and an M8 nylock nut on each bolt from inside the canopy.

    Check alignment before tightening

    Confirm the topper is square and straight, and that the front bulkhead rail underneath is sitting properly on the weatherstripping along the front of the canopy. Then torque all 11 bolts to 11–15 ft-lb.

    Topper seated on the canopy and bolted down
04

Mounting to your truck

  1. 08

    Weatherstrip the bottom of the canopy

    Apply a single strip across the bottom, notching the corners the same way you did on top so the strip bends cleanly.

    Weatherstripping applied to the bottom of the canopy
  2. 09

    Check your bulkhead and tailgate height

    Look at whether your bulkhead and tailgate sit flush with the bed rails. On many trucks they do not. If either sits low, apply weatherstripping across it to bring it flush. The camper needs a continuous, even surface to seal against, and skipping this is the most common cause of leaks.

  3. 10

    Set the camper on the truck

    Lower the camper onto the bed and position it evenly. The front should sit on the bulkhead and bed rails, and the rear hatch should sit on the tailgate. Take the time to get this square before you clamp anything down.

  4. 11

    Secure with the C-clamps

    Once positioned, secure the camper with the included C-clamps, 4 per side, 8 total.

    Re-check after your first drive

    Clamps settle. Check them again after your first hundred miles or so, and periodically after that.

    C-clamp securing the camper to the bed rail
05

Optional installations

Exterior gear panels

Gear panels ship with your order but are not pre-installed on disassembled shipments. The side hatches arrive undrilled.

  1. 01

    Mock up the gear panel on the side hatch and note the 8 M8 mounting holes in the panel.

  2. 02

    Mark those hole locations on the side hatch, then drill them out with an 11mm or 7/16 inch bit.

  3. 03

    Insert an M8 rivnut into each hole and compress it with a rivnut setting tool.

  4. 04

    Mount the panel with the 8 35mm M8 bolts. Repeat for the second panel.

Measure twice

These holes are permanent. Mock up the panel and confirm your marks before the drill touches the hatch.

Roof fan

If you ordered the fan option, your roof arrives with a 14 by 14 inch opening pre-cut. On disassembled shipments the fan itself is not included, so you supply your own.

  1. 01

    Apply Dicor lap sealant to the underside of the fan roof flange.

  2. 02

    Set the fan into the opening.

  3. 03

    Depending on your fan, drive self-tapping screws through the roof flange, then seal over the screw heads with Dicor lap sealant.

Roof rack crossbars

  1. 01

    Insert 2 channel nuts into the pop-up topper channel for each roof rack bracket.

  2. 02

    Secure each bracket to the topper using the 12mm M8 bolts. Torque to 11–15 ft-lb.

  3. 03

    Insert 2 T-slot nuts into each end of the crossbar and fasten it to the brackets with the 15mm M8 bolts. Torque to 11–15 ft-lb.

Do not mix up the bolts

The 15mm bolts are too long for the bracket-to-topper connection. Use the 12mm bolts there. Running a 15mm bolt into that channel can damage the topper.

Stuck on something?

Short on hardware, or unsure whether something looks right? Get in touch. Send photos and we will walk you through it.

Contact us Shipping & delivery