Autohome AirTop RTT on a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

[benichols]

Hello all,
I just wanted to give some detail on what I decided on for my RTT mounted to my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited in case it might help anyone else.

Ingredients:
1. Autohome AirTop Medium RTT
2. Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

Requirements:
1. Stout heavy duty mounting for off roading
2. Ability to remove AirTop if needed without removing Jeep hard top.
3. Ability to remove AirTop AND hard top if desired during summer months.
4. Ability to remove Freedom Top panels with or without AirTop mounted.

I decided on the Rhino Rack Heavy Duty RTL600 3 bar system here. This system mounts to the interior of the hard top (and does require some drilling into the hard top which may be unacceptable to some) and allows much greater weight tolerance. In addition, the Quick Mount system allows the easy release of the cross bars without having to remove the clamps from the AirTop to the cross bars. This way, I can choose to remove just the AirTop (with cross bars) or the entire AirTop and hard top.

Installation of the AirTop to 3 cross bars required drilling a couple of new holes/clamps in the rear of the shell to attach to the third cross bar (thanks to the excellent work by Slee Off-Road!). I installed a Harking Hoister (heaviest duty) hoist in my garage and all works great!

The downsides:
1. Having to drill into the hard top.
2. Having to drill into the AirTop.
3. Inability to use the AirTop without the hard top (not a big issue for me).

Incidentally, I purchased a Full XL mattress topper from Amazon which fits the AirTop medium mattress perfectly!

 

[Mike S]

Why did you have to drill the tent??

Mike

 

[benichols]

Why did you have to drill the tent??

Mike

There were 3 cross bars and the central channel isn't long enough for all 3.

 

[Mass_Mopar]

Looks great! How do you like the rhino system? I was thinking about the same system, but only 2-bars, for my (smaller) CVT RTT. Does it feel like it will hold up well?

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

Hello all,
I just wanted to give some detail on what I decided on for my RTT mounted to my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited in case it might help anyone else.

Ingredients:
1. Autohome AirTop Medium RTT
2. Jeep Wrangler Unlimited

Requirements:
1. Stout heavy duty mounting for off roading
2. Ability to remove AirTop if needed without removing Jeep hard top.
3. Ability to remove AirTop AND hard top if desired during summer months.
4. Ability to remove Freedom Top panels with or without AirTop mounted.

I decided on the Rhino Rack Heavy Duty RTL600 3 bar system here. This system mounts to the interior of the hard top (and does require some drilling into the hard top which may be unacceptable to some) and allows much greater weight tolerance. In addition, the Quick Mount system allows the easy release of the cross bars without having to remove the clamps from the AirTop to the cross bars. This way, I can choose to remove just the AirTop (with cross bars) or the entire AirTop and hard top.

Installation of the AirTop to 3 cross bars required drilling a couple of new holes/clamps in the rear of the shell to attach to the third cross bar (thanks to the excellent work by Slee Off-Road!). I installed a Harking Hoister (heaviest duty) hoist in my garage and all works great!

The downsides:
1. Having to drill into the hard top.
2. Having to drill into the AirTop.
3. Inability to use the AirTop without the hard top (not a big issue for me).

Incidentally, I purchased a Full XL mattress topper from Amazon which fits the AirTop medium mattress perfectly!

View attachment 288214

I was about to buy a Rhino Rack Backbone system for this same application until I noticed that the mounting channels on the RTT don't extend far enough back. Can you post a picture of how you mounted it?

 

[BWickett]

This is how I mounted mine. It's on the AEV rack. Needed some slight mods to make it work exactly right, but it's on there and solid.

 

[kb7our]

This is how I mounted mine. It's on the AEV rack. Needed some slight mods to make it work exactly right, but it's on there and solid.

Nice fit! Might you have additional info/pics on the mounting to this rack? I'm considering exactly the same or possibly with a Columbus.