Homemade Roof Top Tent

[bgwolfpack]

Gotta ask James, where did you get the tent material from?

[Trail X]

It was cannibalized from a very large coleman tent.

[Trail X]

Hoping to finally have some more progress very soon. I've been waiting on some parts that arrived today. The particular pieces that were holding me up were two fiberglass rods... now what could those be for?

Also - velcro is surprisingly expensive...

[Beamer]

James, Are you mounting this to the stock roof rack? Mine is only rated for 200lbs, so that has kept me from mounting a platform to mine.

[The Roadie]

When I put mine up, I totally redid the rack and rails with industrial strut material. The OEM crossbars are laughably weak, and the OEM rails have this dumb gap. But the RTT discussions on ExPo and other forums all conclude that the factory weight limit is for driving around (dynamic) loads, and not the static load of the RTT and contents when deployed.

Assume you read the "Roadie's Birthday RTT" thread?

[Trail X]

James, Are you mounting this to the stock roof rack? Mine is only rated for 200lbs, so that has kept me from mounting a platform to mine.

Yeah, it will be mounted on the stock roof rack. Just don't put your supporting bars directly over the gap in the roof rails and it will be fine. I've already tried it with static loads and me jumping on the main platform, so I don't expect any issues. I think one of the biggest limits to the stock rating is the stock cross bars, which are really weak... the rails themselves seem to be pretty sturdy.

[Beamer]

When I put mine up, I totally redid the rack and rails with industrial strut material. The OEM crossbars are laughably weak, and the OEM rails have this dumb gap. But the RTT discussions on ExPo and other forums all conclude that the factory weight limit is for driving around (dynamic) loads, and not the static load of the RTT and contents when deployed.

Assume you read the "Roadie's Birthday RTT" thread?

Had not before, but just did. Understand the static loading, the reason I never persued was because I wanted to build a "high rack" for hunting.

[Trail X]

Got a good amount of work done over the weekend. A lot of small details that take a lot of time, but progress none-the-less!

There were a few times where I began to worry that I had bitten off more than I could chew... for instance this particular seam... that's a LOT of fabric to be keeping straight while pushing through that machine.


Current picture of the inside:
Two of the main seams are completed. Note the pockets hanging from the far support bar and the velcro loops that attach to the bars (might be hard to see).


Front door mocked up into position:
You can see the heavier rain-fly over the front roof. This is actually it's 'stowed' position, as it will flip over to cover the skylight. The fiberglass rod will be a stiffener that will feed through the front edge seam of the fly.


Door window rolled open:
The door has it's own stiffening element and velcro attachments.


Still working on the awning panel, but once that's done, it will be about time for the 3rd main seam (attaching the door panel). Not particularly looking forward to that one. Then it's on to the side panels.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Nice work!

[Gordinho80]

It looks to be coming along pretty nicely, JD. Excellent work!

[Trail X]

More progress...

Rain awning essentially complete...


Door panel seamed and in place. You can see where one of the fiberglass stiffening rods are used:


Inside the door:


The mounting method to the stock roof rack:
Filled the tube with foam to prevent rusting from the inside. This will get painted, then the ends will get plastic-dipped.


What are people's opinions about the below layout? I think I'm pretty set on it right now... cut the baja rack in half, then re-mount it to the front of the roof. It will be extra storage for stuff like firewood if needed, plus I think it might help the airflow over the tent (represented by the large rectangle).

[navigator]

I think moving the rack is a great idea.
You might be able to sell it though and get a smaller rack to go up there.
With it being that small you likely don't need something as tough as the Baja.

Also put a wind dam up there with a bigg offroadTB.com decal on it.
That is what I plan to do on mine when I get it built.

[The Roadie]

Baja Rack even makes a version for RTTs: http://www.bajarack.com/exp-rack

[navigator]

man, the price on that little rack breaks my heart!
I mean their normal racks are a little pricey but quality that rack is really $$$.

[Trail X]

I've seen that baja rack (Called "expedition" I believe), looks pretty cool. I'm really trying to get the tent down as close to the roof as possible, so I wouldn't want the extra rack between the tent and the roof. I'm really hoping I can squeeze out 18mpg out on the interstate during the big trip, but that's going to be tough. That's why I'm thinking the wind-faring of the bajarack will be nice way up front, at least it will add some turbulence into the airstream before it hits the front face of the tent.

I also don't know if I want to go through the trouble again to figure out how to mount a different rack. The mounting system I have for the baja rack is pretty solid, so I think I'll just re-purpose it.

The biggest challenge will be figuring out the roof mounting over the front window... no stock roof rack there to work with.

[Karo]

Excellent work James! Saves a lot of money..

[Trail X]

Excellent work James! Saves a lot of money..

Thanks Karo. Probably saving much less than you'd think... Right now I'm something like $650 into it.

[cbbryan]

Make sure you have a door so you can get to the stuff in the rack if you need too from inside the tent.

[Trail X]

Cool idea, but sadly the sides of the tent are basically completed... just need to sew them into the main structure. The problem with doors too, is that they are hard to keep water tight... but cool idea still.

[The Roadie]

Right now I'm something like $650 into it.

I hunted on ExPo for two years before I got in fast enough to buy mine very lightly used for $800. With a cover.