Rooftop tent and base rack suggestions please

[Fishinsea]

Hi all,

I am in the process of picking a base rack and rooftop tent

any pictures of what ya got or suggestions would be highly appreciated

 

[CharlieS]

Gamiviti expedition rack and Alucab 3.1 RTT. Awesome combination.

 

[2HundyJTex]

I ran across this a couple days ago, FWIW. Good luck.

Custom Toyota Land Cruiser 200 Series

A Guide to Automotive Adventure & Outdoor .

www.treadmagazine.com

 

[Fisher23]

My friend has a James Baroud.

Home Page -

James Baroud, a manufacturer of Premium Rooftop Tents and Camping Gear for Overland and Outdoor, using the Best quality materials.

www.jamesbaroud.com

It's nice. You can sit up in it with your back against the wall and see 360 degrees.

I have a very small trailer .. as I base camp more than sleep and go.

 

[CharlieS]

Fwiw, we also have a small offroad trailer for base camp stuff. When we are on the move day to day, we generally don't use that setup; we use the RTT, sleep inside the rig or add in a Gazelle T4 (if we need more room). The T4 sets up and breaks down quickly (for a tent) so is our go to.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Given zero information as to requirements, wants/needs, plans, or budget, this thread is pointless.

 

[Fishinsea]

Given zero information as to requirements, wants/needs, plans, or budget, this thread is pointless.

Then just move on sir i have no time for your negativity

 

[Umbrarian]

Hi all,

I am in the process of picking a base rack and rooftop tent

any pictures of what ya got or suggestions would be highly appreciated

84x51 will accommodate the most load, no guard rails will make mounting easy. I use the Simpson tent.

 

[coleAK]

OEM rails, Yakama round bars. Way more versatile then any of the safari racks.

 

[CharlieS]

@coleAK - you said "Way more versatile then any of the safari racks.", but point of fact, one can run Thule or Yakima crossbars on a Gamiviti rack too, so it does everything a stock setup does and lots more.

 

[coleAK]

@coleAK - you said "Way more versatile then any of the safari racks.", but point of fact, one can run Thule or Yakima crossbars on a Gamiviti rack too, so it does everything a stock setup does and lots more.

But you can’t take the Gamiviti off, then stuck with a loud, expensive, inefficient, rack up there all the time. There is nothing a Gamiviti does my OEM+Yakama doesn’t.

Here’s mine is with a 17’ canoe and dip net gear, full set netting set up, my teens complete food service, I run 2 yakima boxes time to time, regularly have 8-10 pairs of skis up top in the winter.

And yes here in Alaska we net salmon out of a canoe.

 

[CharlieS]

I'm not saying the stock rack isn't fine. I had good luck with it too.

I'm saying it isn't accurate to paint all expedition racks being less capable with a broad brush.

The Gamiviti is not loud, or inefficient. I can take it off as quickly (not very) as I took off the stock rack.

The Gamiviti does hold large sheet goods better than my stock rack plus crossbar setup. It does mount my RTT more solidly than then stock plus crossbar setup did.

Lots of ways to solve for the need.

As this gal knows (saw near the great salt lake), you don't need no stinkin' fancy rack to carry everything.

 

[stonepa]

But you can’t take the Gamiviti off, then stuck with a loud, expensive, inefficient, rack up there all the time. There is nothing a Gamiviti does my OEM+Yakama doesn’t.

Here’s mine is with a 17’ canoe and dip net gear, full set netting set up, my teens complete food service, I run 2 yakima boxes time to time, regularly have 8-10 pairs of skis up top in the winter.



View attachment 3113771

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But you can’t take the Gamiviti off, then stuck with a loud, expensive, inefficient, rack up there all the time. There is nothing a Gamiviti does my OEM+Yakama doesn’t.

Here’s mine is with a 17’ canoe and dip net gear, full set netting set up, my teens complete food service, I run 2 yakima boxes time to time, regularly have 8-10 pairs of skis up top in the winter.

And yes here in Alaska we net salmon out of a canoe.


View attachment 3113771

View attachment 3113772

View attachment 3113784

View attachment 3113790

Canoe! A real Alaskan uses a packraft!

 

[coleAK]

Canoe! A real Alaskan uses a packraft!

Did you catch the couple in the pack raft. I hope they were dating. The funniest part was she was on the bottom and he was just gilling them and flipping them in her lap to bleed. I bet she was sitting in a dozen ~6-8 lb sockeye and inches of slime and blood.

 

[Phoenix28]

Hi all,

I am in the process of picking a base rack and rooftop tent

any pictures of what ya got or suggestions would be highly appreciated

I've got a '15 LX and just installed a Rhino Rack Vortex (three cross bars) and the 4-ish person iKamper rooftop tent. I highly recommend both. The guys at Rhino Adventure helped me out in a major way selecting my setup and had great support even after my purchase. The Rhino rack makes little to no extra wind noise by itself, was easy enough to install DYI, and holds the weight of the Skycamp 3.0 from iKamper. This is a clamshell tent and I have not found any other RTT for that many people that is a clamshell. It does actually take the 1-minute they advertise to set up and is really comfortable inside and seems to have be built really well, but time will tell on that part. You can black out all of the windows, or open the roof and see the stars while still having rain protection. I have this size for myself and my three kids when we go out. If you don't need that, Alucab is great for the RTT and there are plenty of racks that would hold it well, but I'm not well versed on that, so I'll let someone else speak to that.

