Your dream Gamiviti rack

[nnnnnate]

Its not too big of a deal. I'm leaving in the morning for a few days and wouldn't have had time to get it installed anyway. I was watching my son and we decided to play in the new RTT, so that was fun. I decided to open it up so he could play and I could pack up the pillow, sheets, and blanket for the trip.

I expect to see pics posted pronto @Ramathorn15 so I can visualize how it all looks.

 

[Ramathorn15]

I'll be sure to post them as soon as I get my towers. Hopefully I'll have them by this weekend so I can get the rack and RTT on there.

I'm glad you borrowed load bars. I measured up my tent and the only way to mount it to the stock rack was to the flimsy cross bars.

 

[nnnnnate]

I got a scratch on the top of the rack while maneuvering it around during install. I've never ponied up for powder coat before so I could use a recommendation on how to cover up the scratch.

 

[Ramathorn15]

Someone may have a better method but I use vht epoxy spray paint. Spray some in a spray paint cap and use a paint brush to brush it on.

 

[linuxgod]

Someone may have a better method but I use vht epoxy spray paint. Spray some in a spray paint cap and use a paint brush to brush it on.

I've found the PC scratches pretty easily, unfortunately. Mine had a few scratches in it from shipping. I lightly sanded the scratches (which developed surface rust almost instantly) and used a jar of flat black rustoleum enamel and brushed it on with a sponge brush. So far that's held up and the finish matches almost perfectly.

 

[nnnnnate]

So I got my tent mounted up last night for the first time on the Gamiviti rack and thought I'd post up a few thoughts on what I think will help me get it secure with as little hassle as possible. Again, I need to remove it between trips because I DD my LX and my parking structure at work doesn't have enough clearance for the mounted RTT.

I think the biggest thing was when I realized that I could sort of half assemble the brackets like below (but with the nut tightened enough that the one side doesn't need to be tightened any more and slide the prepped brackets in place on all four corners first. You want these finished bolts on the inside of the rack so you only have to deal with threading and tightening the one nut that is closed to the sun roof and rear hatch.

I used a long flat head screw driver inserted from the side to hold the bottom plate in position on the loose bolt while I fiddled to get the nut in position and started. Then I used the screw driver to put pressure on the bottom bar so that the bolt wouldn't raise in the bracket an then just spin as I turned the nut.

It was still kind of a hassle but using these tricks I only had to tighten 4 nuts and the rear two were a lot easier to get to because of the clearance and not having the expo bar there in the way. So I really only have the two front bolts that are a pain. Still though thats not that bad and I can deal with it. If it turns out to still be too much of a hassle I'll end up lifting the whole rack a notch. I imagine doing that will be way more of a hassle than dealing with two really annoying nuts and two moderately annoying nuts.

Anyway, hope this helps someone be less frustrated in the future.

 

[gblakley]

@Bigherm22 do you have any pictures of it mounted up? I am about to pull the trigger on one and would like to see how yours turned out.

 

[Bigherm22]

@Bigherm22 do you have any pictures of it mounted up? I am about to pull the trigger on one and would like to see how yours turned out.

I've been totally missing my own thread! Just been slammed with kid stuff the last couple of months. Will try and post some pics tonight, but I'll summarize: it looks awesome! Forget the kick pass functionality, it just looks way cooler.

 

[Nottajeep]

Bumping this thread since I'm joining the club

My rack is in route. packing job looks good.
Picking up at a freight hub ~ Wednesday
Install pics coming up

 

[Nottajeep]

I mounted my rack down.
It looks like these would be a good mount for shovel/axe.
Thoughts??
Baja Rack: accessories_details

 

[nnnnnate]

Now that I've had this for a while and have been able to go camping with it a bunch I can say I wish I would have done things different.

I got the expo++ with mesh, sunroof cutout, and no light bar.

I received an RTT a couple weeks before my rack came in. I remove the tent after each trip because I can't fit in my home or work garage with it mounted. I don't mind it much and consider it the fun tax, I can get it either mounted or removed in about 15 minutes if I push it all by myself. The mesh makes it a bit harder up front but I just position the tent in a way that I can fish my monster size hands in from the front with my 13mm ratcheting box end to get the nuts tight. I wouldn't have changed getting the mesh. What I'm wishing is that I had left the sunroof closed so I could use the space to mount stuff. I never open it and am not concerned with needing an exit point. I knew this when I ordered the rack but I left it out anyway. I would really like to be able to stack firewood right there in front of the tent or have the option to put my camp chair or high lift or shovel there. If I really wanted to I think I could probably fashion up a removable deck that could be fastened to the gussets on either side and I may go that route at some point but I just wish I had ordered it that way from the start.

