Roof Tent Mounting Options

[articulate]

Hello - my first post here. I just got my 08 tacoma quad cab TRD. I was wondering why more people dont use an option like this:

I'm not exactly answering your question, but I built a similar thing (had the welding work outsourced). The project is really quite simple, and you could spend about $300 instead, including the cross bars and other Yakima stuff (towers, etc):

Sort of hit my attention because Paul mentioned using Yakima Snars on the cross bars, which I also did for the actual tent mounting:

Here is an option that has been brought to my attention as an option for mounting to either the Thule or Yakima bars. It is called a Universal Snar, and can be found at

http://yakima.com/Product.aspx?id=97

 

[Corey]

Just picked up the Airland a month back, and it is mounted to the factory FJ Cruisers rack via four Yakima 58" crossbars, and Yakima LowRider mounts.

Later goal is to move it to a small trailer such as one of those Chaser model, or a 416.

I have also seen an FJ owner who took off the stock rack and made mounting plates that go back into the stock holes in the roof, tnen added in the crossbars.

This way the tent sits a lot lower.
With it up high now, I can feel the rig getting pushed around more when encountering a strong wind when cruising at highway speeds.

 

[FourByLand]

Looks like you dropped your buttlight.

 

[Corey]

Looks like you dropped your buttlight.

Nope, not my Bud, but I did pack it out along with some other trash that hunters/winter campers left up there.

Just ran across this thread again.
Was surfin' here earlier in the week, and I ran across this thread.
http://expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5767

Looks like another great way to mount it to a truck.
If I ever had to switch rigs in the future, I think I would want to do something like that, or use a Canback system.

 

[pray4surf]

Well, I'm at this juncture. And wondering if there was any other conventional wisdom to be shared ...

I'm 'torn' between picking up a used fiberglass shell and mounting my CL RTT to the shell, or having a custom bed rack fabricated.

I'm also hoping that maybe some of the 'dead' pictures in this thread could be revived.... - As a reward for searching

Are there any examples of raised RTT mounting that allows use/access to the bed of my 98 Tacoma without putting the stowed tent above the cab height?

Rick

Edited - Stumbled across this thread/post when theferg revived it. Here is my final solution:

Didn't achieve my primary goal of keeping the stowed tent at cab height and below, anything lower and my wife couldn't stand up under the tent (changing room), anything higher and I couldn't pull the truck into the garage.

We've had it out for three trips as of this edit and both the wife and I love it....

 

[corbin8or]

I made a rack for my truck bed to raise the tent up a little but still kept it under the wind profile of my cab nad front rack so it doesn't effect MPG much if any.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25199

 

[digitalferg]

RTT mount ??? been searchin' hi and low all night...errrr hard at work i mean...

I'm hoping to get into one of the smaller soft/folding RTTs in the next week or so here and I'm trying to figure out the best way to mount it to my 3rd Gen 4Runner. I'd like to mount it to the factory roof rack rails (no, not the factory crossbars) and its looking like the only people who've had an RTT on a 3rd gen have used either a roof rack, or thule/yakima solution. Both seem like sturdy solutions, but I am against the roof rack as it seems like just extra unnecessary weight (there's not really a full length roof rack option with RTT provisioning for the 4runner so there's no extra carrying capacity up top with any of them as the RTT will take up all the rack floor space), and I'm kinda against the thule/yakima solution as they seem to stand about 4 to 5 inches off the roof.

What do the RTT experts say about something like this:

Defender DS Mounting Bracket

It's a total of 6 mounting feet. No cross bar. Is a crossbar necessary for all these RTTs? (All these as in the non hardshell type.) If so, is there a flat bar type cross bar that could mount in between these mount feet and the RTT? Do these mounts seem like a sturdy, viable solution for both mounting to the tent and mounting to the roof rack rails?

I've actually got a set of these sitting around in my storage unit so I'll try to get some better pics and such. Would be nice to not have to spend more money if these would work out...

Any other mount options out there for the 3rd Gen 4Runner that you'd like to suggest? Ultimately, I'm going with a trailer top solution, but for now I need it up top and would be nice to always have the option of moving it from the trailer to the 4runner for solo/two-person trips (yeah, i know they're heavyish and suck to get on and off).

-Ferg-

 

[davegonz]

Ferg,
Are you getting a Camping Lab one? Those have two aluminum rails underneath that you might be able to tie in directly to your mounting feet. Won't hurt to try it out.

You could also use some aluminum c-channel to mount your mounting feet to and use as a crossbar. This would give you a nice low profile setup (the mounts fit into the c-channel).

 

[digitalferg]

Dave,

The new smaller Camping Lab one is currently winning out for me. Size is good, price is awesome, and the quality has been proven well enough i my book.

The c-channel idea may just be the ticket--thanks for the input.

I've asked these questions in the new smaller CampingLab tent and awning!! thread (and some direct emails) asking about these mounts and Fernando from Camping Lab has responded and he feels these mounts should work pretty well with this tent with the tent mounting rails running perpendicular to the factory roof rails. Otherwise, one would need some sort of crossbars if the tent is to be mounted with the mounting rails running parallel to the factory roof rack rails.

Fernando was also kind enough to email me some pics of the tent mounting rails and the mounting bolts. I'm 100% confident these defender mount feet I have will work perfectly.

Sounds pretty good to me. Running these mounts directly to the tent mount rails seems like a nice and low option (relateively speaking of course, LOL).

-Ferg-

 

[davegonz]

Cool. I hope it works out for you. Post up on how you like that smaller tent.

 

[timber]

Out of sight out of mind! All the rest fits in action packer boxes under the tent frame. With enough room for firewood, 10 gallons of gas and 10 water. chairs and a table even a pit to go. Low CG Too. You just loose all sight out the back of the truck and it adds an extra 10 min or so setting up or breaking down.

 

[wRadar]

Timber, what kind of rack is that (or did you custom make it)? I really like this option, as being able to get my truck back into my garage with a RTT on top would be great - especially since I may end up living in SF (parking garage central).

Thanks!
-Radar

 

[timber]

It is something I made out of 1 1/2" square tube I had laying around. The rack sits on top of the bed sides with 2x2" angle. It is held in place with 4 nuts I made that slide into the bedside tracks. You could probably do the same with another type of rack system but by building it myself I was able to get the top of the tent all the way up under the Bestop, That also leaves more open space below. The rack is overkill and a little heavy but I think it holds the bedsides together and supports the weight of the tent nicely. Plus I have found that its easy to store stuff and mount things in those square tube ends.

 

[wRadar]

Right on. I'll definitely consider that as a potential rack option. It also sounds like it's easily removable, which is a plus. I have an '02 that doesn't have bed rail tracks, but I could just as easily mount it to the rails with nuts and bolts for simple installation and removal, should I need to carry anything tall in the back of the truck.

Thanks for the info!
-Radar

 

[Youngunner]

I have a thread going over on the toyota section, but for those of you who haven't seen my roof rack setup...

I'm leaving it up on top during daily driving for the first tank of gas, then I'll report mpg drop. I can feel it at 70 mph, but it's an expedition truck now.