Alu-Cab Has Landed In The USA!

[el_topu]

A little teaser for you Tacoma guys

:drool::drool:

 

[MobTuff]

I can't speak to the wall kit, but I just used the awning in a torrential downpour. I had just pulled into camp, and if it weren't for how fast the Exp III and Shadow go up, I would have been totally soaked. The awning held up surprising well. There wasn't really any wind, so the rain just came straight down. The awning support pole wasn't needed, but I put it up anyway because the rain was pooling up between the awning arms and I wanted to be safe. I would occasionally go between the awning arms and push the water out, but the arms themselves handled the added weight of the pooled water like champs. There are gaps between the vehicle and awning, where water can come in, but I was surprised how little came through, even in very heavy rainfall. I think the bigger problem would be wind, which would bring the rain under the awning from the sides (but that's not unique to the Shadow).

All that said, a ground tent and awning would have fared far worse. Firstly, I never would have been able to set up that fast (even my OzTent), which would have meant that me, the tent, and the stuff going into the tent would have all been soaked. Second, the Shadow awning handled the rain far better than a tent awning (again, comparing to the pretty stout OzTent awning). So all things considered, even though the Shadow wasn't "perfect" it was the best setup I've ever used in a situation like that.

Side note, I wish the Exp III had a side annex attachment like the rear does. Getting in and out of the tent in a rainstorm is a PITA, especially when you're trying to take your muddy shoes off at the top of the ladder. An umbrella worked, but I was a bit nervous/annoyed, standing at the top of a wet ladder, in heavy rain, with a 45lb. dog and umbrella in one arm, and unzipping the tent with the other.

Thanks for the info. Glad to hear it fairs well in the rain. I imagine most of the rain gets in where the joint of the awning is? There seems to be a larger hole in the awning there? I wonder if Alu-Cab has any plans to design a "down spout". I believe the fox wing has something that collects the rain and funnels it to the ground:

 

[harbinger808]

Any idea if the Shadow is compatible with the ProSpeed folding awning brackets?

http://prospeed-group.co.uk/product/xrs-folding-awning-brackets-2/

Nope! The weight of the awning opened will severely flex the brackets. I tried this at Sierra Expeditions and it is in no way safe even if I used the PS brackets on all the roof rack rows. My bro-in-law and I fabricated a tower to bolt onto the rear corner of the rack that we welded to the rack itself. We used 2 PS brackets to hold the awning in place on the front 2 rows. We thought of ways to fabricate to make the rear bracket foldable but we dont have the skill set to make it happen. One day I'll save some moolah and take it to a pro shop to have redone. In hindsight, I would do things differently so that I could easily remove the entire awning when not in use.

 

[Ryanmb21]

Sorry that was a little misleading, the truck pictured is a Ranger down in Cape Town. The camper however is Tacoma based

wow!!

 

[Utah200]

Nope! The weight of the awning opened will severely flex the brackets. I tried this at Sierra Expeditions and it is in no way safe even if I used the PS brackets on all the roof rack rows. My bro-in-law and I fabricated a tower to bolt onto the rear corner of the rack that we welded to the rack itself. We used 2 PS brackets to hold the awning in place on the front 2 rows. We thought of ways to fabricate to make the rear bracket foldable but we dont have the skill set to make it happen. One day I'll save some moolah and take it to a pro shop to have redone. In hindsight, I would do things differently so that I could easily remove the entire awning when not in use.

Much obliged.

 

[rino]

Thanks for the info. Glad to hear it fairs well in the rain. I imagine most of the rain gets in where the joint of the awning is? There seems to be a larger hole in the awning there? I wonder if Alu-Cab has any plans to design a "down spout". I believe the fox wing has something that collects the rain and funnels it to the ground:

Honestly after using both awnings in foul weather, the down spout does very little to control the water coming down and the water coming down the sides of the vehicle seem to be more of a nuisance. We do have a gutter system in prototype that connects to your awning and covers the rear gate area however.

 

[harbinger808]

Much obliged.

anytime. fyi, our HM tent and Shadow have remained up there since we installed also seeing as how my MPG is only 15-16 anyways. taking it down didnt change it

 

[danmedeiros]

I just got back from two weeks in Baja with my expedition 3. Still post -processing all the photos but the bottom line is that the tent is baddass. We drove roughly 300 miles off the pavement and the tent held up just fine. It was incredibly easy to set up. One night we had a decent sized storm. Blew about 50 with torrential rain. The wind switched directions with the storm and the wind was pointed straight into the rear entrance. Never got wet or felt the tent was coming apart.

One feature I really appreciated was the interior usb charging plugs. This allowed my to charge my radio, in reach, and iPad up every night. I only had one major criticism:

Why the hell did they design the doors to zip down?! In the previous Tepui I owned they zip up. The problem with the alumna design is that their is nowhere to put the doors after you unzip them. If the storm flap is covered with dew you can either let it hang outside the tent and get super dirty or pull it into the tent. The later option puts the tent fabric on your bedding and gets everything wet and sandy. It would be way better to have some little rings so that you can roll up the doors and secure them above the opening. I think the new eazy-awn stealth is designed this way. Then again the stealth doesn't have a roof rack which is essential if your using the tent for surf trips.