 

[coleAK]

I've got a '15 LX and just installed a Rhino Rack Vortex (three cross bars) and the 4-ish person iKamper rooftop tent. I highly recommend both. The guys at Rhino Adventure helped me out in a major way selecting my setup and had great support even after my purchase. The Rhino rack makes little to no extra wind noise by itself, was easy enough to install DYI, and holds the weight of the Skycamp 3.0 from iKamper. This is a clamshell tent and I have not found any other RTT for that many people that is a clamshell. It does actually take the 1-minute they advertise to set up and is really comfortable inside and seems to have be built really well, but time will tell on that part. You can black out all of the windows, or open the roof and see the stars while still having rain protection. I have this size for myself and my three kids when we go out. If you don't need that, Alucab is great for the RTT and there are plenty of racks that would hold it well, but I'm not well versed on that, so I'll let someone else speak to that.

I also have an iKamper (pictured above on my LX at Galbraith lake on the Arctic slope) with my OEM rails and yakima crossbars. We use it ~10% of the time we camp so about 5-10 nights a year, mostly when we go up the Dalton above the Arctic circle or sometimes as basecamp for sheep hunts depending on where we draw. It is solid and well made, have used it down into the single digits (F), snow, heavy rain, and one time in 50+ mph sustained winds. It has plenty of room for my teens and I. 5’7” 160lbs 5’10” 155 lbs 5’2” 120 lbs. it is a bit of a PITA to take on and off but with 3 of us can get it done in ~10min. I have it stored on a block and tackle in my garage

 

[TeCKis300]

I've got a '15 LX and just installed a Rhino Rack Vortex (three cross bars) and the 4-ish person iKamper rooftop tent. I highly recommend both. The guys at Rhino Adventure helped me out in a major way selecting my setup and had great support even after my purchase. The Rhino rack makes little to no extra wind noise by itself, was easy enough to install DYI, and holds the weight of the Skycamp 3.0 from iKamper. This is a clamshell tent and I have not found any other RTT for that many people that is a clamshell. It does actually take the 1-minute they advertise to set up and is really comfortable inside and seems to have be built really well, but time will tell on that part. You can black out all of the windows, or open the roof and see the stars while still having rain protection. I have this size for myself and my three kids when we go out. If you don't need that, Alucab is great for the RTT and there are plenty of racks that would hold it well, but I'm not well versed on that, so I'll let someone else speak to that.

Got a pic to share? I'm looking for an iKamper full size as well and always interested in how people have these setup.

 

[Idaho Savage]

Just installed a CVT Mt. Hood on my Prinsu. The tent is very, very well built and stout. Roughly 160lbs and the hardware is fantastic—no corners cut. Same with the ladder.

Install on the Prinsu was a bit of a bear. Not technical but working alone was challenging. I utilized a truss winch in my shop, fitted the tent on the rack, installed Prinsu tent mounts (definitely required), then removed the two Prinsu bars from the rack, attaching them to the ten feet. Finally, I lowered it back in the truck and simply reattached the cross bars.

The upside of this rack and this set up is that to remove the tent in the future, I simply remove those two cross bars and raise the tent which came with eyebolts on all four corners for easy lifting.

All in all, it is a ridiculously bomber setup and while standard Yak or Rhino bars would have been an easier install, the Prinsu system seems super tight and stable.

On the next episode, I’ll attempt to attach my Bush Company 270 to the CVT Mt. Hood.

 

[Washingtontaco]

I've been using Front Runner racks on two different vehicles after destroying Thule towers on a low hanging branch. I find the Thule and Yakima to be sub par quality and not durable.

 

[Fishinsea]

I've got a '15 LX and just installed a Rhino Rack Vortex (three cross bars) and the 4-ish person iKamper rooftop tent. I highly recommend both. The guys at Rhino Adventure helped me out in a major way selecting my setup and had great support even after my purchase. The Rhino rack makes little to no extra wind noise by itself, was easy enough to install DYI, and holds the weight of the Skycamp 3.0 from iKamper. This is a clamshell tent and I have not found any other RTT for that many people that is a clamshell. It does actually take the 1-minute they advertise to set up and is really comfortable inside and seems to have be built really well, but time will tell on that part. You can black out all of the windows, or open the roof and see the stars while still having rain protection. I have this size for myself and my three kids when we go out. If you don't need that, Alucab is great for the RTT and there are plenty of racks that would hold it well, but I'm not well versed on that, so I'll let someone else speak to that.

Can you please post a picture of your set up ?