The other thing is that I wish I would have added the mount up front for a light bar just to have the future option. At some point I'll have an ARB combo bar which will allow me to mount lights up front but which how cheap light bars are I kind of wish I was able to mount one from the rack until I get the bumper. I put some 12" lights in the bumper last week but they need to be pointed a little higher and I don't have any adjustment left. Again, a rack mount light bar might not be ideal long term but it may very well be a better short term solution now.

I just thought I'd leave a bit of feedback for those that might see this down the road. I really like the rack a lot and have been able to get some good use from it but do feel like I'm limited in how I can use it based on the large footprint of my RTT and that I have to load the tent from the back (which means I can't mount anything behind the tent on the rack.) Tim did an awesome job on it and its going to see a lot more use long term.

 

[krice118]

@nnnnnate As someone who was pricing and optioning Gamiviti Racks last night, I appreciate you experience and complaints of those options with a RTT.

 

[nnnnnate]

If you are planning to mount an RTT think about what else you would want to mount up there long and hard when you decide how to build it out. I'm not exagerating when I say I really don't have any space in front of my "normal" sized RTT due to the sunroof being wide open.

Here is a not great picture attempting to show that that I found in some pictures from earlier this summer. My tent is a Tepui Kukenam. There is another RTT picture earlier in the thread but that tent is huge. I consider this to be average in size and works great for me and my son (the wife isn't a camper.)

 

[nakman]

Nate these are great comments.. the cool thing about the light bar drop down is if you never get a light bar you never remember it's there, until you decide you want a light bar. You could still put a bar on top obviously, but not as cool as running in inside the rack...

And I have the same issue when I put the RTT on mine. Have been wrestling this for some time actually, and this summer have come up with two new solutions.

First is a sheet metal sunroof panel, which drops into the sunroof opening. This is done actually, I just need to get it on the website. I had this at HIH and showed it to a few people, but haven't done much with it sense. It uses the same clamps that hold the fairing on, so you just bolt it up when you want it. Could also make it "flip up" using the snap-on clamps used for the snap-on fairing.

here's a pic:

Second solution is a bolt-on cross bar. This one actually has two missions, the first is as discussed how to get more rack usage when the RTT is on, so the idea here is you can shove chairs and other thin items under the tent. I have the drop-basket, so actually get quite a bit of room under there, and can put a couple Rotopax, some chairs, whatever down there. Second thing I wanted to resolve is bolting that tent on, I hate reaching under with the 13mm wrench. So this lets you leave these cross bars bolted to the RTT, then do all the bolting outboard, on the plates, using the same hardware used throughout the rack. It doesn't really make it necessarily faster to put the tent on/off, but does make it a little easier to reach. Here's a pic of the cross bar...

That one above was the first prototype set, which was about 4.5" tall to the top of the bar. we've since dialed this back to 3". Still trying to decide if raising the RTT is a good thing, I've got one of the thinner ones so clearance is ok just not sure on wind noise, drag, etc. But shoot me an email if you want either one of these.

 

[nnnnnate]

I like both of those Tim. I'll get with you in a few months probably to talk about the sun roof cover.

I can see the value of the bolt on cross bar but I still don't know that it would work for me. If I used an overhead hoist it could be better for getting the tent up there but I heave it onto the tailgate then with a large piece of cardboard between it and the hatch heave and slide it up and onto the rack. I also don't know that I need that much more storage. I don't camp with a large entourage so I can easily store all my gear inside the back of the LX. The main reason I want rack space is to keep the dirty firewood out of the cabin.

I still struggle with mounting a shovel and other large items on the rack due to the RTT. To this point I've just gone without but I'll probably figure something out this winter that is secure and easy to remove when needed. This would all be a lot easier if I didn't love the RTT so much.