 

[bjunc]

Why the hell did they design the doors to zip down?! In the previous Tepui I owned they zip up. The problem with the alumna design is that their is nowhere to put the doors after you unzip them. If the storm flap is covered with dew you can either let it hang outside the tent and get super dirty or pull it into the tent. The later option puts the tent fabric on your bedding and gets everything wet and sandy. It would be way better to have some little rings so that you can roll up the doors and secure them above the opening. I think the new eazy-awn stealth is designed this way. Then again the stealth doesn't have a roof rack which is essential if your using the tent for surf trips.

I actually have similar sentiments, but I didn't want to say anything as part of me hopes I'm missing some major benefit that will eventually dawn on me (I assumed it had something to do with leakage). With the Exp III, you're deciding between either putting a wet door in the tent (and crawling over it), or folding it outside and losing a few steps off the top of the ladder (which gets the inside of the door wet). It's odd.

 

[danmedeiros]

Yeah, all they have to do is include a way to bundle it up, even at the bottom and it would be perfect. This is what I kinda ended up doing anyway, Might need to get my wife the seamstress to figure out something.... At least I was in the desert. Would be a pain in the *** if it was wet for an extended period of time. This and the useless ladder (i had to make my own) are kinda a bummer given that this tent cost 4K. However on the balance this tent rocks. I am way stoked I was able to pull out of the white lightening kickstarter and buy it instead.

 

[rino]

View attachment 393579
I just got back from two weeks in Baja with my expedition 3. Still post -processing all the photos but the bottom line is that the tent is baddass. We drove roughly 300 miles off the pavement and the tent held up just fine. It was incredibly easy to set up. One night we had a decent sized storm. Blew about 50 with torrential rain. The wind switched directions with the storm and the wind was pointed straight into the rear entrance. Never got wet or felt the tent was coming apart.

One feature I really appreciated was the interior usb charging plugs. This allowed my to charge my radio, in reach, and iPad up every night. I only had one major criticism:

Why the hell did they design the doors to zip down?! In the previous Tepui I owned they zip up. The problem with the alumna design is that their is nowhere to put the doors after you unzip them. If the storm flap is covered with dew you can either let it hang outside the tent and get super dirty or pull it into the tent. The later option puts the tent fabric on your bedding and gets everything wet and sandy. It would be way better to have some little rings so that you can roll up the doors and secure them above the opening. I think the new eazy-awn stealth is designed this way. Then again the stealth doesn't have a roof rack which is essential if your using the tent for surf trips.

Sounds like an awesome trip and glad the tent kept you high and dry! The doors took myself too some time to understand, the reasoning behind the design per Alu-Cab is to allow adjustable privacy and ease of entry. Think of entering a rounded bottom doorway or sitting off the side removing boots, not fun. I typically roll the window up as I enter and adjust as needed depending on weather.

Yeah, all they have to do is include a way to bundle it up, even at the bottom and it would be perfect. This is what I kinda ended up doing anyway, Might need to get my wife the seamstress to figure out something.... At least I was in the desert. Would be a pain in the *** if it was wet for an extended period of time. This and the useless ladder (i had to make my own) are kinda a bummer given that this tent cost 4K. However on the balance this tent rocks. I am way stoked I was able to pull out of the white lightening kickstarter and buy it instead.

The ladder is something we are considering removing from the standard equipment here in the states. In South Africa where the vehicle height is relatively lower than here, the no moving parts ladder is bomb proof and offers a large stepping pad. But with taller rigs, a telescoping ladder is needed most of the time. We hope to have both options available soon and I'm sorry that the OE ladder was too short for you!

 

[danmedeiros]

Hi Rin,
I was wondering if you had any ideas on an anti condensation mat for the mattress in the expedition 3? It seems to be getting consistently damp underneath the mattress? I had to pull it our in Baja and let it air out every other day.

Dan

 

[overlander]

CVT has a great RTT mattress ventilation matt that I put in my Eezi-Awn. you can easily trim to your size.

 

[freshlikesushi]

Pretty stoked for the camper!

I do want to give a bit of insight for guys wanting to mount their Shadow Awn on a non traditional setup

The hinge HAS to be supported. Its not like a foxwing, where it can hang wherever.
I put one on the tacoma today, and noticed a ton of flex. After some chatting with OK4wd, their awesome customer service let me know (to be fair, i didnt ask any mounting questions before i ordered, so its all on me)

It was easy enough for me to fab up a bracket to mount it, and i cant be happier now! Headed to the beach tomorrow!

Cant wait to get that camper in my bed!
Alucab Awning by Grant Wilson, on Flickr

 

[danmedeiros]

I am considering buying the shadow awning to mounts on my expedition 3.Does anyone have a photo of the how alucab designed the awning to mount to the tent?