Rooftop tent - Ladder needed to support cantilever? (1 Viewer)

[EricG]

Hi Folks,
I recently bought a new rooftop tent, and was surprised to find that the cantilever portion barely held itself up. Was thinking it was defective and wrote to the vendor with pics. Their reply was that the ladder is considered integral to supporting the cantilever side of the tent.

Is this typical now? I owned an older Mombasa test where that was definitely not the case.

 

[a_traut_man]

Yeah if you have a fold out RTT then the ladder is critical for supporting the cantilevered side of the tent. I have a hard time imagining a cantilevered RTT that doesn't require the ladder to support that load

 

[EricG]

Yeah if you have a fold out RTT then the ladder is critical for supporting the cantilevered side of the tent. I have a hard time imagining a cantilevered RTT that doesn't require the ladder to support that load

Huh ... my old Mombasa didn't. The T slot bars ran crosswise on it and extended out a bit. The ladder was busted up a bit and didn't really lock in so it was usually not giving any support.

I was surprised that this one is supported by the ladder and was wondering if the vendor was giving me a line.

 

[a_traut_man]

I know my Tepui does. It can support itself without but I haven’t tried any weight up there without the ladder locked in.

 

[e9999]

even if the fold out part was sitting there fine by itself, I would be very hesitant to put any weight on it, given the forces that would put on the hinges and nearby support. I did in fact use extendable poles at the corners in addition to the ladder as support as a precaution.

 

[kwon-offroad]

Hi Folks,
I recently bought a new rooftop tent...

Which one?

My Tepui Foothills can be used without support only because it's a "half size" wide RTT and if positioned more towards the middle the cantilever side can still land on the crossbars (with a spacer). All other RTTs that I know of (this is key, since I don't know all of them) need to be supported by the ladder.

 

[a_traut_man]

@kwon-offroad that is pretty slick, never seen that before. Its awesome that folded up it is long like a roofbox, bet that helps with the MPGs too. If only we didn't need the space of a larger tent.

 

[kwon-offroad]

@kwon-offroad that is pretty slick, never seen that before. Its awesome that folded up it is long like a roofbox, bet that helps with the MPGs too. If only we didn't need the space of a larger tent.

We love our Foothill and owned it since it came out two years ago, was actually on the waiting list to purchase once it came to market. (Originally $1695, it's now $2,199!!!)

Admittedly, it's not the easiest tent to erect. Not even close compared to clamshells and even full size RTTs. But that's the product of Tepui focusing highly on form factor and reducing the profile and size of what is on top of the car. They succeeded. Once you establish your process it's a cinch overall.

On the 100 series you don't even feel it's there and can barely hear the wind noise with the sunroof shade/cover closed. MPG hasn't budged (with RTT only). We just came back from a trip with RTT, 2 SUPs in coffin next to the RTT (and exactly why we went all in on this RTT), and 2 MTBs out back on hitch.

We are trying for kids at the moment so that will change soon, but for now, it's the perfect compliment for our needs.

 

[a_traut_man]

@kwon-offroad that is awesome you can fit all of that on a roof with the tent, really wish that had been an option when we bought ours 5 years back.
Good luck with the kiddos, we've had our first one for 2 years now and man does it make offroad travel a wholllleee different experience... bit more work but a lot more fun

 

[coleAK]

My previous Tepui and current iKamper both require the ladder to support the cantilever.

 

[MDH33]

My ARB Simpson doesn't really require it. The hinge, internal poles, straps and tent fabric are strong enough. The ladder is the belt added to the suspenders.