Recs for Rooftop Tents for 100 Series (1 Viewer)

[SturgeonGeneral]

Hey folks!

I’m thinking above getting a rooftop tent for my 06 Hundo, and I was wondering if anyone out there has any insights/recommendations/advice/warnings, etc. Another important consideration for me is whether there are rooftop tents that can be mounted using the OEM roof rack, or do ai have to get a replacement roof rack, too? Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Happy New Year!

Reuben
75 FJ40 - Dingo
06 UZJ100 - Joe Cruiser
13 FJ Cruiser - not yet named!

 

[geanes]

My '98 LX had an ARB rooftop tent attached to factory rails. It seemed perfectly fine. As for tents, well, first need to figure out if you want a softshell/folding tent or a hardshell pop up tent. For the softshells, you're looking at $1k-2.5k. You can't go wrong with the name brand versions from ARB, CVT or Tepui. Others swear that the chinese knockoffs are fine. As for hardshells, you better budget $2.5k minimum. Maggiolina, Barroud and Roofnest tend to be popular options. I would imagine they are fine on the factory rack as well.

 

[Xetabur]

Get a yourself a Thule Crossroads 450 foot pack and some load bars. This system mounts to your stock rack and works just fine. I personally wouldn’t mount a tent directly on a stock rack.

As stated above, figure out what style tent you like. The softshell tents range from around $900-$5000. Hardshell tents are a little more and range from $2500-$6000. I’ve owned 5 RTTs and can tell you the expensive tents are expensive for a reason. The quality and workmanship are incredible.

For most people the ARB is an excellent choice (I owned one for about a year). I’m not familiar with CVT tents but they seem popular.

 

[planomateo]

You can buy thule/yakima rails on craigslist to save about 1/2 the cost. Just make sure you get ones that are the right length if you go this route.

Depends on how the tent rails are setup underneath and the size of the tent. My tent need to mount to crossbars, and the OEM crossbars aren't meant to support that load. Believe some of the smaller tents mount to the rails.

 

[cmck]

Not the cheapest approach but a full front runner rack and a cvt RTT. I found with the Front runner tall tent mounts, the tent will just clear the rear hatch. This gives you weather coverage and more living space with the annex room attached. There are lots of choices out there that will work.

 

[TXLX100]

Tent styles are going to be pretty generic (arb, smittybilt, CVT, hardshells, many other brands). For me, I'd really like the option of a covered entry and be able to add an annex room to have a changing room and not exit the tent into rain or cold weather. For mounting, direct to factory side rails should be fine. I make simple load bars that attach to the factory side rails, increases mount height about 1.5" but only 4 bolts to install / remove once you get the bars setup.

If you need a tent and more roof storage for other items, a modular style roof rack would be the way to go (front runner, ez awn, arb, etc.

 

[diego355]

I purchased a Tepui Kukenam back in 2010 or 2011, can't remember. This tent has been mounted on 4 vehicles and driven about 110.000 km. The only thing I had to replace was the cover due to a very hard tree branch that cut it open.
Is mounted on my LX on the factory load bars (not cross bars) for 10.000 km trouble free, lots of trails and highway km's

 

[SturgeonGeneral]

I purchased a Tepui Kukenam back in 2010 or 2011, can't remember. This tent has been mounted on 4 vehicles and driven about 110.000 km. The only thing I had to replace was the cover due to a very hard tree branch that cut it open.
Is mounted on my LX on the factory load bars (not cross bars) for 10.000 km trouble free, lots of trails and highway km's

View attachment 1602561

Thanks for the feedback! I really like the stats on Tepui tents so far, so this is great to hear!

 

[TXLX100]

Thanks for the feedback! I really like the stats on Tepui tents so far, so this is great to hear!

The Tepui come with the good telescopic ladder if I recall. The cheaper ones, the ladders end up being basic junk and you have to spend $100+ to replace them.

