Rooftop tent mounting issues?

[RGRPILOT]

Hello all,
I recently purchased an Smittybilt XL rtt to mount to my Dissent roofrack. I cannot for the life of me get my fingers in the gaps to bolt the tent to it. I ordered the Dissent Rooftop tent bars but its gonna be an 8-12 week wait. Family trips coming up and I'm looking for ideas, or any other options. Hopefully I'm not the only one. Thanks.

 

[geanes]

Hello all,
I recently purchased an Smittybilt XL rtt to mount to my Dissent roofrack. I cannot for the life of me get my fingers in the gaps to bolt the tent to it. I ordered the Dissent Rooftop tent bars but its gonna be an 8-12 week wait. Family trips coming up and I'm looking for ideas, or any other options. Hopefully I'm not the only one. Thanks.

Are you opening to the side of the truck? I assume so. When I mounted Smittybilt XL to fold off the passenger side to my Gamiviti rack, I was able to open the sunroof and get some more space to attach the two "front" brackets. The side over the rear was much easier as I had the tailgate down (stood on it) and the hatch closed. I could reach the brackets much better that way. I would attach the bracket to the "inner" bolt and then rotate it and slip it onto the "outer" bracket and tighten down. Hope that helps. It ain't fun, but do-able.

 

[RGRPILOT]

Are you opening to the side of the truck? I assume so. When I mounted Smittybilt XL to fold off the passenger side to my Gamiviti rack, I was able to open the sunroof and get some more space to attach the two "front" brackets. The side over the rear was much easier as I had the tailgate down (stood on it) and the hatch closed. I could reach the brackets much better that way. I would attach the bracket to the "inner" bolt and then rotate it and slip it onto the "outer" bracket and tighten down. Hope that helps. It ain't fun, but do-able.

Of course I have a sunroof that doesnt work! LOL. Yeah im now regretting not getting it fixed. Thanks for the help! And yes I was mounting it off the passenger side.

 

[ZREM]

I also have the Smittybilt XL tent on my Gamiviti, and it is a PITA to install. I too, use the sunroof to access the forward brackets. For the rears, I have figured out that loosely connecting them with the tent shifted all the way to one side (giving access from above the rack) is a great way to get it started. I then rigged up an extension on a ratcheting wrench so it can reach all the way to the bracket from the side/back of rack. No way to fit my hands in there. I literally duct taped a long drill bit to the wrench and reinforced it with zip ties, lol. It still sucks, but it only take like 15 minutes to get all four brackets properly tightened.

 

[dogdaysindurham]

Depending on how far you have to reach, something like this might work:

Dewalt and Harbor Freight make some examples. It works decently well for tight spaces.

 

[TorchRedTulsan]

I have the 3 person CVT Mt Rainier with the extended fly so I'm not sure if it's like for like mounting, but the video I watched looked similar. I use an extra long ratcheting combination wrench for mine. I usually open the front doors and perch precariously half inside, half outside while doing the fronts. Once I just climbed up the hood.