Roof Top Tent question

[American]

I was researching the Camping Labs 71"x94" tent, and it will be going over a Toyota Tacoma 6' bed. My question is will this be to big? The 2 of us will be shipping the truck to Europe and driving down to Cape Town, and then shipping to South America, and back up to Portland, Oregon. I would like to have as much space in the tent as possible, as we will be living in it for approximately 2 years.
Thanks in advance,
Jeff

 

[NothingClever]

American, what year is your Tacoma?

 

[bunduguy]

Hi American,
Though the Camping Labs is a nice tent, you may want to think about the fact that 2 years in a RTT is a wicked long time. That's a lot of opening an closing; a lot of different weather, and a lot of wear and tear and abuse.
Try to get the toughest fabric and heaviest build quality you can that you think will withstand the conditions and duration. You're needing an expedition worthy tent.

 

[American]

How are you planning on mounting it?

I haven't decided if I want a canopy with a rack or just a rack. I want to mount it just above the cab height for sure though.

Will you be on the move day after day, or settling into a location for days/weeks/months on end?

We plan on staying in places that interest us for weeks at a time, and places that don't for less.

American, what year is your Tacoma?

It is a 1997 extra cab.

 

[Streakerfreak]

Not trying to be clever :ylsmoke: But isn't a 6 foot bed a 6 foot bed regardless of the year of truck :snorkel:

I guess I don't grasp the reasoning behind your question - Maybe I need more

:sombrero:

The width would also matter when it comes to an RTT. The 05+ beds are much wider.

 

[Streakerfreak]

It is a 1997 extra cab.

Here was my old 07 Tacoma with the smallest Camping Lab RTT on it to give you an idea of fit.

You should be fine since you would be mounting it the other direction, but it will be a tight fit

 

[American]

I am not set on the Camping Labs tent. Would like to know what other brands there are that have the bigger size. It is hard to do a lot of research when there is no actual place here in Oregon to go and touch the product.

 

[Martyn]

I'd suggest mounting the tent for a side opening, most of the folding RTT's are around 48" when folded.

Camping Lab offers two grades of tent, their Chinese made tents, and their African made tents. The South African Serengeti tents are a higher quality tent.

For two people you will need a tent that is 1.6 meters or 1.8 meters wide. That translates to the width of a Queen Sized bed or a King Sized bed respectively. When unfolded most RTT's are in the 8ft range.

Looking at the length of your journey you are going to be into 500 nights in the tent. If it were me I'd be doing some serious research. A tent can make or break the experience.

If you want to talk about Eezi Awn tents them contact me via e mail or PM.

 

[Rattler]

I am going to be purchasing the Camping Lab's RTT when they get more mediums in (sometime late June/early July). We are only going to be using it for weeknd camping trips for the most part though. No cross-continental trips for us. I plan on having a rack built/or building for it to mount over my bed. I have the short bed on the DoubleCab though. Its going to cover a lot of the bed but thats fine with me. I also plan to have the tent reach about cab-height (or maybe a couple inches over) for the tent when closed.

ExPo is about the best source for ideas on a rack too. I have gathered quite a few pics of different Taco setups on here.

 

[Cred]

I am going to be purchasing the Camping Lab's RTT when they get more mediums in (sometime late June/early July). We are only going to be using it for weeknd camping trips for the most part though. No cross-continental trips for us. I plan on having a rack built/or building for it to mount over my bed. I have the short bed on the DoubleCab though. Its going to cover a lot of the bed but thats fine with me. I also plan to have the tent reach about cab-height (or maybe a couple inches over) for the tent when closed.

ExPo is about the best source for ideas on a rack too. I have gathered quite a few pics of different Taco setups on here.

I have a large size Camping lab tent for sale. Selling for less then what the medium tent costs. MI is not to far from IL.:smiley_drive:

 

[Rattler]

I have a large size Camping lab tent for sale. Selling for less then what the medium tent costs. MI is not to far from IL.:smiley_drive:

I would love to buy one but the large won't fit over my shortbed.