New smittybuilt overlander tent on my off road trailer

[captwoody]

Just got done mounting tent to trailer, instructions a little vague but I got her done. with 10% off $719 plus tax making it very budget friendly. I have a tracker so weight is an issue and I went small on trailer. still need to add lighter springs, bigger matching wheels and a max coupler

 

[captwoody]

entry

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Copy/paste...

 

[RubiconGeoff]

Looks great! That's going to be an awesome setup once you get some bigger tires under the trailer. I was amazed at how well my 97 Tracker handled a 1000lb. tent trailer both on- and off-road.

 

[smokeybear]

Very interested in those Smittybilt RTTs. Please keep us updated with how it holds up, how it does in bad weather, and how you like it. Really like how your rig is set up.

 

[captwoody]

specs from a website
Smittybilt offers the perfect camping solution for JK Wrangler owners! This complete tent set up features heavy-duty rip stop polyster, waterproof and polyurethane-impregnated top for the ultimate in durability. Anodized aluminum tent poles along with along with stainless steel hinges are perfect for whatever weather you may incure. The aluminum telescoping ladder extends up to 6.5' and may require optional ladder extension for lifted Wranglers. The Overlander Tent easily attaches to smittybilt's SRC Overhead Rack (sold separately) and includes a 2" thick high density foam 90" x 53" mattress with removable cover, waterproof rainfly, and mosquito screen. What really makes this tent unique is the included LED strip light that is powered by the attached solar panel!
i will set up in this upcoming storm in my yard and see how it does from the comfort of my bed :smiley_drive:

 

[captwoody]

rain test

well left tent up for 2 days of rain, rain fly on one side trapped rain but could be emptied by pushing up from the inside. but it did not leak through after holding water for 2 days. one corner was a little moist but I could not figure out were water came thru.no additional weatherproofing or sealer had been applied . It was fresh out of box condition. Will seam seal and scotch guard corners and I should be good to go. Now need rain to stop so it will dry then I can seal and store it for 1rst trip.

 

[captwoody]

Field test

Took Smittybuilt out for shakedown run and found the following(1) top corners were its gusseted for support bars you can see daylight were its stitched-needs to be sealed.(2)small tear in ripstop were fabric was sewn in corner on seam, probably were moisture got in. needs to be patched and sealed.(3) none of the seams are taped so they all need to be weatherproofed .(4)Appears no quality control prior to leaving factory so lots of little finish items to square away. Nothing insurmountable but you get what you pay for. pluses its bigger than most entry tents,did pretty good in 20 mph wind. And if you are handy you can save about 400 bucs over similar sized quality Chinese tent

 

[toyotech]

Return it


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[captwoody]

Nothing insurmountable,Just trying to give honest review. For people like me who dont want to spend the extra 400 a little work and your set. If i had it to do all over again i would still buy it. The repairs are easiar than removing and remounting the exchange, and i could be better or worse off no way to tell.And i did my best to do a real field test,i put it up in the rain for 2 days to check for problems and set it up and looked for pinholes and answered questions about seam taping.Like i said earliar its like a good basic work truck not an King Ranch high end truck

 

[captwoody]

The Smittybilt overlander has a footprint of 95"x56"x51" high, similar sized models would be a CVT Mt Bachelor or a Tepui frontrunner(4" narrower 3"shorter) or Tepui Kukenam in green . Once you include shipping these avg 300-to 500 more.Because I had 200 in 4 wheel parts gift cards this meant a savings of 500-700 if i had gone with other tents.I did lot of research and the only people who answered my questions were Tepui.If i did not have the gift cards I would have bought from them because of their customer service and honesty. The AYER is smaller and only 150 more but they told me I would not be happy with its size when i described my requirements,and I should go with the kukenam.And after being inside of my tent i know they were right its the difference of just hunkering down for the night or being comfortable. I am writing these comments for those of you that are waffling on the roof top tent thing. So in a nutshell if you are handy and price is a big factor you can go with smittybilt otherwise i would go with Tepui.

 

[hansrober]

Thanks for the review. It seems with most stuff these days we all have to do our own QC and fix those little things and quite often big things too!

 

[RubiconGeoff]

I definitely appreciate the honest review. The more info we have out there on more accessories, the better informed we can all be as shoppers. Too many "reviews" out there are glorified advertisements from bought-and-paid-for "reviewers."