RTT Questions...........

[Trevinator]

Hi, I have been lurking for far too long........ :lurk: So I guess I should sac up and ask some detail oriented questions. :ylsmoke: I am planning on building an off road trailer with a RTT for complete self sufficiency while out and about.

I have looked at as many RTT companies as I know of, but I can't get over the price they want for them. I am going to try my hand at building my own from scratch. I have access to heavy duty sewing equipment, so that isn't a problem, nor is sourcing the materials needed.

What I do need is some detailed pics or descriptions of the hinge/support structure for the fold out "floor" of the tent and some pics/descriptions of the three tent pole hoops. I think I have an Idea how to make it work, but details of known working designs would be better.

If you guys (and girls) could help me out with any RTT companies you know of and any pictures or description you have on the hinge setup for the floor and tenting hoops, I would really appreciate the help. Then once I get enough info I will start a cool thing kinda like a build thread! :jumping::shakin::jump::luxhello::wings::victory:

 

[jeepdreamer]

I wish you luck!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a naturally thrifty (ok, cheap lol) guy that loves to try and make what I can. But this is likely to be one of those "better to have bought" deals unless you really, REALLY have far more free time than $$. I'm sure you could do something acceptable (depending on your acceptance of ''redneck engineering") and fairly cheap but to come close will take a LOT of effort and likely not be so cheap in the end.
That being said... Maybe look into modifying a "normal" type tent to work on a fold out platform? Good luck... I'll watch to satisfy the cat (Mr Curious).

 

[Trevinator]

I have a few pictures of folding tent style hinges.....not hard at all to fabricate. I think the three hoops for the tenting will be reasonably easy. The only thing that see that will be semi difficult will be measuring the fabric panels.

I'm not looking for trade secrets here, just some pics to help me figure out if I can do this well enough to last a few years.:sombrero:

 

[JamesDowning]

I made my own. Here's the hinge detail. I could have possibly went 1" shorter overall and still fit my 3" mattress and sleeping bags inside. My hinges are each 4.5" tall base to hinge center.

It can certainly be done, but make no mistake, it is a lot of work. Took me about two and a half months of working in my spare time.

 

[Flyfishjeep]

Before you go nuts with this project, did you look at Campinglab? I too hunted the web for many hours looking at RTT's. Everyone I found was a minumum of 1400-1400 and up. I found Camping lab and decided to buy an awning first (hand't saved up the cash for a tent at that point). When i got the awning, I was very pleased with the quality (and attachements) as well as their prices. This was almost two years ago.

Early this summer, I bit the bullet and purchased one of the RTT's from Fernando at Campinglab. It was shipped fast and arrived (Florida to California) without damage. Once mounted, I am very pleased with the construction and material (although the matress is like a rock, but a good foundation for a 2.5" memory foam pad!). I am not sure how he does it, but his largest RTT (71" x 93" deployed) is cheaper than the smallest versions of everyon elses RTT. My hats off to him and I will purchase his products again if I ever need more.

 

[H0LLYW00D]

I have a CampingLabs Large RTT and it has been one of the best mods I have done to the truck for extending my trips, I can now setup the tent or take it down in under 10min and it is super comfortable to sleep in with an extra inflatable matteres as the included one is a little hard. It stays cool in the daytime with the windows and doors open and stays warm at night. I have slept in it in the rain and have had no issues and also in the wind and is makes no more noise than a ground tent.

 

[Trevinator]

Thanks For the pics and recommendations for the camping lab units. Any more info?

 

[Token]

I second the Camping Labs unit... I've got one and it's been great.. I watched James' tent build thread and was very skeptical he'd get it to work right... I think he had the tent shell he'd picked up as a salvage part I think.. Base and arms were jacked up or something during shipping.. So that build time he's talking about was mostly fabbing the base and support arms up..

I was blown away at the amount of work he put into it and was dang glad after I saw it all come together that they didn't sell these things as a kit or me being the cheap bastard I am would have likely tried it..

 

[JamesDowning]

Ever seen a RTT shell that looks like this?

The shell was essentially made from scratch. I was however unsure how to properly do windows and doors, so I cut out panels from a large donor ground tent. I think that's where you got confused with it being a salvage part.

 

[Token]

HOLY CRAP.. There's more than one of you crazy bastiches that have already build a tent.. I'd have to go back and look now and see if I could find the thread on that other tent build..

 

[Trevinator]

Thank you James!!!!

Seeing it now for real............. I know I can too! Thanks!

Any more posts or tips or tricks or links to tenting builds etc........ Greatly appreciated!

 

[JamesDowning]

If you want me to post more about it here, I surely can. However it's all pretty well documented in my build thread (starts at post #132).

I had only a bit of experience sewing small things here and there, never a large tent that needed straight seams. So I really made it all up as I went. Pictured below, the biggest challenge was keeping that much material straight when being pushed through the machine. In total I went through a little over 450 yards of thread.

Make a good plan for yourself, and start sourcing materials early. Some things like the ladders are a bit tricky to find. Also keep in mind that some of the little insignificant details can end up taking a lot of time.

 

[Trevinator]

Thanks again........I will check out your build thread!

 

[JamesDowning]

HOLY CRAP.. There's more than one of you crazy bastiches that have already build a tent.. I'd have to go back and look now and see if I could find the thread on that other tent build..

If you can find that thread, I'd be interested in reading through myself. Post it up if you can.

Thanks again........I will check out your build thread!

When you start things, be sure to post a link to the build thread from this thread. Otherwise it's really easy to miss things on a site this big.

Cheers.

 

[woodeye]

Hey Trev you might want to check out this link, after you make the base and hinge.
They sell a replacement tent or shell. http://www.cartopcamper.com/index.htm

Woody