Personal review of the Maggiolina roof top tent.

[Lemsteraak]

Ok, got an update, Frenchie got back to me and you are correct in looking for an external rack. He wrote "The rear mounts on the frame and the front to the windshield hinge. This will work with the hard or soft top. The hard top is not strong enough to carry any weight."

I can give you some guidelines to look for, manufacturer recommendation is a moving target, they are improving their designs all the time. Years ago when I looked into expedition racks the weights were staggering averaging something like 150 pounds. Ended up going with a thin walled large diameter tubing for the exoskeleton and alloy load bars to hold the tent. It was strong enough that it didn't deflect much at freeway speeds, maybe 1/64 of an inch. The alloy crossbars worked well, if I remember right we only used two as the strength was in the rack. Weight was something like 65 pounds. Chris at Landrunner went into production with a similar system, here is his link - http://www.landrunner.com/workshop.html
You will need to click on the "Camper Top" button to see the rack - the old Maggiolina looks a little dated, alway like this one as it had a space on top to strap crap that you didn't want in the truck. Just remember to delete the basket as it adds weight that you don't need, the tent is your basket.

 

[benichols]

I have decided to go with Rhinoracks on my Jeep (http://www.rhinorack.com/en-us/prod...ty-rlcp-black-3-bar-backbone-roof-rack_ja5838). They have internal bars that transfer the weight to the frame and not the hardtop. The advantage for me is that I want racks that come off with the hardtop if I want. I will not need the racks without the hardtop (which may not be true for others). The Off Camber rack is another option. I decided on the Rhinoracks as they will be more compatible with any other system (i.e. basket or bike rack).

 

[Sleam]

Hey Chaps, Just bought myself an old Maggiolina Adventure with the basket up front for extra stuff. I'll probably take that off tomorrow. It was a right pain to get racks and cross bars to fit my 95 4Runner but we made it. It's interesting to see that you mentioned two is enough but three better. I ended up having to get two crossbars from Yakima that attached above the doors and then use one of the factory installed cross bars at the rear. If I'd only used the yakima, the distance between the two bars would have been 36inches max, not enough for a 74 inch tent. So we spaced the three at 24" between each and it had a high spot in the middle but we wrenched it down so there is tension at all points. I drive a rough road to get home and all was tight. I'll set it up tomorrow, snow permitting, and play!
s

 

[rrliljedahl]

.

In 2010, we installed a Front Runner Outfitter Roof Rack on our 2010 4 door Jeep Rubicon. It was the lightest rack I could find at the time but necessitated drilling holes into the outer layer of my hardtop with a rubber bushing system to hold everything in place. A bit concerning drilling holes in the hardtop of your brand new jeep but has worked well. The vehicle now has 36000 of mostly offroad miles in the western states and no problems with the hardtop.

We are carrying a Maggiolina Airtop tent, awning and under rack storage for the Front Runner table.

Notice where we carry the ladder for the tent. Manufacturer suggested inside the tent but I drilled a couple of holes in the ladder legs and just flipped it up in its side with a couple of wing nuts to hold it in place. Keeps the dirt out of the tent.

 

[Sleam]

Notice where we carry the ladder for the tent. Manufacturer suggested inside the tent but I drilled a couple of holes in the ladder legs and just flipped it up in its side with a couple of wing nuts to hold it in place. Keeps the dirt out of the tent.

I like that idea about the ladder. I'll see what I can come up with. Did you have hinges or simply made brackets to hold it in place on the road?
s

 

[rrliljedahl]

The front runner roof rack accommodates a bolt that slides across the rail to where you need it. Bolt points up and goes through the hole I drilled in the ladder. A wing nut and lock washer go on top to keep the ladder in place.

 

[jacobconroy]

How 'bout a 2 door Jeep JK?

Hi All,
I've finally decided to purchase an XL Airland (really like the idea of the crank), and have also nearly decided to purchase the Front Runner Slimline II rack for my 2 door Jeep JK Wrangler. It looks to be very solid, will run without the hard top if I want to, and has a lot of options for accessories.

I'd like some advice about which width of Airland to purchase (just going to be me and maybe a pooch up there). The rack on the Slimline II is listed at 56 wide X 69 long. The XL Airlands are listed as 51 and 57 wide X 91 long.

Now, my thought is to purchase the small XL at 51 wide, center it on the rack that is 56 wide, and then I'll have room to mount accessories to the edges of the rack (in case they protrude above the top plane of the rack). This means I plan to have about 2.5 inches of clearance on each edge of the rack. Is the Airland's crank going to clear that?

I've scoured the net to find any specs for the length of the crank and have as of yet failed. Can an Airland owner take some measurements for me? I'd sure appreciate it.

Of course, buying the Airland medium at 57 will certainly have no crank issue with a 56 wide rack. Might be a bit of a bummer if I can't mount the RTT ladder, axe, jack, etc. on the edge of the rack because of clearance issues.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Bryan_FRO]

Hi All,
I've finally decided to purchase an XL Airland (really like the idea of the crank), and have also nearly decided to purchase the Front Runner Slimline II rack for my 2 door Jeep JK Wrangler. It looks to be very solid, will run without the hard top if I want to, and has a lot of options for accessories.

I'd like some advice about which width of Airland to purchase (just going to be me and maybe a pooch up there). The rack on the Slimline II is listed at 56 wide X 69 long. The XL Airlands are listed as 51 and 57 wide X 91 long.

Now, my thought is to purchase the small XL at 51 wide, center it on the rack that is 56 wide, and then I'll have room to mount accessories to the edges of the rack (in case they protrude above the top plane of the rack). This means I plan to have about 2.5 inches of clearance on each edge of the rack. Is the Airland's crank going to clear that?

I've scoured the net to find any specs for the length of the crank and have as of yet failed. Can an Airland owner take some measurements for me? I'd sure appreciate it.

Of course, buying the Airland medium at 57 will certainly have no crank issue with a 56 wide rack. Might be a bit of a bummer if I can't mount the RTT ladder, axe, jack, etc. on the edge of the rack because of clearance issues.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I believe the crank will still work fine. AutoHome has a video online showing the crank. It looks like it will clear the 2.5 inches needed. If not, maybe you can offset the tent by an inch or so.
I took a screenshot of the crank from the video.

Let us know if we can help in anyway.
Bryan Rush
FrontRunnerOutfitters.com

 

[jacobconroy]

Thanks Bryan, that's very helpful. It looks like it will be close. I suppose I can have some sort of extension made for the crank if need be.

I appreciate you taking time to find that. I'll be ordering my rack this week!

 

[Lemsteraak]

Check with Mike at AutoHome. There used to be an accessory called a "crank extension", like a socket wrench extension. It was made for folks that had really wide vehicles like Hummers and smaller tents. This way you could mount the tent in the middle of the roof and not have it interfere with the crank. If he doesn't make them anymore, it is an easy thing for a machine shop to make.

 

[jacobconroy]

And thank you Lemsteraak. It would be really nice to purchase an extension. I knew I couldn't be the only one!

 

[Beowulf]

I'd like to bring this thread back from the dead. Does anyone have any experience with the Columbus Carbon Fiber? Is it stiffer than the Columbus Variant in fiberglass? What color would you say the hard-shell gelcoat is on the carbon fiber? OD-ish, Grey-Beige-ish, Old Khaki...etc?

 

[Christian P.]

back from the dead indeed....I can't believe this was 8 years ago. We were on our way to Panama City to open Panama Passage. Lots of good memories with that Land Cruiser.