RTT mounted to GX470. Opinions? Pictures please (1 Viewer)

[Lc80series]

Been researching for a while. Hard shell and soft cover tents both have pros and cons...
Hard shell pros - ease of setup/take down, more aerodynamic on my DD, durable, and look great. Cons - steep price, smaller interior, and it will basically take up my entire roof rack.
Soft shell pros - less expensive, more interior space, and ability to still be able to utilize the roof rack for storage of other gear. Cons - basically a huge brick on the roof, more time consuming setup/take down, more noise when setup in windy conditions, and the cover is less durable over an extended period of time.
Leaning toward a small Maggiolina Airland but am finding it will be difficult to mount to my FrontRunner rack because the rack is smaller than the dimensions of the tent. A soft shell tent will be easy to mount. Thoughts? Let's see pictures of your RTT mounted on your GX! Thanks guys.

 

[Fj60AZ]

Hi! I too have the front runner rack love it! I have a 23 zero tent on top and have spent 37 days in and have been very impressed with the build quality of the tent and really Impressed with how easy it is to put on and off. I would highly recommend the soft cover tent. But that's just from my experience.

 

[Dharma Dude]

Looks very nice. Your front runner rack looks different. Looks like you didn't use the front runner side rail replacements.

Is the 23 zero roomy? King size or queen size?

 

[mtwilly87]

I've got a 3 person tent from Odin designs out of Colorado Springs. It's the exact same as a CVT just a different logo. I love mine. A bear to get mounted on the roof because it's so tall, I have a roller on the back of my rhino rack that makes it much easier to get up there. I usually take mine on and off a lot because it's my daily driver and I just don't like having it up there all the time if I'm not camping. Here's a few photos.

 

[Scat Adams]

Love my ARB Kakadu;

 

[Sleepy]

Looks very nice. Your front runner rack looks different. Looks like you didn't use the front runner side rail replacements.

Looks like Fj60AZ has an Eezi-Awn K9 Roof Rack.

 

[Prof H]

Here's one of the new Yakima RTTs (48" wide x 56" long) on my GX's Rhino Pioneer Platform.

 

[Lc80series]

Interesting that you have the ladder opening from the back instead of the side. Is it far back enough so that it doesn't interfere with the barn door opening?

 

[Scat Adams]

Interesting that you have the ladder opening from the back instead of the side. Is it far back enough so that it doesn't interfere with the barn door opening?

I mount it both ways, usually off the side but I think when that picture was taken I was going to a festival and needed it to come off the back due to the camping spot layout. The barn door hits the ladder but its easy to lift the ladder out of the way, swing the door out, lock it, then place the ladder back down. Not ideal but it does the trick

 

[norths03]

I've only had my GX for a year but I've managed to own three roof top tents.

The first was a Tepui Kukenam soft RTT:

GX470

• norths03
• Apr 1, 2017
• gx470 rtt

GX470 with Tepui RTT in Crested Butte

The second was a CVT Mt. St. Helens hard shell RTT which I don't have any pictures of.

The third is a James Baroud Discovery Space hard shell RTT:

GX470

• norths03
• Apr 1, 2017
• gx470 james baroud rtt

GX470 with James Baroud RTT

I think your use case will determine which is right for you. For me the hard shell made the most sense so that's the route I went.

The Tepui Kukenam was well constructed and when setup had a lot of space to stretch out and relax. It also didn't take up the whole roof which was nice. The negatives were that it does take some time to setup and break down, when deployed it flaps in the wind even when I tightened it down, when closed up it created a lot of wind resistance (think noise and mpg hit) as speeds increased, and the mattress wasn't comfortable enough for me (light sleeper with back problems). In the end I'm a mountain biker and I was setting up and breaking down camp every single day and covering thousands of miles in a month. This design was just more work than I was looking for based on moving every day.

The CVT Mt. St. Helens was a good concept but poor craftsmanship ruined it for me. The ease of deploying and closing it was really great. The aerodynamics were much better than the Tepui. It was not well constructed and I had issues with the scissor lift mount points breaking free from the shell, zippers not working, etc.

The James Baroud Discovery Space has been the best of the three by far. All of the advantages of the CVT Mt. St. Helens in a very well constructed package that should last a long time. I've deployed it and tested all of the features but I haven't had a chance to sleep in it yet. I think the mattress will still need a latex topper to make it work for me but other than that it's ready to go.

Which ever tent you go with it will likely be awful to mount and dismount to OEM or fixed crossbars The height of the stock roof rack bars make it very difficult to tighten the mounting plates to the crossbars. With the Gobi you can get removable crossbars which is the route I'm going. That way you can order an extra set of crossbars and have them permanently mounted to the tent. Then you just have to throw it up there and tighten a few easily accessed bolts.

