Mombasa Car Top Tent Review

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SOCALFJ said:
Those two bars for that amount of weight is just silly.
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No, what is Silly is mounting it flat to the rack with no spacers underneath so that 1)water/moisture will get trapped in there and destroy the partical board floor with the quickness and 2) there isnt enough space for the cover to be tucked under it, now THAT is Silly :flipoff2:


SOCALFJ said:
Mount that puppy on your rack and be done.
If you go do any crazy wheeling, just pull the whole rack w/tent off the truck.
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Yes, that is probably my next project (possibly looking at these: http://www.sleeoffroad.com/products/products_loadbars.htm.

I was hoping to eliminate having the world most expensive "Tent Mount" and sell the rack, but now i am thinking of using that extra 10" or so to mount a PVC (or similar) water tank for a simple gravity shower setup!

I figured the aluminum frame of the tent would have plenty of rigidity! The frame of the tent was flexing as well!

Here is the diagram that Mel (owner of www.car-top-tent.com) sent me, with 3 support bars in the middle, i figured that should limit flex

http://www.yankeetoys.org/mangler/tent_base.pdf


I picked up some 3/4"x3/4" aluminum square tubing that i am going to use between the tent and the rack to lift it up a little off the rack so,

1) i will be able to put the cover all the way on, and

2) so moisture doesnt get trapped between the rack and the partical board floor, destroying it!

Pics will follow
 
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The floor isnt one solid piece under the tent. So it's just the cross slat aluminum floor pieces that have to be dealt with.
The sections of the tent that aren't touching anything would be the same as mounting it up with a spacer. But yeah, yeah
im working on a plan to seal the floor section from the rack so that moisture doesnt get trapped under it (even though we live in socal.. and it rains 3 days a year and never gets cold enough to matter lol).

I'd like to see the pics of your setup when your done. I just dont want the tent any higher than it already sits.
 
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SOCALFJ said:
I'd like to see the pics of your setup when your done. I just dont want the tent any higher than it already sits.
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You got it

Mine will only be raised 3/4"
 
I wasnt happy with all the movement that i had with the tent mounted on the Thule bars, so i bit the bullet and mounted it to my rack instead.

Its kind of a waste of a perfectly good rack (it uses the entire thing) but its super sturdy and fits perfect.

I redid my writeup if you care to check it out:

http://www.yankeetoys.org/mangler/ctt.htm
 
did you run the bolts down through the tent frame or just through the tent floor (particle board and filling) ?

as mentioned elsewhere, I would not drill through the frame, I'd use U bolts around the frame bars - maybe just me too anal as usual, never mind... :)
 
e9999 said:
did you run the bolts down through the tent frame or just through the tent floor (particle board and filling) ?
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Through the frame, gimme a LITTLE credit! :flipoff2:


e9999 said:
as mentioned elsewhere, I would not drill through the frame, I'd use U bolts around the frame bars - maybe just me too anal as usual, never mind... :)
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Any particular reason?
 
e9999 said:
well, it depends on whether you think the hole makes the frame stronger or not? :)
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For what it is and what its mounting, i see it as a non issue.

The rack is supporting almost ALL of the weight and the hole in the frame is only holding the tent in place horizontal, almost no load on the area that the holes were drilled.
 
e9999, is wus and a worry wart that knows nothing about building things... if he said that he would not do it thats reason enuff for me, to do it
 
Ian Rogers said:
e9999, is wus and a worry wart that knows nothing about building things... if he said that he would not do it thats reason enuff for me, to do it
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and now -besides spelling abilities- we are all impressed with your maturity, right...? :rolleyes:
 
e9999 said:
and now -besides spelling abilities- we are all impressed with your maturity, right...? :rolleyes:
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Yes Erick, having Dyslexia has held me back, mainly in the spelling and grammar fields. I have never let it stop me from trying to convey my point on any on-line board. Unfortunately they is a lack of spell checking on most online forums, I could type every thing in word and copy and paste all of my response but I don’t want to do that. I have worked hard to overcome Dyslexia and Graduated from UC Irvine with a major in Econ and a minor in Accounting.

Sorry if my spelling bothers you, all the best

Ian Rogers
 
Ian Rogers said:
Yes Erick, having Dyslexia has held me back, mainly in the spelling and grammar fields. I have never let it stop me from trying to convey my point on any on-line board. Unfortunately they is a lack of spell checking on most online forums, I could type every thing in word and copy and paste all of my response but I don’t want to do that. I have worked hard to overcome Dyslexia and Graduated from UC Irvine with a major in Econ and a minor in Accounting.

Sorry if my spelling bothers you, all the best

Ian Rogers
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Good for you!

Impressed too that you know my background so well, and that you are putting such deep thinking into how you build things yourself.

Or if that earlier comment was a joke, consider using a :D so you don't come out looking like an :censor: . :)

No matter. Over and Out on that.

Back to BM's nice job on the tent.
 
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Boston Mangler said:
For what it is and what its mounting, i see it as a non issue.

The rack is supporting almost ALL of the weight and the hole in the frame is only holding the tent in place horizontal, almost no load on the area that the holes were drilled.
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Good, then. Didn't mean to sound critical, if I did. Sorry. This may well be stronger than the OEM brackets, depending on how strong their rivets are and how big a hole you made.
I was thinking more about shock loads with emergency braking and the like.
I will use the U-bolts approach if I mount mine on the truck. Much stronger IMHO. And fewer issues resale wise.

If it's the particle board one, have you considered putting some sealer on the panels - or is that too anal also? :)
 
e9999 said:
If it's the particle board one, have you considered putting some sealer on the panels - or is that too anal also? :)
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Nah, the particle board will be replaced fairly soon! :D
 
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