Who is running an RTT? (1 Viewer)

[Bludozer]

This is a prototype tent, looking to a fall general release. See Terrapod Adventure Studio on Facebook, and he's also got a thread here in the camping equipment forum, and is a vendor here now. Using Trail Tailor's gutter mounts, and a direct bolt on to the tent. No rack, no crossbars, and 4 mount points. It's 5.25" thick and just under 120 pounds. I removed my factory roof rack but kept the rub rails up there. Clearance to those rails is 1" and overall height is about 7" above the roof, easily fits in the garage. I just tested it at Cruise Moab with my wife, and it worked really well.

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Very slick!

 

[SHREDwagon]

This is a prototype tent, looking to a fall general release.

Finally a lighter-weight alternative. Is the roof rated? Nice to see the struts are internal, unlike GFC. Wait, are there struts?

 

[8cam]

Finally a lighter-weight alternative. Is the roof rated? Nice to see the struts are internal, unlike GFC. Wait, are there struts?

Yes there are gas struts on the inside. That has its pros and cons. Big pro, no wind noise, this tent is very quiet at highway speeds. Con, it's a little harder to close the tent because you have to get the fabric tucked under the struts, but that's not a big deal. Looking at some options there. The upper and lower panels are a honeycomb composite and the frame is rectangular cross-section tubing. While it's not rated, you could definitely use it to mount some things. I plan on putting tracks on the sides and mounting things like an awning, shovel, whatever.

FWIW we have put 400lbs inside the tent, and the lower panel deflection is maybe 1/2", so the panels are very strong. It does not come in contact with the rub rails on my roof.

 

[SHREDwagon]

That has its pros and cons. Big pro, no wind noise, this tent is very quiet at highway speeds. Con, it's a little harder to close the tent because you have to get the fabric tucked under the struts, but that's not a big deal.

Another pro for having the struts internal is that they are not left exposed to the elements and trail abuse. The seals will last quite a bit longer.

Solid design!

 

[8cam]

Note: we always carried our trusty Black Diamond extendable hiking poles which work great for propping the roof when a strut fails or supporting the roof corners against buffeting in extreme winds.

Solid design!

I'll let Chad know. And yes there is an internal support rod too, just in case of really high winds. I was grateful for that on the first night in Moab! It hinges at the top, swings down and clips into the base. I don't have a pic of it, but you can see the retainer clip for it here.

 

[cbpeck]

Yakima 1A raingutter feet can be had inexpensively on the second hand market and will work perfectly well with whatever length yakima bars you'd like to use. You can buy a lot more rack, but if the tent is going to cover most of it anyway then I'm not sure it makes sense.

 

[Gascan]

How loud does it get in the tent when rain is pelting that roof?

 

[8cam]

Rain is actually kinda nice. Hail is like machine gun fire.

 

[sArgeCH]

I have my RTT and Awning on 3 Rhino Rack HD Bars.

 

[alia176]

Quickly have realized the factory rack will not support a roof top tent. Looking at the Yakima rain gutters with two crossovers should suffice. What else is everyone running with their RTT? I have a 3 person yakima RTT ill be putting up there.

I have a hardshell RTT and use three Thule load bars. The Batwing is attached to those load bars as well. Other than a place for mounting LED bars, not sure why you'd need to add the weight of a roof rack plus a RTT but whatever

 

[VivaToy]

Reviving an old thread. Most pics on here show only two cross bars for Yakima 1a mounts. What's the weight rating on that? I thought I read somewhere they're around 600lbs with four gutter mounts. RTT ~ 150 lbs. Me ~ 220 lbs. She ~ 150 lbs. Pack ~ 20lbs. That seems to be getting close. Anyone have numbers on this?

 

[ZackR]

Reviving an old thread. Most pics on here show only two cross bars for Yakima 1a mounts. What's the weight rating on that? I thought I read somewhere they're around 600lbs with four gutter mounts. RTT ~ 150 lbs. Me ~ 220 lbs. She ~ 150 lbs. Pack ~ 20lbs. That seems to be getting close. Anyone have numbers on this?

Pretty easy to add a third bar to stiffen things up and increase load capacity. That's what I'd do if I had more weight in mine.

 

[VivaToy]

Do you mean adding two more towers? I'm just wondering about having the Yakima locks keyed the same. This is all new to me.

 

[ZackR]

Do you mean adding two more towers? I'm just wondering about having the Yakima locks keyed the same. This is all new to me.

Yes two more towers and one bar. Not sure about the lock situation but I bet it won't be too difficult to solve.