Mounting Tepui Autana on Gobi rack - Jeep Wrangler TJ hard top

[fabuloid]

Hey! Does anyone have experience/recommendations for mounting a tepui on a Gobi rack on a Wrangler TJ hardtop? The problem is the rear portion of the gobi rack is essentially a screen. It makes it impossible to access the mounting bolts and brackets from underneath the crossbars. You have to go in from the side. However, the clearance from the side is so slim, I can barely get my hands through. It takes more than an hour to thread and tighten 4 bolts because there is no space to work. Does anyone have recommendations or work-around for this?

 

[NatersXJ6]

Mount the tent to crossbars made of Unistrut, long enough to sit on the side rails of the Gobi, then bolt the Unistrut to the Gobi with u-bolts. You can get a wrench or ratchet to the nuts by going in through the end of the Unistrut. Ditch the aluminum channel that came with the tent and use strut nuts in the Unistrut. I had several different tents riding this way over the years. No issues.

 

[fabuloid]

Thanks for the suggestion...I'll check out Unistrut. Do you happen to have any pics of your set up that I can check out?

 

[NatersXJ6]

Thanks for the suggestion...I'll check out Unistrut. Do you happen to have any pics of your set up that I can check out?

it has been so many years that I’ve lost track of those pictures. This is the best I can do, and tent is no longer here, sold and moved another one to a trailer. If you zoom in and look along the rail you can sort of see it under this Kukenam set up to open over the rear.

I might have a set of these kicking around if you are in Cali, but you would have to buy new u-joint bolts.

On edit: I think I welded little tabs onto these rails so that the U-bolts were offset to the side and easier to bolt.

 

[dstock]

Gobi makes Accessory bars that attach to the side rails of the rack, bolt the RTT to the bars and then it's just 4 bolts, easily accessible on the rack rails to attach and remove the tent.

 

[Superduty]

Weld some permanent nuts to the Gobi.