Well...it's been way longer than a week but I thought I'd post an update on my rooftop tent. Unfortunately the Roam Adventure Company Rambler RTT did not work out, and after less than 60 days of ownership and only 12 nights camping in the tent, I had to return in to Roam for a refund.
The issue was warping and cracking in the top shell. Two significant cracks formed towards the rear of the tent, and the flat surfaces along the left and right edges became warped and "wavy". This resulted in a shell that did not sit flat like it should.
Driver Side Crack
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Passenger Side Crack
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"Waves" on the Driver Side.
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My suspicion is that there was an issue during manufacturing (Roam has them made in China as far as I know). If I had to guess something went wrong with the curing process, resulting in the Fiber Glass & ABS layers failing to bond to each other.
But there were QC issues right from the start. The Roam Adventure Company name plates were falling off right out of the box. The included cargo net was broken (luckily I had purchased their upgraded cargo net, so I had a replacement on hand.) They also failed to include mounting hardware and took almost a week to get it to me. And lastly, the ladder was junk. Not close to tall enough for my rig...so we had to fab a removable mount that slips into the slots on my Prinsu rack.
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While it wasn't the easiest process, I was able to get Roam Adventure Company to provide a refund. I wrote up a very detailed email with photos, and I made sure to assert my belief that any repair or replacement would only be a temporary fix. They took their time (pretty sure they only have one customer service rep) but we arranged to have a local employee (from their Product Development team) come to my house to collect the tent. This employee told me that he planned to cut the upper shell into some pieces that could be shipped to the manufacturer for postmortem inspection.
Aside from the complete failure of the shell, I did enjoy sleeping in the tent. But getting it closed was a struggle. It was really difficult to get the front end closed, as you have to stand in one of the front doors and then reach awkwardly over the windshield. And once the front is closed, it took some work to get all the tent material tucked under the shell so that the rear latches could be secured.
Another issue is the overall design of the top shell. As you can see below, rain water just sits up there. I had to be careful when closing the tent to keep it from dumping all over me.
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I really liked the corner windows and the room afforded by the "pop-up" design, but the overall quality just isn't there for a tent that costs nearly $4,000. I did like the overall experience of sleeping in a RTT, so I have already purchased a more rugged tent (Alu-Cab Gen 3.1) and will post some pics of it when I get it fully set up.
