Keeping frost out of my canopy

[ETsC10]

I've got a fairly rattle-trap canopy...it doesn't leak but it's not air
tight. Has single pane windows both sides and a fairly loose
above-tailgate hatch in back.

My problem is it collects enough moisture inside that, now that its below
freezing, it ices up and makes visibility impossible. BTW-bed is empty
and has a plastic bed liner.

Tonight, it's 33° F and 58% humidity and they are clear now BUT in the
past week it's been down to 24° to 26° every night and then the ice on
the inside of the canopy's windows happens.


Any fixes? Can I wipe the inside glass with anything?
Lay trays of cat litter inside to dry it out? I'm thinking that litter
will finally get saturated and become a never-ending replacement
expense. I hate to go on a spending spree before some feedback.

Thanks for any recommendations.

[jjzepplin]

Are you talking about your bed topper? Just haven't heard it called a canopy. If so then that is a good question. My Blazer never got ice inside it. I would think it is about the same situation as far as tops/toppers. Maybe find some Blazer weather seals for your tailgate and make sure it is sealed well where it mounts to the bed. Windows may need some stripping as well. Find some "pile" type seals for the sliding parts if it has them.

[hamjet]

It may be that its not air tight enough. Here in the N.East I notice if I leave the side window down a couple inches in the morning I have dew or frost inside on windshield. If windows are up at night I never get dew or frost on the inside. I don't know what you could do to get it tighter, maybe caulk?

[Wookiee]

I've got a topper on my 70 and haven't had issues with frost since I've gotten it. The one time I did I had some wet camping chairs in the back. I have a metal floor and no liner and the bed is pretty drafty. I would look and see if your plastic liner is keeping moisture between it and the bed. If so, removing that so the bed can dry out might make the difference.

[Stocker]

Possibly getting a lot of condensation on the inside of canopy. Our trucklet (Tacoma) has a fiberglass tonneau cover. The inside of it is lined with something that appears similar to indoor-outdoor carpet, to keep it from sweating (or forming condensation). Maybe something like that would help, but I agree with others that better weather sealing is worth trying.

[Joe Pass]

I have a storage shed that I paint in and it would be damp/wet in the morning because of condensation. I found if l Leave a small fan on during the night it stays dry...cold but dry. If you can circulate the air in there some way it might work for you.

[68C15]

frost on window? Remove windows. Move south (Arizona). Paint windows so you never see frost again. Don't back up. Back into parking spot in evening

not much help I suppose, just providing comedic relief

[cdowns]

for a small investment you could get a slor panel heater that would defrost it and work as long as it was parked outside in the sun

[Already Gone]

I think the problem is the bed liner kind of sealing the box so air doesnt get out the factory drain holes uin the box. Also if you do not have two side tape between the canopy and top of the box under the front and sides you'll get cold air entering and mixing with the warmer air under the canopy. When your truck sits in the sun during the day the air under the canopy will get warmer and stay warmer even when the sun goes down or behind the clouds and when the colder air hits it there is your condensation.

['68OrangeSunshine]

I once heard that the early Lear 23 had fogging problems in the pilots windscreen [later models had a defroster built-in.] Some co-pilot hung a hand-held hair blower on bunji cords from the sunshade, blowing hot air at the windscreen.
Maybe with power from an inverter, you could find a hand hair blower to shoot hot air on your back window? They've got to be dirt cheap in thrift shops.

[Tango59]

Home Depot and get the foam insulation with tape on one side. Too much daytime air and moisture is getting in there. Hade the same problem on a Dakota I had years ago. Seal what you can with it. It won't work 100% but you'll see and improvement. take the topper off and doo the bed rails too.

[ETsC10]

Thanks for the great feed back guys!
I'll see what I can do to tighten it up and go from there.

Thanks! Ellen