Alu-Cab Has Landed In The USA!

[rino]

What is the weight on that drop in camper?

Our base system is around 750lbs and loaded like the picture above around 1100lbs. These are still prototype numbers and production models may slightly vary, we will have more concrete numbers in the weeks leading to the Abenteuer & Allrad show.

 

[aaen]

Holy crap that is a lot of weight. To heavy for a tacoma.

Our base system is around 750lbs and loaded like the picture above around 1100lbs. These are still prototype numbers and production models may slightly vary, we will have more concrete numbers in the weeks leading to the Abenteuer & Allrad show.

 

[rino]

Holy crap that is a lot of weight. To heavy for a tacoma.

This seems to be the norm for Tacoma based slide in campers, if not a tad lighter than other options on the market.

 

[MetalDog]

Glad for this forum, I have been seeing the same thing... I put an EvaDry renewable dehumidifier in mine (like $15) hoping it will help, I will update. I live in PNW so it rains a couple of days a year in the winter!!

I live in Portland and have been noticing water encroaching past the seals and soaking the front of my mattress. I opened my RTT gen 3 a couple days ago for the first time after purchasing the tent about 2 months ago. It was literally soaking water in there. Went and bought some marine rubber weather seal to create a second layer of water protection in the front. Bit worried my mattress is already mildewy.

 

[Basil.]

Yep, I've noticed the same thing. The seals will let a bit of water in, especially while driving in the rain. But they are tight enough that none of the moisture can escape, so its just sits. I find myself airing it out every chance I get.

I really want to cut a hole in the roof and add a 12v fan... that would be sweet.

 

[Diesel Junkie]

I had the same problem.
I had an ENORMOUS amount of water in the tent from when it was parked in long rain storms.
Root cause was actually the rivets all over the roof.
(We had a very rainy winter here in northern California. 80-100" in some places.

I put my mattress pad in the garage to dry, as well as the sleeping bags.
I threw away a pillow and mattress cover due to mildew.

You will know its the rivets, and not the side seals because: water is all over the roof liner, the roof and base are lapped, so water cant get in the tent, even if there were no seals there at all.

I ended up getting a tube of clear silicone, and applying a patch to every rivet and screw hole on top, and the angled sides of the roof. There are about 40 of them.
ONLY do this when the tent is dry, and it is not about to rain. If the silicone gets wet before it cures, it will dissolve.

I did nothing to change the roof to base seals, and my leak problem is now gone. (Lots of rain before and after the fix).

There are 2 rectangular support channels down the center of the bottom of the tent. I had 2 more problems with these.
1, they fill with water. when you drive, the water sloshes out. I drilled small drain holes at both ends of the base of the channels.
2, They do not support the weight of the tent with people in it adequately. My tent was mounted at the ends. (not in the center, and not using the brackets it comes with). Those rails, and the whole floor of the tent had yielded and was sagging 1/2" (With no one in it). I had to raise the tent off my rack, and weld another cross bar in to support it. I might be pretty fat at 230lbs, but I would expect more strength than that. (Or mayby some instructions indicating how it needs to be supported).

 

[MetalDog]

Very helpful about putting silicone in the rivet holes on the tops and sides. Would you mind taking a picture where you had to drill holes along the support channels along the bottom? Not sure if I want to do any actual drilling as it may void the warranty.

I had the same problem.

There are 2 rectangular support channels down the center of the bottom of the tent. I had 2 more problems with these.

1. They fill with water. when you drive, the water sloshes out. I drilled small drain holes at both ends of the base of the channels.
2. They do not support the weight of the tent with people in it adequately. My tent was mounted at the ends. (not in the center, and not using the brackets it comes with). Those rails, and the whole floor of the tent had yielded and was sagging 1/2" (With no one in it).

I had to raise the tent off my rack, and weld another cross bar in to support it. I might be pretty fat at 230lbs, but I would expect more strength than that. (Or mayby some instructions indicating how it needs to be supported).

 

[trabs00]

Very helpful about putting silicone on in the rivet holes on the tops and sides. Would you mind taking a picture where you had to drill holes along the support channels along the bottom? Not sure if I want to do any actual drilling as it may void the warranty.

