One-Man RTT Mount / Dismount?

[ChasingOurTrunks]

I do mine on and off solo; granted that's only once or twice a year but it isn't complicated. I'm an office worker, and haven't set foot in a gym in years, so I'm not exactly Hercules, but this technique works for me. Depending on your vehicle or your personal circumstances (i.e. health issues) it may or may not work for you.

1) Put the tent on it's side.

2) Using a moving dolly, position the tent beside the vehicle so that it's aligned where I want it (i.e. when I fold open the tent, it will fold the right way).

3) Deadlift straight up and then let the top of the tent fall over onto the roof rack.

4) Continue lifting, sliding the tent onto the cross bars. At this point the crossbars take most of the weight.


To remove it, I do the exact opposite -- slide it along the roof rails toward the side of the vehicle until it hits a tipping point, then slowly lower it to the ground.

I've been doing it this way for over 10 years with two different RTTs and three different vehicles -- one was a Tepui Kukenam and the other was a Smittybilt XL, so both hard-shells, but the SBXL is a big tent and its doable. I imagine if you are doing this every weekend it will get easy really fast -- my twice-yearly workout doesn't keep my "tent lifting" muscles in shape

I'm not saying this is the best way to do it, but I am saying that it's totally possible to mount/dismount an RTT without overcomplicating it, as I know not everyone has access to some of the solutions posted here.

 

[PackerBadger]

I do mine on and off solo; granted that's only once or twice a year but it isn't complicated. I'm an office worker, and haven't set foot in a gym in years, so I'm not exactly Hercules, but this technique works for me. Depending on your vehicle or your personal circumstances (i.e. health issues) it may or may not work for you.

1) Put the tent on it's side.

2) Using a moving dolly, position the tent beside the vehicle so that it's aligned where I want it (i.e. when I fold open the tent, it will fold the right way).

3) Deadlift straight up and then let the top of the tent fall over onto the roof rack.

4) Continue lifting, sliding the tent onto the cross bars. At this point the crossbars take most of the weight.


To remove it, I do the exact opposite -- slide it along the roof rails toward the side of the vehicle until it hits a tipping point, then slowly lower it to the ground.

I've been doing it this way for over 10 years with two different RTTs and three different vehicles -- one was a Tepui Kukenam and the other was a Smittybilt XL, so both hard-shells, but the SBXL is a big tent and its doable. I imagine if you are doing this every weekend it will get easy really fast -- my twice-yearly workout doesn't keep my "tent lifting" muscles in shape

I'm not saying this is the best way to do it, but I am saying that it's totally possible to mount/dismount an RTT without overcomplicating it, as I know not everyone has access to some of the solutions posted here.

Thanks for the input. As a tall factory worker who doesn't work out, but does do manual labor this may work for me.

 

[plh]

When I had a RTT (soft sided) I shoved it up on top of my rack several time by my self. I'm short, truck was tall, it sucked every minute. Sold the tent (and that truck). Mostly sold the tent because I hated the amount of effort required closing it up on top of the truck. Damp mornings and slippery tall trucks are very dangerous attempting to swing around like a monkey jamming that thing back into its cover.