Ford patents integrated rooftop tents for pickup trucks

Ford believes might not need to buy an aftermarket rooftop tent in the future

It’s no secret that camping, or overlanding, has gained popularity amongst car enthusiasts. We see more and more SUVs and pickups with those setups on the road every day, along with specialist shops around the country.

The Blue Oval seems to recognize that shift into an outdoor lifestyle. Ford has come up with a new innovation for its pickup trucks, filing a patent in the US for an integrated rooftop tent. Yes, the brand seems to be looking to make that standard equipment for its trucks sometime in the future.

Ford calls it the “Shelter System Having Deployable Platform”. The design seen in the patents is a rooftop tent that deploys over the truck just like the aftermarket ones. But the difference is that the tent stores neatly in a retractable module above the bed.

This makes the design of Ford trucks similar to a Tesla Cybertruck with the integrated rooftop tent fitted. The roof is wide enough to fit two adults, and support poles are designed to clamp onto the front fenders of the vehicle. There are also two overhead windows at the rear of the tent to bring light and ventilation inside the tent.

Furthermore, Ford designed the rear of the truck to have a high platform so people can do activities while standing on the truck bed, turning the tent above into a table.

Ford has been filing interesting patents in recent memory, and they have been innovative in expanding the versatility of their pickup trucks. But for now, Ford has yet to announce if the clever innovation will indeed reach production levels.