Tent for a Ford Maverick Truck Bed: What Fits 54 Inches
The Maverick bed is 54.4 in long at the floor, shorter than every compact short-bed tent size. The Ford and Napier Maverick Truck Tent, 79 x 53 in, is built for it.
Only one truck bed tent on the market is built for the Ford Maverick: the Maverick Truck Tent by Napier, sold through Ford dealers and Napier’s own site, a floorless 79 by 53 inch tent that uses the dropped tailgate for its extra length. Every other bed tent fails on the same number. Ford’s spec sheet puts the Maverick’s bed at 54.4 inches long at the floor, and the shortest size any mainstream tent maker offers, the “compact short bed,” starts at 60 inches (5 feet). A Napier Backroadz or Sportz compact short bed, a Kodiak Canvas mid-size (5 to 6.5 ft), or a Rightline 5 ft model is cut for a Tacoma or Ranger bed and will bunch up or fail to tension in a Maverick. If you have a topper on the truck, two more options open up, and they are covered below.
The Maverick bed, by Ford’s numbers
From Ford’s 2025 technical specifications, identical for the hybrid, the 2.0 L EcoBoost, the Tremor, and the Lobo: pickup body length at floor 54.4 inches, length at the top of the body 53.1 inches, cargo width between the wheelhouses 42.6 inches, exposed cargo width 53.3 inches, body height 20.3 inches, rear opening width 48.8 inches at the bottom and 49.8 at the belt. Ford’s own spec page calls it a single 4 ft 5 in bed, and Ford lists the Napier tent for model years 2022 through 2027, which is as close as you will get to Ford saying the bed has not changed. The one thing Ford does not publish is the length with the tailgate down. Owners who have measured report roughly 70 to 78 inches of flat surface from the cab wall to the end of the gate, depending on whether the gate is fully down or at the mid detent; measure yours before trusting a 79 inch tent to reach.
Why standard bed tents do not fit
Bed tents attach with straps to the bed’s rails and under the bumper, and their floors are cut for a bed length range the maker states. Napier’s Backroadz 19066 and Sportz 57066 compact short bed sizes are “5 ft to 5.2 ft.” Kodiak Canvas’s mid-size 7211 fits “5 to 6.5 ft, measured inside with tailgate up.” Guide Gear’s compact tent wants 72 to 74 inches with the tailgate down. A 54.4 inch floor is 5.6 inches short of the shortest of those, which is enough that the tent’s wall pockets land on the wheel wells and the tailgate-end wall hangs in the air. Owners on the Maverick Truck Club forum have tried the $65 Lowe’s tent (listed for 5.5 to 6 ft beds) and reported “nope,” and the general finding in the long thread on this subject is that even one-person ground tents start at about 7 feet long, so the only ones that lie in the bed sit between the wheel wells with the tailgate down and are entered from the side.
The one tent built for the bed
Napier’s Maverick tent is 79 inches long by 53 inches wide, weighs 13 lb, packs to 6 x 6 x 24 inches, uses three shock-corded fiberglass poles, 68D polyester taffeta with a 1500 mm coating, one door and one window, and has no floor, so you sleep on the bed and the tailgate and keep the bed’s tie-downs and the FlexBed slots usable. The 53 inch width matches Ford’s 53.3 inch exposed cargo width above the wheel wells, which is why the tent’s floor area is not limited to the 42.6 inches between them; you sleep on top of the wells, so plan on a full-width air mattress or a platform. The 79 inch length only exists with the tailgate down. A Reddit owner quoted by SlashGear says a 6 ft adult fits comfortably, and another reported that the floorless design let him leave a tri-fold tonneau in place, with the straps run to the hood hinges. Ford lists it at about $279; Napier at $250. Setup is about 15 minutes the first time, and Napier says not to drive with it mounted.
If your Maverick has a topper
A cap changes the question, because bed tents are out and tailgate tents come in. The Topper Tent (mid-size) lists the Maverick by name and comes in versions that velcro into a carpeted cap, zip into a Softopper, or attach magnetically to an RSI Smartcap; it drapes over the open tailgate and adds the gate’s length to your sleeping space with bug mesh around it. Softopper’s own Camper Top Tent for its soft cap also lists the 2022 to 2023 Maverick. With a cap tall enough to sit up under, a Maverick becomes a passable two-person bunk with a pad between the wheel wells and gear on top of them. The full set of cap options, including the 80 inch door-height rule for sleeved tents, is in tents for a truck with a cap.
Tents that fit a Maverick
Ford Maverick Truck Tent by Napier
79 x 53 inches, 13 lb, floorless, built on the Maverick’s 54.4 inch bed plus the dropped tailgate. It is the only bed tent whose maker names the Maverick, and Ford sells it under part VPZ6Z-99000C38-A for 2022 to 2027 trucks. Bring an air mattress; there is no floor and you are sleeping over the wheel wells. Check price on Amazon
Topper Tent Mid-Size
For a capped Maverick. A tailgate tent that attaches to the cap’s rear opening (carpeted, Softopper, and Smartcap versions) and covers the dropped gate with mesh walls, turning the cap into a bedroom long enough to lie flat. The maker lists the Maverick along with the Tacoma, Ranger, and Frontier, and sells a tall version for mid-rise caps. Check price on Amazon
Napier Backroadz SUV Tent 19100
A 10 x 10 ft ground tent with a universal vehicle sleeve. On a capped Maverick it sleeves over the cap’s rear hatch, provided the top of the open hatch is under 80 inches from the ground, which a Maverick clears easily. With no cap, unzip the sleeve and it is a roomy standalone tent beside the truck, which for most Maverick owners is the honest answer. Check price on Amazon
The platform alternative
Several Maverick owners skip the tent and build a plywood platform on top of the wheel wells, which yields a flat deck 53 inches wide and, with the tailgate closed, 54 inches long, or about 77 with the gate down under a cap or a tent. It is the only way to get a full-width mattress in this bed. For what mattress widths fit where, see the car camping mattress guide. Owners of the bigger Fords have the opposite problem, too many bed sizes, which is sorted by cab configuration in truck bed tents for the F-150 and Ranger.