Home Made Roof Top Tent (RTT)???

[afm735]

Hi All-

I'm sure it's my poor search techniques, but I'm looking for threads regarding any home made roof top tents. I found a couple that were pretty old (2004) and some of the links don't work anymore and I was wondering if there more out there? Or, is anyone currently undertaking a project like this?

My idea was to make a platform that I could attached to my roof rack and use a backpackers tent.

Thanks in advance for your help.
-Randy

 

[lumpy70]

MOAB DIY Roof Top Camp Tent

 

[Bogo]

My idea was to make a platform that I could attached to my roof rack and use a backpackers tent.

It's something that has crossed my mind too. For photography I've threatened to make a platform for doing photography from, and also to serve as a rain cover for photographing out the windows on rainy days. Naturally I also thought of putting a tent up there too. An issue I came up with was handling the rain fly. Some tents have rain flys that don't extend out beyond the bows.

 

[Bighead]

Not a LC but this guy did a pretty nice job on his homemade RTT...Expedition Portal: Expedition TrailBlazer Project (starts on post 132).

 

[Enigma]

This one was pretty awesome!

https://forum.ih8mud.com/ca-bc-vancouver-island-cruisers/579108-our-rtt-give-away-video.html

 

[Bogo]

Not a LC but this guy did a pretty nice job on his homemade RTT...Expedition Portal: Expedition TrailBlazer Project (starts on post 132).

His tire swing out shelf, and on board water are also interesting.

Roof top tent starts at post #132.

 

[Biscuit]

I had a similar idea, but decide against a backpacking tent due to my tents (with vestibule) being too long for the 40 series roof.

I am now considering a 5x7 rack (ConFerr, DiamondRax, etc) with a canvas pup tent on it. All it would take is some tubing to insert the poles into and anchors (maybe 40 series soft top twist fasteners) on the sides.

 

[afm735]

Not a LC but this guy did a pretty nice job on his homemade RTT...Expedition Portal: Expedition TrailBlazer Project (starts on post 132).

This is pretty good. Not exactly what I'm looking at doing, but I like how he did the platform.

I am now considering a 5x7 rack (ConFerr, DiamondRax, etc) with a canvas pup tent on it.

I'm going to be using a DiamondRax as the base for my build. I've really been going back and forth on the type of tent to use. I still have a couple of ideas I'm trying to work out in my head, but I keep leaning towards a backpackers type tent because of the shape.

Any suggestions would be great though.

Thanks to everyone for the links.
-Randy

 

[B-RAD]

What if you built something like the Columbus model from Autohome using plywood and use some gas shocks to hold it up? You can find used tents on Craigslist cheap, and simply cut and sew the material to fit for the sides and back?

AutoHome Columbus—the roof top car tent for any vehicle

 

[hardtrailz]

The Trailblazer tent is nice. I have seen it in action and seemed to work as well as any bought one.

 

[Jetboy]

If I were building one, I'd go ultra light. I'm building a boat right now out of plascore. It's a PP honeycomb and you lay up fiberglass on each side to make a composite panel. It's an excellent material to use if your comfortable with fiberglass and epoxy. The cost for the core is $30-40 a sheet and probably that much again for glass and resin. But then you have a waterproof, insulating panel that is as strong as plywood, 1/4 the weight, and impervious to weather. Did I mention it's super light?

It's also very easy to work with. It is both bendable and drapable with heat. Without fiberglass it's very flexible. So you can bend it to any shape you wish, then glass it, and it will retain the shape yet be very strong and light.

Anyway, something to look into if you're willing to spend a little more to get an ultralight RTT. For me I would use plascore for the bottom and fold out lid. Then use aluminum poles, and a modern light weight fabric. I think the whole thing could fit under 3" thick and weigh less than 50lbs, and cost under $500 to build assuming you have all the tools to work with all the materials. I might build one when the boat is done if I have enough left over. I think making the ladder super light is going to be the hardest part. It's going to need to support 50% of the tent weight and be extendable at least a foot. I'm not sure if that can be done as light as I want. Otherwise the rest should be pretty straight forward.