Custom RTT Rack... Why don't I see this?

[Jakeleverett]

Hello everyone, I am planning to re-do my rack now that I have a rooftop tent to worry about.

My original is a one-off custom rack that my dad and I designed and built in the garage.

I have never seen another like it and I enjoy that I had a hand in it's creation (not just it's purchase)

For more info/pictures of the current rack, visit my thread in the signature.

I absolutely love my rack now. I like how it looks as well as its functionality, so far it has been PERFECT for me...

Until now.

MY PREDICAMENT:

The current rack can only be used with my RTT raised up high mounted to the top rails.

It works for now, but is definitely not ideal.

Here it is right now with the RTT on and open:

Notice that it is mounted towards the rear of the vehicle and folding out towards the rear.

In this set-up I have some space (~1.5') in front of the tent.

I have seen on almost every other vehicle that the tent is almost always mounted towards the rear (except folding out to the side).

MY QUESTION:

Why is this?

It seems to not only make the rear sag, but also cause the Jeep to be off balance and handle oddly.

THE PLAN:

Well, I had originally wanted to simply cut the side rails off the current rack.

My dad said that was dumb and that we may as well just build another!

By the time we cut, clean, re-work some things and paint again, we will just about have wasted enough effort to just start from scratch.

So version 2 of our rack has begun...

It is still in the idea/brainstorming process

I have been designing v.2 of our rack, I have been playing around with a drawing on the computer
(my dad is way old school and would prefer to draw it himself but I was having fun while at work)

I have been thinking about moving it towards the front of the rack, right behind the lights.

This will allow for a small amount of space towards the rear of the rack.

I think that having it towards the center of the Jeep will balance the weight out a little better.

Here is a preliminary drawing:

As you can see there is the rack without the tent and then with the "tent".

The lights will be mounted on the smaller side where the four little tabs are. Haven't decided on 2 or 4 lights.

This rack will be larger than my original and will cover more of the roof, almost to the edge of the windshield.

Any ideas, suggestions, or concerns are welcomed and appreciated.

...Nicely please, and thanks for reading!

 

[ColinTheCop]

I have seen on almost every other vehicle that the tent is almost always mounted towards the rear (except folding out to the side).

MY QUESTION:

Why is this?

I'd think it's to do with wind resistance, if it's mounted towards the back there will be less drag do better fuel consumption and less noise....

 

[TexasTJ]

I think he want to know why opening to the side and not to the back.

 

[bobDog]

Subscribed!

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Jakeleverett]

I apologize for any confusion.

I would definitely want it opening to the side, if the tent was mounted any closer to the roof(and it will be with the new rack) then I wouldn't be able to open the rear hatch all the way.

I'm wondering why the tent itself(when closed) isn't mounted closer to the front of the rack.


I do understand the wind resistance concern, I looked at the tent and hadnt realized how huge it is!

Although that happens just about every time I look at it haha it's petty huge.

I have seen what other people put on their racks though, after all the pelican cases, gas cans, spare tires, giant lights and whatnot, I couldn't imagine the tent being too much worse.

Either way the tent is a wind sail up there, I had been thinking (briefly) about a possible wind screen but they look so terrible!

Also I think the lights may act as a buffer for the wind, but time will tell once this rack party gets underway haha

Thanks for the comments!

Any other possible downsides?

 

[JCMatthews]

I like your new rack design. I would really look at some kind of wind screen to help direct the air over the tent. You already have a nice slope to the front of the rack just weld on a piece of sheet metal.

 

[Jakeleverett]

I may do one that is removable, for use only when the tent is on the rack.
I leave my rack on most of the time so the tent, windscreen and lights need to be fairly easily removable.
We have designed the original rack to be more practical and useable for many things and I want to maintain that in the new rack design.

Some things that I have and want to keep:

-Tons of tie down points (not only small chain links that we welded all around the interior of the rack, but also the upper rail is round bar and thin enough for hooks, and finally the floor of the rack is expanded metal which allows for endless tie down options).

-Front and rear of rack are open (for use when I need to put something long up there, I've used this for kayaks, longer pieces of wood/metal and even a palm tree!)

-Ability to sit on rack to have lunch, watch fireworks, whatever.

-Lights and tent as well as entire rack are fairly easy to remove, all lockable (or not removable without a custom tool that we made which doesn't allow for theft) but once unlocked they are all extremely easy to remove.

-Extremely strong (we have it currently mounted through the rain gutters, it did require some slight modification to the rain gutters which I wasn't happy about, but my dad said that it wouldn't harm anything and that that was the absolute strongest point that we could mount to) I have been able to do all sorts of things with this rack and I do not want to ever be limited by what I can/can't do with it.