 

[GXLee]

Just added my first RTT to my GX last week. It's a large canopy FSR model and takes up all the room in my Pioneer platform. It's a motel but the wife and kids are happy.

 

[Lc80series]

Pulled the trigger on my tent! Went with the Gordigear Explorer. Have wanted a RTT for years. This one seems well made, is competitively priced, and from the videos I've watched, gets used all over the world (mostly on Land Cruisers). Lots of positive reviews. Excited to receive it, mount it up, and get some first hand experience with it!

 

[nimitz]

I have the smallest Tepui on my FrontRunner rack. Works great!

 

[Lc80series]

Just set up my new GordiGear Explorer. Its gonna take some getting used to. It's bulky up there.

 

[AWilson013]

That's mine in the background of Nimitz's photo.

I have the CVT Mt. Cayley (I think they call it something different now) and have had it for a few years now. I really like it, however now, after lifting the GX, it's really tall, and quite irritating to set up/take town. I am ~6' 2" and find myself struggling to reach the zipper when it's in the middle of the front, and also struggling to insert the spring rods on the driver's side, and front window (the one over the sun roof).

As I said before, I have owned my tent for quite some time and have truly used and abused it in both the best, and worst weather. Snow, freezing rain, rain, fog, WIND, and HOT days. I've never been uncomfortable inside of it and have spent probably 60+ nights in it.

My only beefs with the hard shell tents are the size (they take up the WHOLE roof/rack) and the price (you could buy a freaking trailer for the cost of a nice James Barroud).

Here's a picture from this last weekend. You can see the front window isn't open as I was too irritated after setting up the driver's side rain fly to even try. On my 4Runner (the tent was nearly 6" lower) I never had an issue as I could stand on the sliders and reach just fine. However, on the GX I need to stand on the tire and reach wayyyy back/out to grab the fly and put the rod in. I literally had to just grab the fly with my left hand and let it support my full body weight while I used my right hand to place the rod. Once the rod was in I just let myself fall off the tire to the ground.

I don't even want to think about how difficult it would be without my sliders to stand on.

DSC_0087 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

 

[nimitz]

@AWilson013 you should do it from inside the tent.

 

[mtwilly87]

That's mine in the background of Nimitz's photo.

I have the CVT Mt. Cayley (I think they call it something different now) and have had it for a few years now. I really like it, however now, after lifting the GX, it's really tall, and quite irritating to set up/take town. I am ~6' 2" and find myself struggling to reach the zipper when it's in the middle of the front, and also struggling to insert the spring rods on the driver's side, and front window (the one over the sun roof).

As I said before, I have owned my tent for quite some time and have truly used and abused it in both the best, and worst weather. Snow, freezing rain, rain, fog, WIND, and HOT days. I've never been uncomfortable inside of it and have spent probably 60+ nights in it.

My only beefs with the hard shell tents are the size (they take up the WHOLE roof/rack) and the price (you could buy a freaking trailer for the cost of a nice James Barroud).

Here's a picture from this last weekend. You can see the front window isn't open as I was too irritated after setting up the driver's side rain fly to even try. On my 4Runner (the tent was nearly 6" lower) I never had an issue as I could stand on the sliders and reach just fine. However, on the GX I need to stand on the tire and reach wayyyy back/out to grab the fly and put the rod in. I literally had to just grab the fly with my left hand and let it support my full body weight while I used my right hand to place the rod. Once the rod was in I just let myself fall off the tire to the ground.

I don't even want to think about how difficult it would be without my sliders to stand on.

DSC_0087 by Alex Wilson, on Flickr

I totally agree. I just got my GX lifted and I have yet to put the rtt back on. It looks really high up there, gonna be a major pain to get it up on the roof. I've got sliders now which will help, but I used to stand on the tire or open a door and stand on the wheel wells. I'm looking at building a small single axle trailer to just mount the tent on. It's really tough getting the tent on the roof to begin with. Do you leave yours on the roof all camping season? Or take it on and off as needed?

 

[The Great Him]

IMG_20160422_200425 by Isaac Yocum, on Flickr
IMG_20160422_195705 by Isaac Yocum, on Flickr

 

[mustyGX]

Edit... I've started a new thread for my discussion.....

I've decided on a Go Fast Camper RTT, but am trying to figure out how I'd like to mount it to my GX470. I'd rather not purchase a roof rack, but if need be, will be buying the Victory 4x4 rack since they're local to me. GFC offers a direct bolt on kit for the 5th gen 4Runner so a roof rack isn't needed. I've spoken with them and it sounds like they won't be offering a direct bolt on kit for the 470 any time soon if ever. Does anyone know of a direct bolt on kit for RTTs that does not need a roof rack?

 

[Bluetribal]

Just set up my new GordiGear Explorer. Its gonna take some getting used to. It's bulky up there.

View attachment 1453746

How does your awning mount to that style rack? Especially with the tent on it.