Eezi Awn 1800 vs. Overland vs. Serengeti 180-200cm RTT

[Peluo]

Hi there guys. I have been lurking/searching/reading all the threads here and in expedition portal about all these 3 top players in the canvas RTT US market. My head is about to explode with all the info and my indecicion
I am planning a trip from Caracas to Ushuaia and back. I need a well built RTT in the 180-200 cm wide (70-79") for 3 adults. Unless you guys thing i can do with a narrower one. I will be mounting the RTT to 3 AO load bars.

Here are the candidates:
-Overland Large (autohome) $2299+$60 crate+???shipping.
-Eezi Awn 1800 series 3 $1975+$175 shipping to commercial address.
-Serengeti MWS2000 $2100 free shipping from camping lab Its on florida where i would ship to so i would have to pay state tax

Things i would like to know:
-Cross bar hinges (Serengeti bars are flat at the ends with bolts no plastic ) others i haven't found a photo.
-Weight: Overland 125-1/2 lbs, Eezi Awn 145 lbs, Serengeti ???
-Material of bottom: i guess they are all plywood, Overland has some plastic paint bottom. Eezi Awn has c channel making it very ease to mount.
-Overland has no rain fly? pros/cons.
-Ladder all are aluminum telescoping, do they all need extensions and do all need to be stake? Overland has some plastic hinge that stop at certain point (at least from the picture it looks like plastic) which one is the best and why?
-How do the canvas attach to the bottom?
-Long term to get spares? Autohome italy it's on its 50 anniversary, and i guess Eezi Awn has been going strong since they kind of invented the canvas RTT, MyWay ???

Any help would be appreciated.
I will like to have as much info and photos before i call the RTT dealers.

PS: i subscribe to Expedition Journal and bought back issues of 2008 but i guess the RTT shootout is from 2006 or 2007 issue.

 

[Roberto]

state Tax in Florida? Camping lab is located in FL? if thats what you choose have someone from another state order for you to save the $$$?

R

 

[titanpat57]

In order to pass on the sales tax...it has to be "shipped" out of Florida too.

Good luck...looks like 3 great choices...lol...does that help?

 

[MANUCHAO]

Here are the candidates:
-Overland Large (autohome) $2299+$60 crate+???shipping.
-Eezi Awn 1800 series 3 $1975+$175 shipping to commercial address.
-Serengeti MWS2000 $2100 free shipping from camping lab Its on florida where i would ship to so i would have to pay state tax

Things i would like to know:
-Cross bar hinges (Serengeti bars are flat at the ends with bolts no plastic ) others i haven't found a photo.
-Weight: Overland 125-1/2 lbs, Eezi Awn 145 lbs, Serengeti ???
-Material of bottom: i guess they are all plywood, Overland has some plastic paint bottom. Eezi Awn has c channel making it very ease to mount.
-Overland has no rain fly? pros/cons.
-Ladder all are aluminum telescoping, do they all need extensions and do all need to be stake? Overland has some plastic hinge that stop at certain point (at least from the picture it looks like plastic) which one is the best and why?
-How do the canvas attach to the bottom?
-Long term to get spares? Autohome italy it's on its 50 anniversary, and i guess Eezi Awn has been going strong since they kind of invented the canvas RTT, MyWay ???

Any help would be appreciated.
I will like to have as much info and photos before i call the RTT dealers.

PS: i subscribe to Expedition Journal and bought back issues of 2008 but i guess the RTT shootout is from 2006 or 2007 issue.

My experience with Eezi Awn 1800 is as follows:

Crossbars hinges (not sure what you mean by it) but these tent does not have plastic on any of its hinges.

Weight I havent put mine on a scale but I doubt it is 145lbs.

Bottom is playwood treated with Marine varnish.. and yes the C channels are great. It can be loaded on top of a round or square bar with yakima plastic clamps... I got mine set up on top of my roof rack.

Eezi Awn had a rain fly...which is awesome but it drains right on top of the latter. So if its raining watch out or you going to get wet as you get up/down the latter. It can flap rather loud under windy conditions.

Latter is good for most situations but if you park on an uneven area you be glad you had an extension. I never staked mine. You can actually drill holes on the latter once you know how high is going to sit on your truck. I have drilled holes as I have put it on my trailer and on top of my rig.
Canvas is attached to the base via a c clamp that is screwed into the wood.

Spares.. havent had the need for one "yet".
I almost left the rain fly poles on top of the table on my first trip.. "they call me rookie".

Tent has held up great on rainy days and in cold weather...

