Roof Tent Mounting Options

[Lemsteraak]

Fresno,

Wow, that takes me back. Those instruction no longer apply, let me explain. One of the innovations that Zifer (AutoHome) made was to integrate the roof tent's deck with the bars so the bars were and integral part of the tent. Before that all the tents like Hannibals and the lot used expedition baskets for support which were heavier than the roof tents. This allowed AutoHome's tents to migrate to small cars and the tents weren't just for expedition vehicles anymore. The instructions you have are for use with the old steel expedition ladders. The ladders were two parts, the lower part would sink into the dirt when you stepped on it stabilizing it and the upper part was supported by the tent's side. All your weight was supported by the edge of the tent and could twist and develop stress cracks with time because of the flexing. Having the crossbars go out to the edge supported the edge. The newer fiberglass is better too, pretty much anything you find in North America is the new stuff, much better than "marine quality", hence the reason why your Maggiolina's shell is a good 20 pounds lighter than the new tents that look like AutoHome tents.

So, if you have an old steel two part ladder, keep it as an antique or have it for expedition use and order one of the new alloy ladders. Bottom line, don't worry, your tent can handle the shorter bars now as long as you don't use the steel ladder.

An aside, if you read the instructions, you will notice that these tents were designed with only one door, the other side was a small triangular window. Maggiolinas were really well adapted for cold weather use. Even though you could specify another door on the other side, the ladder wasn't designed to go there, it would interfere with the lift mechanism. The new Maggiolinas have a different lift mechanism so the ladder can go on either side. The old lift mechanism was bomb proof, in fact, even though the tents were and are very high tech, they are designed to be repaired in developing countries. The old steel ladders were often used as sand ladders and would get all twisted, no problem they still worked and you could weld on them if you needed. The new alloy ladders aren't welded, they are assembled to be able to be able to take them apart to repair. Probably costs twice as much to assemble but they have kept to their expedition roots.

[Fresno]

Thank you for the information.

[Kiddmen57]

So, I cant sleep right now because I've got a crazy idea in my head. One day I will build myself an expo trailer, and I prefer the maggiolina tents for ease and style. Having a family means that one tent will be cramped or possibly impossible (one kid now, another? maybe one day). This means dual maggiolinas would be required. I know I know, just get a big eziawn and be done. That's just not my style. So, knowing this I'm thinking dual maggiolinas. Issue is, that's a lot of real estate. An idea I had was to mount one on top of the other. Wait, how will the bottom one open? Well that's where this thought comes in: extra heavy duty drawer slides. I'm thinking build a lower cage and top support, put each maggiolina on a set of drawer slides front and rear, then one will slide 50%+ to the left and one will slide 50%+ to the right. You will have two tents side by side with about 14-16" of elevation difference. Each would have fold down support legs on the outer edge to hold our weight. So, what do you think, could this even be possible? Most drawer slides I've looked at are rated 375 pounds+ but only list up to a 32" wide "drawer". in this case the "drawer" would be closer to 90" wide. Now the tents themselves are not that heavy, 130 pounds. Add in the support and legs for another 50 pounds and the drawer slides *should* work. I might be crazy, but I have to start somewhere.

Crappy crappy concept for now. Solidworks will be used for actual design work
Trailer concept.JPG

BTW - I don't want to mount one on the roof of the vehicle as I would need to install/ remove it every trip. garage height is only 80" which will not allow the lift, tires, and a RTT.

[Mike S]

I think that this would work on a trailer IF you make sure that you have access to the crank spud on the lower tent when deployed.

Tuffy makes some 'Hell for stout" slides that will hold 500 lbs. when extended. Might look at their specs...

[Bobmog]

My RTT sleeping and riding.

[Corey]

Nice setup Bob!
Nice to see two of the Autohomes being utilized side by side.

[ZeroV]

I ordered a Bakflip CS, the "rack" portion is pretty flimsy, but the plan was to use that for my canoe.

I had a smaller aluminium rack made to fit into the same groove as the original rack. I designed it to maximize my space and to provide some adjustability. I can have my tent centered on it to keep it away from getting bush whipped(some tight trails around here) or I can slide it over to one side so that I can mount upright bike holders.

Its high enough that I can see a little out back, just enough that I dont back into a tree....again. And low enough that I can park in my underground parkade. Added bonus I can also mount the original CS "rack" with tent and bikes and still get my canoe up there over the tent portion, never needed to for a trip but the option is there.

I like the security of the cover and helps keep things a little less wet or dusty, plus I can load the truck up anytime during the week including food(via engel mounted in pickup bed) and back it against the concrete wall of my parking stall and she's ready to run out of town on a friday after work.

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[Jammer]

To those that mount their RTT on Yakima/Thule bars mounted to a truck cap/topper...my biggest concern is strength and safety. I called ARE and they said that the recommended weight limit on my V series cap is 165lbs. When I told them I was considering mounting a RTT their reply was "we have seen people do this but we do not recommend it".

I know it will handle the weight of the tent in travel and based on this and many other threads it seems to not be an issue sleeping, but I am more concerned with other tent activities.

I don't want to cause damage to the cap or worse, fall of the top of the truck.

[Jammer]

Nobody has any input on strength and safety of mounting a RTT on a truck cap/ topper with Yakima or Thule bars?

[Ramjet]

I think if you reinforced it from the underside of the topper, you shouldn't have any issues as long as it is connected to the bed of the truck. Then you could really have some fun.