Yeah, I did the same thing pretty soon after I got mine when i noticed there was leaking. I have a black alu-cab and just covered the whole rivet with silicone, has helped out a lot. Just need to get my condensation mat and cut to fit and think I will be golden.

 

[MetalDog]

Yeah, I did the same thing pretty soon after I got mine when i noticed there was leaking. I have a black alu-cab and just covered the whole rivet with silicone, has helped out a lot. Just need to get my condensation mat and cut to fit and think I will be golden.

Never even thought that the center of the rivets could be letting water in...

 

[Diesel Junkie]

Very helpful about putting silicone in the rivet holes on the tops and sides. Would you mind taking a picture where you had to drill holes along the support channels along the bottom? Not sure if I want to do any actual drilling as it may void the warranty.

I will try to get pics,
But simply, about 1" from the end of the channels, in the center, on the bottom, drilling straight up. Tiny hole is all you need, maybe 1/16". 4 holes. One at each end of each rail.

 

[Diesel Junkie]

Never even thought that the center of the rivets could be letting water in...

Rivets have a small spherical shaped mandrel that gets pulled up to deform the barrel. I think there is a chance that some of them hold water, but its really just metal deformed into metal, so no garuntee.

I would say that whatever leaks i had, were most likely slow leaks. The tent had been in some rain, and been washed a few times before I noticed the leaks. So if the water exposure is small or temporary, there really isnt enough getting in to notice.

The storms we had this year had continuous downpour for weeks at a time. When I noticed the problem, there was probably a gallon or more inside the tent.

 

[Adventure Ready]

So I am looking at getting the gamiviti roof rack. Would the receiver mounts for awnings be something I can use with the shadow awning or would I need something else. I was really hoping to use the receiver mounts so I could quickly take the awning on and off.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We have made a bracket to fit a Gamiviti rack. Contact us for info if you're still interested.

 

[Redman333]

We have made a bracket to fit a Gamiviti rack. Contact us for info if you're still interested.

Do you have any pics of the bracket?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rino]

I had the same problem.
I had an ENORMOUS amount of water in the tent from when it was parked in long rain storms.
Root cause was actually the rivets all over the roof.
(We had a very rainy winter here in northern California. 80-100" in some places.

I put my mattress pad in the garage to dry, as well as the sleeping bags.
I threw away a pillow and mattress cover due to mildew.

You will know its the rivets, and not the side seals because: water is all over the roof liner, the roof and base are lapped, so water cant get in the tent, even if there were no seals there at all.

I ended up getting a tube of clear silicone, and applying a patch to every rivet and screw hole on top, and the angled sides of the roof. There are about 40 of them.
ONLY do this when the tent is dry, and it is not about to rain. If the silicone gets wet before it cures, it will dissolve.

I did nothing to change the roof to base seals, and my leak problem is now gone. (Lots of rain before and after the fix).

There are 2 rectangular support channels down the center of the bottom of the tent. I had 2 more problems with these.
1, they fill with water. when you drive, the water sloshes out. I drilled small drain holes at both ends of the base of the channels.
2, They do not support the weight of the tent with people in it adequately. My tent was mounted at the ends. (not in the center, and not using the brackets it comes with). Those rails, and the whole floor of the tent had yielded and was sagging 1/2" (With no one in it). I had to raise the tent off my rack, and weld another cross bar in to support it. I might be pretty fat at 230lbs, but I would expect more strength than that. (Or mayby some instructions indicating how it needs to be supported).

We recommend two cross bars and the use of the supplied mounts installed like below. If you have any mounting questions feel free to email myself and I can assist with a mounting solution for your system.

We have had three cases that I'm aware of where the rivets were not properly sealed. I sincerely apologize that you had to seal them yourself and for the headache, we have since resolved the problem in Cape Town.

If anyone else has this issue, it will be handled free of charge from your Alu-Cab dealer.

 

[rino]

I live in Portland and have been noticing water encroaching past the seals and soaking the front of my mattress. I opened my RTT gen 3 a couple days ago for the first time after purchasing the tent about 2 months ago. It was literally soaking water in there. Went and bought some marine rubber weather seal to create a second layer of water protection in the front. Bit worried my mattress is already mildewy.

We can send you a new mattress if needed, please if you could confirm the source of the water entering and we will repair or replace as necessary. If you could email myself at rino@ok4wd.com I can get started with the process immediately.