Setting it up under the rain was troublesome the first and second time.. it sheds water really nice so I didn't rush to put the tarp on top asap.

You can easily sleep 4 peeps in there.. its huge...

Cons.. weight, is not mosquito proof but it can be "made" mosquito proof.

The dust cover uses a ratch system with is great, however the velcro that hides the ratch and strap is crappy and it comes open at hwy speeds at times.... Im thinking of putting some snap buttons to keep it from coming open.

Pros.. its huge, is confortable as F#$%K, ventilation is awesome, the tarp does its job at keeping the water and dust out really well, set up is a breeze, Matress is super cushy and it stays in place.

if you have any questions or need any pics of it let me know..
You can see some more pics under my sig line...

We taken this thing all over the northwest and its done its job quite well.

Laters and good luck with your choice.. Im sure you will not go wrong with either of these 3 choices...

 

[spressomon]

I had an Overland XL with a king size equivalent mattress. Plenty big. But a few glaring problems: The door(s) are the awnings. So if you have the door(s) in awning mode then climb in you can't close the awning from the bed side; you have to get down the ladder and unhook the poles then crawl up under the now door. Nor can you leave the door partially open as it hinges from the top not the bottom. If they would only ad a real zippered door hinged at the bottom along with the door awning it would go along way...

The aluminum tubes that fit inside the door sleeves, that provide rigidity and shape for the door/awning were not capped at each end. Consequently when the wind would come up there would be enough flapping to cause them to exit. Another PITA but an easy fix: I just put a pop rivet at each end of the fabric sleeve to contain the tube: Problem solved. I believe the factory addressed this issue after I already had purchased mine.

The other issue I had, which is the same issue with all folding RTT's that I am familiar with, is the transit cover. It doesn't do an effective job at keeping trail dust out of the tent/bedding IMO; its a PITA to put on when the wind is blowing; and due to sharp raw/unfinished metal edges the cover abraded quickly. Capping the galvanized formed channel and adding a protective layer of rubberized fabric at each inside corner would go along way to mitigating this issue.

I heard the early Ezi-Awns didn't leave much vertical space for pillows and bedding; they may have corrected this on the later models.

Having said all that Mike, who owns Autohome USA, is a class act. He took care of me 110%. He wants satisfied customers and will do what is reasonable to make sure you are happy. I ended up upgrading to a Maggiolina with him.

And lastly all RTT's with the exception of the Maggiolina and Columbus models are like having a 150lb brick atop your truck. They collect major wind from front and side along with a not so small MPG penalty; and the noise.

 

[Peluo]

Thanks guys for the help. I have decided to go for a smaller RTT on the in the 160 cm wide format i think we can sleep 3 in there. Still have the same 3 options, I have narrowed down to the Eezi Awn 1600 series 3 and the Serengeti from Myway. I really like the serengeti for 3 reasons: it's lighter, has a lower profile when close (220mm) and it's less expensive One thing i am worry about the Serengeti is the mattress thickness, it's only 2" thick compare to the others 3"+. But I guess you can't have a lower profile without a compromise. I just hope i dont bottom out since i weight 220 pounds

I did get a picture of the Eezi Awn hinges(where all the aluminum bows meet are flaten and a bolt is attach to aluminum brackets: no plastic same as Serengeti)
The other question i still have of the Serengeti is since i am installing the tent to open to the sides and the square tubes of the frame of the tent would be parallel to the AO load bars on the roof. That means that i will have to get the load bars underneath the square tube frame. How would i attach the RTT without drilling my AO load bars or drilling the tent? Wow i cant even explaned to my self how you guys can light me on this Sorry for my spelling:whoops:

 

[spressomon]

Peluo,
You didn't mention the ARB Simpson III but you may want to read about it here:

New ARB Series III RTT - Page 3 - Expedition Portal Forum

 

[Peluo]

Isn't the ARB simpson III only 140cm wide? that is why didn't look much in to it. I need it for 3 adults. Is the ARB ripstop canvas?

 

[spressomon]

Isn't the ARB simpson III only 140cm wide? that is why didn't look much in to it. I need it for 3 adults. Is the ARB ripstop canvas?

You may be correct: I actually don't know the width of the ARB Simpson III. The Simpson III I saw at SEMA last fall was ripstop; however I do not know if the production version is or is not ripstop. I would e-mail/PM Kurt at Cruiseroutfitters.

 

[hoser]

Campinglab will also soon have their 3 person 71x94 tent available. I'm not sure about "highest quality" but at $925, they are affordable. They are very similar to the ARB Simpson tents and are made of laminated polyester ripstop canvas.

rooftoptent