Cheap Truck Accessories Tested: Outland Nano Espresso Machine and Drop Stop Seat Gap Filler

Introduction

Budget truck accessories are everywhere, and the temptation is obvious: small upgrades, small prices, big promises. We gathered a batch of low-cost finds from online marketplaces and installed them across two very different trucks, a 1978 Ford Ranger and a 2019 Ford F-150, to answer one question: are cheap truck accessories actually worth the money?

Two products stood out enough to earn a closer look: a portable espresso machine for the cab and a simple seat gap filler from a well-known Shark Tank product line. Here is how they fared.

Why Cheap Accessories Are Worth Testing

Older trucks especially benefit from small, affordable touches. A vintage Ranger with a worn bench seat and no modern conveniences can be transformed by even modest accessories, as long as they do something real rather than just look gimmicky.

The testing approach was simple: install it, use it, and decide honestly whether it earns its price. Some items were clear winners. Others, like a flimsy extendable mirror squeegee and a $50 car fragrance diffuser that shipped without its scent cartridge, were straight returns. The two products below fell somewhere between pleasant surprise and practical keep.

Outland Nano Portable Espresso Machine

The Outland Nano is a compact portable espresso machine priced at around $145. It comes with the full kit: a tamper, a scoop, and everything needed to pull a shot. It uses roughly 5 to 6 grams of finely ground coffee, heats its own water, and charges via USB-C.

In testing, the heat-up light took a while to reach full charge, and the process requires a bit of patience: grind the coffee, tamp it, wait for the machine to warm, then pull the shot. The result was genuinely surprising. The shot came out with a visible crema on top, which was more than expected from a budget portable unit.

That said, the workflow is fiddly. Making espresso in a truck is not a quick process, and the price stings when a gas station coffee costs a couple of dollars. For espresso lovers who spend long days in the truck or camp out of it, though, it is a fun and capable little machine.

Drop Stop Seat Gap Filler

The Drop Stop is the original Shark Tank seat gap filler: a neoprene panel that wedges into the gap between your seat and the center console to stop phones, keys, and coins from disappearing forever. It sells for around $25 for a pair.

It works exactly as advertised. Once shoved down into the crevice, it blocks the gap completely, and dropped items stay on the seat where you can reach them. The installation is slightly annoying, since you have to force it into place around the seatbelt anchor, but it is a one-time job.

The hesitation here is not performance, it is scope. This solves a genuinely niche problem. If you constantly lose things down the seat gap, it is a cheap insurance policy. If you never do, it is hard to justify the spend.

Other Accessories We Tested Along the Way

Beyond the two keepers, the full accessory haul delivered mixed results. A CarPlay head unit at just $44 was a standout value for anyone comfortable with basic wiring, even if the responsiveness is a little laggy. An ultra-wide clip-on blind spot mirror at $20 earned a keeper status for tight parking situations.

On the gimmick side, American flag valve stem covers at $3 brought outsized joy, door projector lights earned a thumbs up at under $10, and a shifter knob hoodie was returned on principle. A $300 massage seat cover had real quality and heating but was simply too expensive for what it delivered, and a steering wheel desk proved useless in a truck with a non-telescoping wheel.

Overall Buying Advice

The pattern from testing is clear: cheap accessories are worth it when they solve a real problem you actually have. The Drop Stop is worth it only if you lose things in the seat gap regularly. The Outland Nano is worth it only if you genuinely want espresso on the go and accept the price of convenience. Anything decorative or novelty-based, like valve stem covers or projector lights, is cheap enough that the joy-per-dollar ratio can justify itself.

Conclusion

Budget truck accessories are a mixed bag, but the Outland Nano espresso machine and the Drop Stop gap filler both earned their places. One adds a genuine luxury to cab life, the other quietly fixes a daily annoyance. Match the purchase to your actual habits and even the cheap stuff can be a smart buy.