Expedition Bed Cage - Tent, Awnings and Lights

[Oman4x4]

A little teaser of something I'm working on - to put the Roof Top Tent, two different types of Awnings, and a Rigid SR50 Amber and Rigid 50" E-Series White light on my Raptor.

The basket that holds all those parts would be removeable for when it's not needed.

Early stages of the design - but interested to hear what you might do differently or add to it.

 

[98dango]

Looks good I would make it not mount to the bed. Frame mounted like an exocage

 

[Oman4x4]

Looks good I would make it not mount to the bed. Frame mounted like an exocage

Planning to sandwich the bed sides and then brace to the bed floor. Just haven't got that part ironed out yet

Exo-cage is an interesting idea though - just don't want to make the truck wider than it already is... already just squeezes through things as it is

 

[98dango]

If your plan is to mount this on your raptor I would agree. If you brace the bed sides it should hold that's just a lot of pressure on them .

 

[Clutch]

Why not use a topper, Snugtop has a model that will support RTT's...over building a cage?

That with some windoors...

 

[Oman4x4]

It looks like your RTT is a Autohome brand. The round tube frame will work. but you will need a larger mount to go over the tubes. This is easy to make, just so you know.

I saw what looked like a center cross bar under the tent. That is a good idea for off-road use. The very front and rear cross bars will not be needed for the tent as the mounting track stop about a foot away from the front and rear of the tent. They could rub on the bottom of the tent against the fiberglass. I would suggest that all of the bars on the top side have some foam weather strip on them to prevent this from rubbing. The round bars do not have as much surface area to spread the weight onto.

Good points. Will check the AutoHome mounting brackets and use a suitable rectangle bar for the cross braces.

 

[Oman4x4]

Why not use a topper, Snugtop has a model that will support RTT's...over building a cage?

That with some windoors...

Currently planning on a Pace Edwards roll up tonnau cover so that the gear in the bed is accessible from all 3 sides...

If the bed was a bit longer I would go with the camper shell route and just sleep in the bed

 

[loren85022]

I came across a similar setup.



Sent from my iToaster

 

[cyclic]

I'd also make the two rear center bars removable for easy hauling of tall stuff.

 

[TiFJ]

Visually I think that looks great. I am wanting to do something similar to my Raptor but was thinking that most of the weight of the rack could be supported by the bed bolts. I had a great pic of something someone had done with a Tacoma (probably on this site) but I can't seem to find it now.