I picked this stuff up yesterday at a German distributor about 2 hours from my house. The "brand name" of the tent, awning and veranda is "Primetech Tents USA", but its the same tent that many of the other folks are selling under various names. I figured if I was going to buy all of this stuff, never having used a RTT before, I didnt want to spend 2 grand for top of the line, when I could spend a 1/3 of that and have the same concept. Atleast until we get back to the States anyhow, its almost impossible to ship stuff here without it costing more than the item itself.
So far, I am VERY surprised at the design and quality, of course we will see if that changes over 5-10 years. Its all aluminum, and stainless steel hardware, nylon locking nuts on everything, all the stiches look really good, and the fabric is much better than I hoped it would be. The mattress is super comfy, even for my 300 pound butt. I was a little worried about that especially with all of the threads about RTT's and mattresses lately. I was also surprised at how light it is, I was able to muscle it on top of the rack by myself. I would say it weighs probably 70-75 pounds?
The lower veranda will provide plenty of room for a changing room and toilet area, as well as a place for the dogs to sleep. I can set the whole thing up in about 15 minutes now (the pics was my 3rd time setting it all up), including the awning and veranda. I set it up in my backyard, just to see if it was all going to work together and I think it looks rally cool! I had to cut a large portion off of two sides of my roof rack to get the tent to fit, but I have plans to build another rack, as soon as I find out if Toyota is buying this truck back or not. If they do, I will design the new rack for my XJ that I will be building, if I keep the truck, I will make a similar rack to what it is now, only longer and I will have to move my hi-lift and shovel mounts. I lost my shovel mount, and also my rear lights putting this thing on, but I am planning on using the tent this weekend, so I wanted it on.
The awning is really trick! I wasnt sure if I wanted to spend the money on this, as I have been using a tarp pretty succesfully until now. This thing is REALLY easy to set-up, and has a nice compact design. I went for the larger/longer model, and I am glad I did. It can actually be a free standing awning the way it is designed, but I prefer to use the ropes as an added measure of stability in the wind. It also has a nice cover that is made of the same PVC material that the tent cover is made of.
The warehouse I pick this up from yesterday was HUGE. There was two Defender 110's and one D90, and also a Nissan Patrol there with me, also picking up equipment. The warehouse had roof top tents, awnings, winches, and tons of other stuff stacked to the ceiling! Had to be hundreds of everything there. They only allow pick-up for one hour on Thursdays only, so it was a busy hour. Anyway, hope you like it.
~James
PS, I also removed my old sleeping platform from the bed of my truck, I forgot just how much room I had back there! Also, my topper is not as water proof as I thought, most of the wood was water soaked, and weighed twice as much as it did when I installed it! I gained atleast an inch, probably more in rear height when I took it all out.
PPS, I spent $730.00 for everything you see, and also about $65.00 in gas to pick it up.
(sorry for the pic quality, the sun is BEAMING, and there is tons of stuff in the air, spring has finally arrived in Germany!)