One question about the drop down bracket for the light bar. The lights mount to the tabs on the top bar so is the lower bar primarily for light cut off? (I was looking at your site again last night and I think I saw that over there.) Does the fairing attach to it as well? Not that I would but I have the tools to cut the lower bar off right there and perhaps add my own drop down. Its probably not worth the hassle for me to do it but if I got bored this winter I guess I could.

 

[redman333]

Pertaining to those crossbars, could they be made to have almost no rise and just be used to mount the tent to the crossbars permanently and then lift the RTT with the crossbars attached onto the roof rack and then bolt the crossbars to the roof rack from the side so you never have to reach under the rack at all.

Forgive me if I'm not understanding how these RTTs mount because I don't have one right now. I've been holding off because I don't want one on the roof all the time and from what I understand is they are some what difficult to get on and off.

 

[linuxgod]

A few thoughts.

1. I really like the light bar tabs in front of my rack. Getting the fairing notched just right took some effort, but it doesn't add any additional noise, it's always ready for use (no need to unclip the fairing), and I'm pretty sure it adds to my street cred at least +20hp . The downside is that some of the light hits the hood when I use it (unlike the framed light bar drop down that Tim normally fabricates). If you can weld I suspect it would be easy to add light tabs to the front of your rack. If not, I would think a local welder could do it easily and quickly.

2. If I had to do it again I wouldn't bother with the rear camp lights on a 200 series. Maybe it's different on an 80 or 100. The plastic spoiler that sits above the rear window blocks all of the downward light. Whenever I put a steel rear bumper on my rig with a tire swingout I'll mount rear camp lights in that, since my main use is to hook up my trailer in the dark (where light near the hitch benefits me more than light 10-20' behind the truck).

3. I like the functionality of the full mesh grid, but it does make it a PITFA to get access under the rack. Get a good coat of wax on your roof before you mount the rack because it's a huge pain to wash and/or wax it once it's on there. Mounting my kayak carriers takes me almost an hour too, so I left them up there all summer.

4. As to the sunroof cutout, maybe Tim or a local welder could fab up a removable bar? I'm thinking about a round bar, but with a "C" on either end so you could set it right over the rails on the side of the cutout? Not sure how that would bolt on though. Personally if Tim sold a removable basket that I could drop into the sunroof cutout just when I needed the extra space I would be very interested in that since my use case would be to strap extra water or fuel down and I'd prefer a basket that the containers would sit in to a flat surface.

 

[Ramathorn15]

Now I feel bad @nnnnnate. I'm pretty sure I talked you out of the light bar mounts and into the sunroof cutout

To combat the lost space with the sunroof, I mounted my tent way back. Mine is the bigger Autana tent too. Now it bolts super easily to the platforms on the rack using one bolt per corner. I had to mount the cross bars (of the tent) parallel with the direction the tent opens and cut them shorter for the annex. It worked out really nicely. It gave me a decent bit of room in front of the tent. You could also get those plastic bins to hold gear that are wide enough to extend past the opening and strap it down over.

Also, I could probably fab up 2- 1" tubes that would easily mount to either side of the opening giving two more cross bars. Maybe I'll look into do doing that.

I'm still very anti light bar on the roof though! It produces way, way too much glare. My setup with the bar Tim gave me and my 2 Hellas produce a crap ton of light and 0 glare. Led light bars are awful as spot light too. I would much rather have 4 spot halogens or HID's on the roof but the height of my garage door won't allow it.

 

[Nottajeep]

Pertaining to those crossbars, could they be made to have almost no rise and just be used to mount the tent to the crossbars permanently and then lift the RTT with the crossbars attached onto the roof rack and then bolt the crossbars to the roof rack from the side so you never have to reach under the rack at all.

Really good idea; glad I have cross bars en route. I want some room to slide in a camp table. valuable piece at a campsite

I still struggle with mounting a shovel and other large items on the rack due to the RTT.

Check out those baja mounts, plus 15% off right now. I have some on order to try out

 

[nnnnnate]

Thanks for mentioning the baja rack mounts. I'm not sure if I've ever seen those before but I like the basic design and feel like I could scab something together that would work like that.

I really just need to buy a bumper and my lighting complaints wouldn't be an issue. I mentioned something similar about pointing the lights on my club forum and a buddy there said the same thing about LEDs being difficult to get good direction out of.