Question for Toyota RTT owners regarding logistics.

[vision-quest]

Hey guys and gals, I recently bought a CVT rooftop tent and I'm trying to figure out how everyone goes about storing, putting it on and off, etc etc.

Basically, I have a 4Runner (4th gen UrbanRunner) and I only currently have the stock tubular roof racks that come with the vehicle. The tent is phenomenal when it's on, but it is INCREDIBLY difficult to take on and off due to the location of the nuts and the rack. The nuts sit kind of behind the tubular parts of the rack, so there's no room to get a ratchet through the side, making you have to enter from the front or back of the vehicle and maneuver with a TINY amount of space. It took me about an hour to get enough nuts off the tent to be able to take it off.

On top of that, my garage roof to the apartment building is too low to keep the tent on the roof. I have to take it off and on every time I want to use it, which I plan to be every few weeks at least here in Colorado.

Also, my wife is too short and not strong enough to help me take it off the roof and carry it to storage.

Do you guys just keep it on at all times to avoid this frustration? Do you have some kind of special lockers that secure the tent on your racks so it cannot be stolen on the street? Does having a better roof rack (like Baja etc) make this a lot easier?

I'm basically just trying to figure out the best way to go about this so it's not an incredible pain every time I want to put it on the roof or take it off.

 

[FshTaco99]

We experienced the same dilemma when I installed my tent on Saturday. After everything was mounted I realized that it looks like I can take the BajaRack off with the tent attached to the rack. I have to look into more this weekend.

 

[vision-quest]

We experienced the same dilemma when I installed my tent on Saturday. After everything was mounted I realized that it looks like I can take the BajaRack off with the tent attached to the rack. I have to look into more this weekend.

So even with the Baja Rack it was incredibly hard to get access to the nuts with the ratchet?

 

[enzo]

I keep mine on year round. It's a pain to take off and on. As far as someone stealing a RTT, most people have no idea what a RTT is let alone how to remove it.

 

[vision-quest]

I keep mine on year round. It's a pain to take off and on. As far as someone stealing a RTT, most people have no idea what a RTT is let alone how to remove it.

Just seems like a bummer to waste that gas mileage when it's not needed. I was getting only like 16-17 MPG highway driving from Oregon back to Colorado in my 2008 V6 with it on top.

 

[enzo]

^ I feel your pain man, I've had 5 RTTs. I'm currently running a Maggiolina Airtop which is more aerodynamic and doesn't effect gas mileage as bad as the fold out style tents. Maybe you could rig up a small lift/hoist to help remove the tent?

 

[JEMP1003]

I have mine mounted on a trailer so it's permanently on.
However, I've seen people use this the yakima snap arounds (reduces the number of nuts by half)
http://www.rei.com/product/673999/yakima-universal-snaparounds-set-of-4

And I've also seen people with yakima or thule cross bars that they keep bolted to the tent and simply mount those on the rack.

As far as putting in on by yourself ask a neighbor for help, that's what I did :sombrero:

 

[vision-quest]

^ I feel your pain man, I've had 5 RTTs. I'm currently running a Maggiolina Airtop which is more aerodynamic and doesn't effect gas mileage as bad as the fold out style tents. Maybe you could rig up a small lift/hoist to help remove the tent?

Interesting, yeah I don't know.. I just have a hard time swallowing keeping the thing on full-time as like I said, gas mileage is horrible with it on.. and I even feel like it doesn't drive quite as well at high speeds. A lift/hoist would be good, but it still doesn't help with the biggest issue which is how much of a pain it is to take the tent off due to the location of the nuts in regards to my rack.

I have mine mounted on a trailer so it's permanently on.
However, I've seen people use this the yakima snap arounds (reduces the number of nuts by half)
http://www.rei.com/product/673999/yakima-universal-snaparounds-set-of-4

As far as putting in on by yourself ask a neighbor for help, that's what I did :sombrero:

As long as I get 4 out of the 8 nuts off I can already get the tent off if I take it off at the right angle. Problem is that it took me an hour and a lot of frustration to get those 4 nuts off.

If I have easier access to the nuts it won't be such an issue. Would getting a Gobi or something similar fix this issue?

 

[JEMP1003]

Not really, the gobi might actually make it worse (at least the stealth).
Here's what I was referring too. you can simply remove the cross bars with the RTT and not deal with the nuts.

 

[vision-quest]

Not really, the gobi might actually make it worse (at least the stealth).
Here's what I was referring too. you can simply remove the cross bars with the RTT and not deal with the nuts.
View attachment 307141

That could work great. Just need to borrow someone to help me lift it up and down every time. How does that rack attach to the cross bar? Is that a Yakima? What model? Thanks a lot!

 

[justrom]

Not mine, but - Square bars, so it is a Thule bar. Appears to be their "Crossroads" feet/tower. They're somewhat universal since they use a metal "strap" to go around the factory crossbar (or the round tube on the rack in the picture). That's the same setup that I use to attach bike racks to the Subaru factory rack on the Outback. Might be a good solution to your problem of access to the bolt heads.

 

[enzo]

That could work great. Just need to borrow someone to help me lift it up and down every time. How does that rack attach to the cross bar? Is that a Yakima? What model? Thanks a lot!

Those are Thule load bars and Crossroads mounts. I'm using that same setup on my LC.

 

[vision-quest]

Not mine, but - Square bars, so it is a Thule bar. Appears to be their "Crossroads" feet/tower. They're somewhat universal since they use a metal "strap" to go around the factory crossbar (or the round tube on the rack in the picture). That's the same setup that I use to attach bike racks to the Subaru factory rack on the Outback. Might be a good solution to your problem of access to the bolt heads.

Those are Thule load bars and Crossroads mounts. I'm using that same setup on my LC.

Thanks guys! Looks like this may be the way to go. How long does it take to unclip those Thule racks from the 4Runner stock rack? If I buy those locking nuts then leaving it on outside the garage may be the way to go.

 

[enzo]

It only takes a few minutes to remove the Thule rack from the stock rack. It's really simple and requires no tools.

 

[vision-quest]

It only takes a few minutes to remove the Thule rack from the stock rack. It's really simple and requires no tools.

Perfect. Just to be clear, it's possible to add some kind of lock to that right? If it's that easy to remove (and without tools), I definitely wouldn't feel comfortable leaving it on in the street. I have seen some Thule racks have a lock on them that require a key?