Roof Tent Mounting Options

[mike r]

Thank you,
How you are enjoying your travels

[Lemsteraak]

You know, I was thinking, Thule xSporter is an excellent system but it is a little pricey and you may not need the versatility is offers. If I were doing this I would probably go a slightly different path.

What about something like this?

0303_4wd_02_z+rooftop_tent+front_view.jpg

This is an ancient Maggiolina on an old Can Back system. It offers a nice feature that you can keep equipment in the back protected and shouldn't be that much more than the Thule system. I sadly can't recommend Can Back, don't think they are around anymore, but there are a bunch of clones like Best Top that should be able to do a better job.

Here is a link to the article

http://www.4wdandsportutility.com/ne...ent/index.html

[gravelguy]

Someone was looking for a pic of a RTT on the roof of a DC Tacoma......Here you go! Probably looks kinda weird, but its an effective mount and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. That and I can still carry my bikes in the bed or use the hard tonneau cover for bed security.

I just remounted it for the season yesterday and added a few touches to help keep it more secure and quite. It does sit directly on top of the towers and that concerned me as well. To fix it (I think) I took some rubber material (actually an old thule foot pad) and cut it into pieces which I then glued to the top of the towers for the RTT to sit on. Also, I added steel spacers (about 3/16") directly under the mounting rails for the RTT. I have only driven around the block since making those modifications, but already it seems way more quiet than previously.

[Mark Harley]

I made several brakepress bent 1/8" stainless steel gutter mounts that bolt to the bed lip under my tonneau cover.
I use thule bars with gutter mount towers. Works great, removable, and stealth without the bars on.

[mike r]

DSC_0054.jpgDSC_0046.jpgDSC_0061-1.jpg

[Nikson]

DSC_0054.jpgDSC_0046.jpgDSC_0061-1.jpg

Nice setup Mike

[Fresno]

Suggestion -- if you haven't already, check ut the Thule Xsporter rack - mounts to the bed rails, adjustablehe for height. A very good solution for many people.

Mike, We have a medium Maggiolina to mount a ARE shell on a short bed Ford Raptor.
Question: Can we directly mount to the shell with out bars? Will the hurt the tent since it wiil not have the cross load bars? I will have to spacers between the tent and shell so it clears the cab.

[Lemsteraak]

Fresno, I've put some tents directly on shells, mostly Columbus' like Mike's because of the height. They will cut a trap door in the bottom of the tent so they can have the added height to change into gear like wetsuits away from the wind. Normally I do not recommend it because your tent will outlast many vehicles, mine has gone through about four, so you want to be able to move it easily to other vehicles. They are a very high grade fiberglass so you can modify or patch them with epoxy resins and the repair is stronger than before.

An aside, the tents are really aerodynamic and it seems to be just as efficient, drag wise, to mount the tent on bars. The air gap seems to add a little downforce.

[Rocket-scientist]

I was going to use the X-sporter to mount my ARB, but the cost of the rack plus the bed rail system adapters was more than buying a rack from All-Pro. Since All-Pro is an easy drive from me I could save the cost on shipping. Plus the rack could be drilled to mount my pioneer gear and high lift. So...


Something to look out for is the location of the front spring steel rods that hold the window shades open. Depending on where your tent goes and how high the rack is they may interfere with the roof line of your truck. The rods need to be inserted parallel to the tent base then bent up to the window shades. Where my tent is mounted, it is difficult to insert one of the rods due to the roof line. Below you can see the closest rod is inserted parallel to the tent and the rear is in the up position. Its easy to see that inserting and removing the back rod without leaving deep scratches on the roof takes some practice.



The All-Pro APEX rack is a good solution for tent mounting. Its heavy but will hold up to anything.

[Fresno]

Fresno, I've put some tents directly on shells, mostly Columbus' like Mike's because of the height. They will cut a trap door in the bottom of the tent so they can have the added height to change into gear like wetsuits away from the wind. Normally I do not recommend it because your tent will outlast many vehicles, mine has gone through about four, so you want to be able to move it easily to other vehicles. They are a very high grade fiberglass so you can modify or patch them with epoxy resins and the repair is stronger than before.

An aside, the tents are really aerodynamic and it seems to be just as efficient, drag wise, to mount the tent on bars. The air gap seems to add a little downforce.

What is my concern is this part of the instructions:

"Before placing the roofbars on the vehicle, check the bar length and attachment strength.
Bar length "L" shall not be less than:
Small: 124 cm or 49 inches
Medium: 142 cm or 56 inches
Large: 160 cm or 63 inches"




"Again, make sure your roof bars are not too short"

If I mount on spacers to the shell will I break the tent? Does it require the horizontal bars to reinforce it?