 

[mookamatook]

Not the cheapest approach but a full front runner rack and a cvt RTT. I found with the Front runner tall tent mounts, the tent will just clear the rear hatch. This gives you weather coverage and more living space with the annex room attached. There are lots of choices out there that will work.
View attachment 1602184
View attachment 1602185

Can you send a few more photos of this set up?
I have a few questions/clarifications...
-You have a front runner slimline 100 series rack on the provided front runner mounts?
-You have 3x 2 gallon rotopax in front of another row of goodies mounted on front runner rotopax mounts?
-Behind that you have the tent mounted on tall roof tent mounts from front runner?
-This all clears the tailgate and allows the annex to enclose a kitchen set up?

I ask these questions because this looks like an awesome rig that is super functional while still being pretty affordable for a non hardhsell tent and a lot of capacity on the roof rack.

 

[cmck]

Can you send a few more photos of this set up?
I have a few questions/clarifications...
-You have a front runner slimline 100 series rack on the provided front runner mounts?
-You have 3x 2 gallon rotopax in front of another row of goodies mounted on front runner rotopax mounts?
-Behind that you have the tent mounted on tall roof tent mounts from front runner?
-This all clears the tailgate and allows the annex to enclose a kitchen set up?

I ask these questions because this looks like an awesome rig that is super functional while still being pretty affordable for a non hardhsell tent and a lot of capacity on the roof rack.

Photos not so easy since the tent is on the trailer till late August. However the questions seem pretty clear.

I have a front runner slimline rack on the older tracks and older feet, not the current one piece style. That’s said I think the new style would work in the same manner maybe even a bit higher. One key point it the direction you mount the RTT rails on the bottom of the tent. This is covered in the tent instructions. I have long and short and convert the tent when going from trailer to rack. Easy job 4 bolts. Getting it on top of a lifted truck takes help from a tall strong young man.

I used the the rotopax deluxe mounts for the 3gallon gas tanks laid flat. 3 cans just fit. In the flat orientation you must make sure they don’t leak. I carefully sanded the face of the can to get a good seal and didn’t have any leaking. I burb them and worry a bit. I am planning a ladder mount as much to free up the rack as reduce any worry of leaking.

The tall mounts are from frontrunner and get the tent up high enough to allow the rear hatch to open, stay up and clear my head. The head clearance is an old before the 3” lift issue. Tent Mount Kit / Tall - by Front Runner

The CVT annex clears the hatches, tailgate, goes inside the swingouts and cover the rear for poor weather or privacy cooking. One tip is to add a second track from CVT to the tent bottom so the cover remains attached and the annex gets its own track. It makes the hardest part of the annex setup half the effort.

I also have a 54” awning and awning room I run off the back when the tent is on the trailer to cover the rear. The room is not shaped the same or as tall as the annex so I will be looking into an adjustment to that someday.

Oh the front runner under rack table is about as easy and useful as it is pricey, worth it!

Hope that helps, ask anything else that comes to mind.

 

[tracknod]

I am one to highly recommend a RTT, but I will say this... if you can, try setting one up once or twice and then strike it, especially if you want to put on an annex. I’ve spent the last 5 summers camping with the family and my set up has evolved to what it is now... two alu-cab Gen 3 tents and a couple shadow awnings. One on the trailer (daughters) and on on the 100 (my wife and I).

It started out with a single chinese tent, then an old version CVT, then to a new CVT and an ARB. At the absolute quickest it was 15-20 minutes to set up both tents crawling all over the truck trying to get the windows open. Then with the strike... uggg, this would take 30-45 min every morning with my wife and I and add 10-15 minutes if you put up an annex. The cheaper tent took longer trying to stuff everything in to fit the cover because the zippers sucked. This really became a pain every morning and not fun. I can’t tell you how many times my wife and I would start the day off arguing because of the damn tent... lol

Now fast forward a year and we got to see some Alu-cabs in South Africa when we were there... holy hell... 2 min to break camp. 3 min if we had the awning up. It was like seeing heaven, so much so, my wife said we needed to get one ASAP.

We got one and it was amazing. We kinda missed the space of the huge CVT we got rid of.... for a week . It was so nice to just park and have the tent up in less than a minute. There were no more morning fights set off by a crappy zipper and we could break camp in less than five min including the awnings being put up.

