NOTE: This is a re-post of a project I created in June 2016. My original post lost all the pictures and it's important to have pictures for this build. I’ve had zero luck adding them back in (REI Roof Top Tent (RTT) on Prinsu Designs Rack - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/rei-roof-top-tent-rtt-on-prinsu-designs-rack.931692/). So, I just created a new post with some lessons learned as I used the platform over 6 years. Additionally, I'll be revisiting this with v2.0 in the near future so it's a good time to refresh myself and others what a cool project it was.
I've come up with a highly functional roof top tent solution that fits my budget and my garage. I call it my Poor Man's Roof Top Tent (PMRTT). I've mentioned to a few folks who wanted to see what all the hubub was about so here it is.
Why Do This?
My kids go out with me most every time now and sleeping in the truck and Hennessey hammocks has been working out well but lately, we've been doing overnights without trees so that makes for a cramped truck and tents. I've looked at Tepui roof top tents but my budget and garage clearance (or garage storage for the tent when off the truck) is tight. I needed a better solution that would be as beneficial but not have any of the negatives (massive consumption of roof rack, high center of gravity, wind drag, off camber tipping, cost, storage, etc.) of a real RTT.
UPDATE: A buddy graciously gave me a proper TJM RTT and it’s been a real bear to get it on and off the truck and now that I’ve moved to East TN, it’s VERY HARD to run a trail with a full size RTT on the truck. I’ll be rebuilding this platform soon as it proved so incredibly useful for so many reasons. My TJM RTT has been sitting in the garage for 3.5 years now…I think it may go up for sale soon.
How Much?
I figure the total cost of the tent setup without the rack is about $450. Keep in mind, the beauty of this solution is its portability and flexibility. Any RTT solution will need a rack so I figure that's an assumed expense.
I had an REI Half Dome tent which is a standard 2 person tent measuring 88x52 inches (these are the floor dimensions which is critical to note) that I've used for camping with Boy Scouts. I think I paid about $250 for it new.
I bought plywood, paint, hinges, a ladder, etc. for about $200
I have a Prinsu Designs flat roof rack that I paid about $1100 for when all was said and done. Awesome rack by the way, highly recommend one! The rack footprint across the load bar rails is 80x51 inches. There is about a 3/16 inch lip along each rail.
The Process
I had the tent out for some reason and decided it would fit on the top of my truck so I tossed it up there and it seemed like a good idea to keep going with it. I had a couple of warped sheets of 19/32 inch plywood cut to use as the base (it's all Home Depot had and I was in a rush for an upcoming run) which I laid up on the rack and moved around for a few hours to get the tent settled before I painted them, installed hinges and bolted them down.
Nothing was working and the tent was very floppy and messy.
I hadn't considered that the tent poles were protruding another 5" beyond the tent floor.
After a couple of more hours, I clamped a crescent wrench to the wood at a 45 degree angle on each corner and used the hole in the handle to wedge the mushroom shaped tent pole tip.
Eureka! This was the solution that I had been looking for! I clamped on 3 more wrenches and the tent came to life. It was taught, secure as heck and due to the mushroom shape, the poles wouldn't pull out of the wrenches.
I picked up some beefy 10" straps from Home Depot. They are about 1" wide and have a series of 1/4" holes staggered along them. These attach to the platform with a couple of thumb screws on each corner secured into "t-nuts" inserted in the plywood. When the brackets are screwed to the platform they are rock solid.
The platform fits the tent floor perfectly and the bathtub shape of the tent floor sweeps upward just as the edge wants to lay on the 3/16" lip of the rails. My daughter and I slept up there with a couple of Big Agnes air mattresses and the floor was perfectly flat and we fit very well.
I drilled holes and mounted "t-nuts" to reach up through the sun roof to secure the front of the platform to brackets on my crossbars but after deploying it, the platform is pretty heavy and the tent shape actually exerts pressure downward so it forces the wood down and negates me having to secure the front half of the folding platform. In extreme winds it may need to be secured but I doubt it.
Entry and exit is done using a Tepui tents telescoping ladder. This is the same type of telescoping ladder you can buy at Home Depot but it has the bolt on connection brackets at the top. I use a 1/4" clevis pin on one side and a TSA approved padlock on the other to keep honest people honest. The ladder is pinned to Tepui brackets that bolt on the Prinsu rack and live up there permanently. No holes had to be drilled thanks to the expansive slots on the rack. The ladder does block my rear driver's door but in a pinch I can remove it or just lift it up and hold it while the door is opened then it can be lowered. Not a big deal yet. The ladder leads perfectly to the large side entrance (there's an mirrored large entrance on each side) of the tent so the ladder could go on either side. One other great advantage of having a removable ladder is I can finally climb up those big trees to get the huge pinecones! Securing the tent was the most challenging in my mind but once I found the bracket trick, it's so much more solid than I had imagined. By inserting the tent pole into the bracket straight then letting it angle naturally to maintain the tent shape, it locks the mushroom tip in and will not come out unless brought straight up once more. It's easy to bend the flexible pole to insert each corner. I learned to be mindful of the wind and always secure the upwind side first to prevent the tent from blowing over and bending the tips. Once secured, I then pull the stake loop around the tip of the 10" bracket and secure with a carabiner. This adds some peace of mind should a tip break off or something, the tent is securely fastened to the truck.
The platform measures 88x51 inches. Each panel is 44x51 inches. I have a nickel plated 4" piano hinge from Home Depot securing the two pieces. I painted the piano hinge black to match.
