A small truck camper manufacturer in Colorado is starting to make some noise with its customizable units.
Tune Outdoor is producing a pair of products for its customers from a handful of dealerships around the country as well as many who come directly to the factory in Denver just north of Interstate 70 not far from Denver International Airport.
“Tune was launched as a concept during COVID at the end of 2020,” Sean Kepler, president of Tune Outdoor, told RVBusiness. Kepler is one of four partners involved in Tune. “Then we launched operations in February of ’23. And then from that we installed our first camper in May of ’23. and we’ve never looked back. We’re on track to do a dramatic amount of installs this year.”
For now, Tune is focused on the M1, its initial model, a very lightweight backcountry inspired pickup camper with a pop top sleeping area.
A second model, the M1L Lite, will have a little less space and less expensive. Its target audience is that customer interested in super light campers.
“With our pop-up, you can actually camp in it, which many wedges are almost space restrictive,” Kepler said. “They really become gear-carriers with a place to sleep. We like to talk about ours as more than a gear-carrier.”
Kepler describes Tune campers as a forward-thinking innovative product built with all custom aluminum extrusions for the frame. The extrusions are joined at the corners with injected glass-filled nylon corner brackets.
There are no welds. The campers and constructed with internal bolts.
He said the canopy of the camper has six windows that allow so much light in that it’s almost as if the user is camping outside.
The camper features a “bump out” on the sides that provides an extra 6 inches of space. That opens up the floorplan to allow for a full east/west queen bed.
Both M1 and M1L are customizable, with the ability to add racks onto the unit as well a solar panels on the outside. It also allows people to add cabinetry and kitchens with seating.
“We’re also working on our prototype interiors as well that will be extremely lightweight and extremely configurable like our camper,” Kepler said. “When you compare it to the slide-in campers that are out there or the freestanding campers the biggest difference is that it’s configurable. You can really do what you want with it. It’s also modular so you can choose different parts in different places.
“It’s not pre-assembled with a small alleyway in the center,” he continued. “It’s an open book that you can design and create any way you want.”
The manufacturing process also allows for each camper to be built to the specific dimensions of any truck type.
“Every truck has a different bed size and they have different cab heights, so we take that into account and the camper fits the truck perfectly,” he said.
Tune has a strategic set of dealerships across different parts of the country that allows the company to reach the rugged backcountry campers that are most drawn to its product.
Many of the dealers are either in the western half of the U.S. or in the Northeast, where such adventures are popular.
Campers also can be assembled and installed at the Denver headquarters.
Kepler said the company would like to have better representation in the Southeast and in Texas, but at this point isn’t looking for a huge dealer base due to the assembling and installing process.
The mid-size level of the M1 starts at $13,000 and the M1L starts at $9,000.