That brings me to the awnings... I’ve had a 2500 ARB on my FJ for years and used it maybe 10 times. It’s just a pain to open and close. With the Shadow awning, my wife will just open it up in a parking lot. It literally takes 30 seconds to open it and just a little longer to close it. Now we use the trucks awning ALL the time.

The moral of the story I guess is think about what you like to do before buying. If you want to spend a lot of time setting up and striking... spend less. If you want to save your marriage... watch and buy an alu-cab or the like when one comes up for sale used.

 

[prwillard2]

Photos not so easy since the tent is on the trailer till late August. However the questions seem pretty clear.

I have a front runner slimline rack on the older tracks and older feet, not the current one piece style. That’s said I think the new style would work in the same manner maybe even a bit higher. One key point it the direction you mount the RTT rails on the bottom of the tent. This is covered in the tent instructions. I have long and short and convert the tent when going from trailer to rack. Easy job 4 bolts. Getting it on top of a lifted truck takes help from a tall strong young man.

I used the the rotopax deluxe mounts for the 3gallon gas tanks laid flat. 3 cans just fit. In the flat orientation you must make sure they don’t leak. I carefully sanded the face of the can to get a good seal and didn’t have any leaking. I burb them and worry a bit. I am planning a ladder mount as much to free up the rack as reduce any worry of leaking.

The tall mounts are from frontrunner and get the tent up high enough to allow the rear hatch to open, stay up and clear my head. The head clearance is an old before the 3” lift issue. Tent Mount Kit / Tall - by Front Runner

The CVT annex clears the hatches, tailgate, goes inside the swingouts and cover the rear for poor weather or privacy cooking. One tip is to add a second track from CVT to the tent bottom so the cover remains attached and the annex gets its own track. It makes the hardest part of the annex setup half the effort.

I also have a 54” awning and awning room I run off the back when the tent is on the trailer to cover the rear. The room is not shaped the same or as tall as the annex so I will be looking into an adjustment to that someday.

Oh the front runner under rack table is about as easy and useful as it is pricey, worth it!

Hope that helps, ask anything else that comes to mind.View attachment 2034377View attachment 2034381

Sorry to necro an old thread, but what trailer is that @cmck ?

 

[cmck]

Sorry to necro an old thread, but what trailer is that @cmck ?

It’s Built not Bought... search “4x6 expo trailer” build thread over in trailers for more on what I did. More to come in some pre summer tweaking.

 

[RoughOne]

Looking to pull the trigger on this RTT. Can not afford the big name brands. This is priced within my budget. Any other affordable hardshell RTT's out there to choose from?

 

[Chuychanga]

I don’t know what brand that is or how much it cost, but there are some posters getting their Terrapod hard shell, clam shell tents delivered lately and are quite happy with them. About $3k.

Tired of all the "same", big honking RTT's. So I made a new one. - Terrapod!

>>> NOTICE We have almost sold out of our direct-to-customer production allotment of RTTx XL / SOLO tents. Be sure to lock in your order soon. Please note - as of June 1, we will be increasing the price of both the XL & the SOLO. Why? Terrapod has been hit with price increases across the...

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[RoughOne]

I don’t know what brand that is or how much it cost, but there are some posters getting their Terrapod hard shell, clam shell tents delivered lately and are quite happy with them. About $3k.

Tired of all the "same", big honking RTT's. So I made a new one. - Terrapod!

>>> NOTICE We have almost sold out of our direct-to-customer production allotment of RTTx XL / SOLO tents. Be sure to lock in your order soon. Please note - as of June 1, we will be increasing the price of both the XL & the SOLO. Why? Terrapod has been hit with price increases across the...

forum.ih8mud.com

This is a Chinese no name brand that goes for $999. Will try my luck and report back with my impressions.

 

[sigjar]

This is a Chinese no name brand that goes for $999. Will try my luck and report back with my impressions.

How was it and did you mount it on the stock roof rack?

 

[Exiled]

As long as you know what to expect for $999, it's worth a try. I went through this selection process last year and ended up picking a Terrapod RTTx, which I love. Made in the USA was a big determining factor, as was the weight, dimensions and general aesthetics. Thrilled with it so far!

 

[TheLCProject]

Autohome Columbus Variant Small XL

Eezi-Awn Stealth