ARCHIVE Tired of all the "same", big honking RTT's. So I made a new one. - Terrapod! (10 Viewers)

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JJBiggs

JJBiggs

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Quick disclosure. I am a professional industrial designer with 20 years experience designing and making "things". Do not try this at home without adult supervision. :D

Basically this all started because, I decided to completely simplify the rig & my setup. Over the past few months, I have been working on developing a "better" hard shell roof top tent. I am presently building 2 others to fit on a couple 80 Series LC's. This one is 001 (prototype). The others are coming together really nicely.

I was aiming for an aerodynamic, lightweight and low profile solution. Keeping in mind - it is a good size (54"x91"), I achieved the low profile part @ 5.2" tall and the aero factor. The weight came in at 117lbs. Not terrible for a hard shell tent.

As far as mounting goes, I am adapting a Rhino Rack backbone. Which looks like it will work out great with a total additional mounted height of 7.5" above the roof line.

Stay tuned on this one. I should be mounting it up on the 4Runner soon.








 
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Very cool dude! Some unsolicited feedback :cool:

Considerations (and I'm not assuming you haven't thought of these things!): rain and making sure no water can get in while closed or open. A nice thick/dense sleeping pad/matress, for me personally that would be nothing less than 4" and more would be a bonus. Also, ability to keep bedding and pillows in the RTT at all times is a huge benefit. A top rack that would still allow you to mount other items like maxtrax.
 
Mogwai said:
Very cool dude! Some unsolicited feedback :cool:

Considerations (and I'm not assuming you haven't thought of these things!): rain and making sure no water can get in while closed or open. A nice thick/dense sleeping pad/matress, for me personally that would be nothing less than 4" and more would be a bonus. Also, ability to keep bedding and pillows in the RTT at all times is a huge benefit. A top rack that would still allow you to mount other items like maxtrax.
Click to expand...

Rainwater - Oh heck no! I agree! There are weather seals in place for when closed and all fabric is sealed and waterproof.
Mattress - I am leaving that up to the buyers. I have two solutions to offer - a custom foam source out of MI, or the NEMO Equip Cosmo 50L air mattress. (I am going with the NEMO.)

I have owned far too many RTT's that offered crappy ass mattresses. So...I decided to let the owner choose. Besides...it's a personal thing.

The low profile option of this RTT would allow for a small rack. However - weight is a consideration. I will be mounting a solar panel up there, but thats about it.
 
Good approach re: mattresses. At one point I tried to source whoever makes the mattresses for Exped Megamat ("duo" in this case) - really think they make one of the most comfortable mattresses on the block and love the idea that you could have part inflatable/part foam, maybe something in a 3 or 4" profile that expands to 5 or 6" with a wee bit of air and shrinks back down when stowing. Is the 54" x 91" floor size a common shape for mattresses?
 
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How is the foot room considering a 4 inch high sleeping pad?
 
Kofoed said:
How is the foot room considering a 4 inch high sleeping pad?
Click to expand...

Excellent. I am 6'6", my wife is 6'1", I designed it for us to be comfortable. It is long enough, that a long length pad (80"-82") will still provide a "foot well" for added comfort for tall folks.

C
 
Howdy folks - much work has been completed. Finally got the prototype (001) up on the 4Runner. Very, very satisfied with the results.
Side note - 002 is underway and is looking fantastic. 002 is due to be mounted on an FZJ-80 in about a week or less. Stay tuned.










Fits in the Garage!!






With tent open:









 
Nice work! Gotta laugh: Most of the 'glass RTT companies...no need to name names :D...brag about their 'comfortable 2.5" thick mattresses'. Fawk, my ultralight backpacking mattress is thicker than that! Another example of, despite their marketing hype, they've obviously never slept in their own product...without a 2" topper :D.
 
Test fitting 002 on an FZJ80 today. Stay tuned.
 
As promised. One seriously cool turbo'd FZJ80 with a test fit of prototype 001. 002 will be on this rig heading west to Cruise Moab very soon.

A couple notes: This will be a direct mount to get the tent as low as possible. Total height (from roof) is approx 7.5"










 
spressomon said:
Nice work! Gotta laugh: Most of the 'glass RTT companies...no need to name names :D...brag about their 'comfortable 2.5" thick mattresses'. Fawk, my ultralight backpacking mattress is thicker than that! Another example of, despite their marketing hype, they've obviously never slept in their own product...without a 2" topper :D.
Click to expand...

I picked up Nemo's Jazz Double sleeping bag and two of the "long wide" insulated air mattresses. I went with two 25 liter pads, seemed to make more sense with two people. And it's still very comfortable for one. Should fit like a glove inside this tent.
 
FWIW, I've extensively used Exped MegaMat 10 in single and double width and found them to be incredibly comfortable. Having said that when using the double with my SO I don't like the imparted 'bounce' when one of us rolls over/shifts during the night. And, for whatever reason, as they've gotten older they've become much more susceptible to leaks...back to non-air for me.
 
spressomon said:
FWIW, I've extensively used Exped MegaMat 10 in single and double width and found them to be incredibly comfortable. Having said that when using the double with my SO I don't like the imparted 'bounce' when one of us rolls over/shifts during the night. And, for whatever reason, as they've gotten older they've become much more susceptible to leaks...back to non-air for me.
Click to expand...

That bounce is exactly why I went with two pads instead of one, and they fit right into the sleeves of the Jazz bag. I needed a new bag anyway, might as well get a good one that fits the new tent. Also fwiw Nemo has a lifetime warranty on their stuff, so as long as you take care of it, if it develops a leak, send it back.

I keep coming back to these pictures. Ready to get mine mounted up.
 
Looks good. Is it just the angle or are you not able to open the back of the 80 all the way with the tent attached?
 
Actually 001 is just sitting up there, not attached, so we didn't make any adjustments. We just wanted to see what it looked like. We also had the bottom half of 002 (which will be my tent) up there, and we set it carefully so that the liftgate will open fine. This is the only pic I got of that, and it opens perfectly.

1943841
 
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