Things that I have and want to change:

-Size, It is currently the perfect size for the roof and lines of the Jeep, however I think that with the tent going up there I would like it to be a little larger. I would like to have that little extra storage space up there for a small amount of firewood, stove, tarps, etc.

-Weight, I feel like we could cut it's weight down by a lot. With the next one, I would like it to be made out of smaller diameter metal rods as well as have them be thinner walled. I would also like to do away with the permanent expanded metal floor. I want to make one that is removable throughout the entire thing but keep the expanded metal in the rear portion of the rack permanent. As it is now, it is not too too heavy but it is just something that I think we could do better next time. While the rack is just about bulletproof, I won't ever put it under too much stress so it doesn't need such monstrous building material and structure. It is made out of scrap metal that we had laying around so it wasn't a huge deal but now that I have done some cleaning and digging around my dad's shop, I think we have enough smaller (in thickness and in wall thickness) metal rods and other scraps to do it the way I want. It is just over-built for what I need it to do!

-Side rails all the way down the sides. These will be gone at least where the tent will be. I also want to create enough space all the way around the tent to allow for unzipping of the cover. That is already slightly awkward and I don't want it getting too much worse.

 

[Recce01]

Hi Jake! Your new rack design looks cool! The biggest issue I see and as you mentioned is the zipper factor. I store stuff front and back of my tent as well, and I have to remove it to get the zipper undone every time. Also, you may be mindful of the rods that come off the bottom of the tent to keep the window coverings open. This is something that will be hard to generate a solution for without bending or remaking the rods. I have thought about rebuilding mine so that all the vertical sides of the rack fold out, giving a surface to slide stuff out of the way to unzip and use window rods. This beats unloading the roof contents especially if you want to deploy the tent quickly. Just some thoughts

 

[Recce01]

one more quick comment, have it open to the passenger side, that way if you pull off the road for a quick nap your operation is facing away from the roadway.

 

[Jakeleverett]

Thank you Recce01!! I hadn't even thought about the rods for the windows!!
Ugh that makes it a little more annoying... Then again when I look at it, we could possibly just remove the upper bars behind the lights and in front of the cargo area.
I want those to be easily removed anyways.
Thank you again for that little observation.
I had planned to have it off to the passenger side, for no real reason, but now I do have a reason so thank you for that suggestion as well!

 

[BuckeyeBullet]

Do you have a closeup photo or a rendering of your rain gutter mount tabs? I'm going to be purchasing a fiberglass shell type RTT later this year and I'm currently putting some ideas together for a rack to mount it to my XJ that I'll be fabbing myself. I'm going to use at least 6 mounting tabs, maybe 8, just to keep things evenly distributed. My rack is going to be simpler than yours since its #1 (and probably only) purpose is to hold the RTT and lights but it'll be similar. I like how you've done it.

 

[Brandon Libby]

Hi Jake,
I'm not sure what all you plan on placing up there, but you should get your weight as far forward as possible for the handling issues you mentioned. Most people who mount their tent that far back have a series of fuel and water cans lined up closer to the front. Since full cans tend to weigh more than the tent, they reside closest to the front. Just try to get the weight as close to the center of gravity of possible for best results. :sombrero:

 

[Jakeleverett]

@BuckeyeBullet, I have only used two mounts on either side and they have worked out flawlessly but three on either side is definitely doable. Thank you for the comment!

Here is a closeup:

It is basically flat bar welded to little feet that were just pieces of scrap rod that we cut sections from.
It has turned out to be extremely strong, I can rock the whole jeep back and forth by holding the top bar of my rack without even a creak or other sign of weakness.

@nota944mechanic, Thank you for the suggestion, I try to keep it light up there (even though that went out the window with the tent), but that does make sense, my fuel/water will be be on the rear bumper and directly behind the front seats.

 

[Nikson]

roof rack - side mount

Not sure if I'll answer any questions... and rather create new ones, but hopefully this gives you any idea...

This is the biggest RTT that CVT sells (in Bend, Oregon), I believe its the Rainier model, so it runs (folded) completely over the roof of the XJ (lengthwise).

I think pictures will speak for the process on their own.









3 gutter mounts per side & 1" tube with 2 mid braces. Didnt notice much of MPG drop with the tent mounted, as long as the XJ not loaded... Once it was loaded for a trip with 4 people in it w/gear, my MPG were just as low as always (even before the RTT mounted).

 

[MtnClimber]

Hey Nikson, is that a 79" model on your XJ?

Jake, I would want the RTT as centered as possible, maybe even closer to the front, on your rack. Just toss on a fairing in front of the RTT and run it. Have the tent fold out to the passengers side, which will also allow easy, or easier, access to the rear hatch. Plus, if you get the wall kit, it'll allow easier access to the inside of the Jeep during those cold, rainy mernin's.