The platform is painted with Acrylic Latex gloss paint which should weather the best. The underside is black and the sleeping surface is all white. When closed, the exposed surface is white. All white surfaces have a 2" black border to keep it invisible against the black Prinsu rack. I figure the white would be a better option to reflect the desert sun and heat. The black is to match the black truck.
I've come up with a highly functional roof top tent solution that fits my budget and my garage. I call it my Poor Man's Roof Top Tent (PMRTT). I've mentioned to a few folks who wanted to see what all the hubub was about so here it is.
Why Do This?
My kids go out with me most every time now and sleeping in the truck and Hennessey hammocks has been working out well but lately, we've been doing overnights without trees so that makes for a cramped truck and tents. I've looked at Tepui roof top tents but my budget and garage clearance (or garage storage for the tent when off the truck) is tight. I needed a better solution that would be as beneficial but not have any of the negatives (massive consumption of roof rack, high center of gravity, wind drag, off camber tipping, cost, storage, etc.) of a real RTT.
UPDATE: A buddy graciously gave me a proper TJM RTT and it’s been a real bear to get it on and off the truck and now that I’ve moved to East TN, it’s VERY HARD to run a trail with a full size RTT on the truck. I’ll be rebuilding this platform soon as it proved so incredibly useful for so many reasons. My TJM RTT has been sitting in the garage for 3.5 years now…I think it may go up for sale soon.
How Much?
I figure the total cost of the tent setup without the rack is about $450. Keep in mind, the beauty of this solution is its portability and flexibility. Any RTT solution will need a rack so I figure that's an assumed expense.
I had an REI Half Dome tent which is a standard 2 person tent measuring 88x52 inches (these are the floor dimensions which is critical to note) that I've used for camping with Boy Scouts. I think I paid about $250 for it new.
I bought plywood, paint, hinges, a ladder, etc. for about $200
I have a Prinsu Designs flat roof rack that I paid about $1100 for when all was said and done. Awesome rack by the way, highly recommend one! The rack footprint across the load bar rails is 80x51 inches. There is about a 3/16 inch lip along each rail.
The Process
I had the tent out for some reason and decided it would fit on the top of my truck so I tossed it up there and it seemed like a good idea to keep going with it. I had a couple of warped sheets of 19/32 inch plywood cut to use as the base (it's all Home Depot had and I was in a rush for an upcoming run) which I laid up on the rack and moved around for a few hours to get the tent settled before I painted them, installed hinges and bolted them down.
Nothing was working and the tent was very floppy and messy.
I hadn't considered that the tent poles were protruding another 5" beyond the tent floor.
After a couple of more hours, I clamped a crescent wrench to the wood at a 45 degree angle on each corner and used the hole in the handle to wedge the mushroom shaped tent pole tip.
Eureka! This was the solution that I had been looking for! I clamped on 3 more wrenches and the tent came to life. It was taught, secure as heck and due to the mushroom shape, the poles wouldn't pull out of the wrenches.
I picked up some beefy 10" straps from Home Depot. They are about 1" wide and have a series of 1/4" holes staggered along them. These attach to the platform with a couple of thumb screws on each corner secured into "t-nuts" inserted in the plywood. When the brackets are screwed to the platform they are rock solid.
The platform fits the tent floor perfectly and the bathtub shape of the tent floor sweeps upward just as the edge wants to lay on the 3/16" lip of the rails. My daughter and I slept up there with a couple of Big Agnes air mattresses and the floor was perfectly flat and we fit very well.
I drilled holes and mounted "t-nuts" to reach up through the sun roof to secure the front of the platform to brackets on my crossbars but after deploying it, the platform is pretty heavy and the tent shape actually exerts pressure downward so it forces the wood down and negates me having to secure the front half of the folding platform. In extreme winds it may need to be secured but I doubt it.
Entry and exit is done using a Tepui tents telescoping ladder. This is the same type of telescoping ladder you can buy at Home Depot but it has the bolt on connection brackets at the top. I use a 1/4" clevis pin on one side and a TSA approved padlock on the other to keep honest people honest. The ladder is pinned to Tepui brackets that bolt on the Prinsu rack and live up there permanently. No holes had to be drilled thanks to the expansive slots on the rack. The ladder does block my rear driver's door but in a pinch I can remove it or just lift it up and hold it while the door is opened then it can be lowered. Not a big deal yet. The ladder leads perfectly to the large side entrance (there's an mirrored large entrance on each side) of the tent so the ladder could go on either side. One other great advantage of having a removable ladder is I can finally climb up those big trees to get the huge pinecones! Securing the tent was the most challenging in my mind but once I found the bracket trick, it's so much more solid than I had imagined. By inserting the tent pole into the bracket straight then letting it angle naturally to maintain the tent shape, it locks the mushroom tip in and will not come out unless brought straight up once more. It's easy to bend the flexible pole to insert each corner. I learned to be mindful of the wind and always secure the upwind side first to prevent the tent from blowing over and bending the tips. Once secured, I then pull the stake loop around the tip of the 10" bracket and secure with a carabiner. This adds some peace of mind should a tip break off or something, the tent is securely fastened to the truck.
The platform measures 88x51 inches. Each panel is 44x51 inches. I have a nickel plated 4" piano hinge from Home Depot securing the two pieces. I painted the piano hinge black to match.
The platform is painted with Acrylic Latex gloss paint which should weather the best. The underside is black and the sleeping surface is all white. When closed, the exposed surface is white. All white surfaces have a 2" black border to keep it invisible against the black Prinsu rack. I figure the white would be a better option to reflect the desert sun and heat. The black is to match the black truck.
Last edited:
