Skylinerider
Wandering the desert
- Location
- Ephraim
Official Is a rooftop tent (RTT) for me?
- Thread starter cruiseroutfit
- Start date
dieslcruisrhead
Registered User
- Location
- Park City & Heber City Utah
I thought a lot about that actually.. The top of my 55 is also loose so I could do some rust repair.. It wouldn't be hard to do at all but I figured not worth it...
Nice writeup Kurt ..
Nice writeup Kurt ..
- Location
- Sandy, Ut
- Location
- Never Far From Nowhere
My next feature article will be "Is a offroad trailer for me?"
Yet another article that will make say, "Why oh why do I stick with Samurais!"
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
Yet another article that will make say, "Why oh why do I stick with Samurais!"
Someone will spend time writing that?
- Location
- Never Far From Nowhere
solidfrontaxle
Toyota jihad
- Location
- Casper, Wyoming
Steven using a Cody flipoff is ironic.
Samurais are seriously cool and are awesome for some types of off roading. Just not for what you want to use them for.
Samurais are seriously cool and are awesome for some types of off roading. Just not for what you want to use them for.
- Location
- Never Far From Nowhere
How hard is it to spell my name correctly, Wyatt? Look to your left.
And yes I know, I'm an oddball, but you just wait and see!
And yes I know, I'm an oddball, but you just wait and see!
Tacoma
Et incurventur ante non
- Location
- far enough away
yeah, Wyatt-- it's spelled "STEPHAN" like any good Frenchman. Get a clue!!
This is a good article. I've been pondering the RTT question for a good while and have pretty much decided I really don't need one. Why? Because I am either in a Blazer, which isn't really RTT-friendly, or a fullsize GM product, which has enough interior room to render a tent kind of ridiculous..
I do like that cap-style deal, that looks pretty good. Either that or a sort of .. lower RTT, like a tonneau-mounted deal maybe. My "expedition" rig is probably going to end up being the dually-- holds everything, lower ground pressure on teh rear, fits 5 inside, and can tow another rig in or out, or wherever.
anyway, excellent article, I thought it covered the bases pretty well. With what RTT's cost, there are some excellent points worth considering.
solidfrontaxle
Toyota jihad
- Location
- Casper, Wyoming
So should I call you Steph for short?
- Location
- Bountiful, land of rocks
schaeferNsons
Dirt Hedz Offroad Club
- Location
- Pleasant Grove UT.
i found a rtt that look good to me for the price here a link to the site http://www.trdparts4u.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=-5630
theferg
DD for Life
- Location
- Southern Utah
That's the same size I went with but I got mine from CampingLab. I paid $650 shipped. That price on that mombasa looks to be a pretty good deal as well, depending on what shipping will run you. And I'm not too sure, but I thought I had heard the CampingLab tents are pretty darn close to--if not the same as--the Mombasas. I'm sure Kurt and others can confirm--I don't want to look for that answer right now...
As far as the size goes--it being the smaller of all the standard flip-style RTTs--it appears to be a nice sized 2-manner+a-bit-of-gear, but I think larger folks would need to either snuggle or sleep head-to-toe.
FWIW, I haven't spent a night in mine yet after two months of having it, but that's mainly because myself or a member of my family seems to continually be under the weather so far this season. I plan to regularly be using it a lot this coming year though. I ain't no glamper posuer...I swear!
-Ferg-
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
... And I'm not too sure, but I thought I had heard the CampingLab tents are pretty darn close to--if not the same as--the Mombasas. I'm sure Kurt and others can confirm--I don't want to look for that answer right now...
I understood that the Mombasa and Camping Lab tents are built in the same factory, then badged differently. They should be identical, otherwise.
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
I leave our tent up there for most of the year, then take it down when winter really sets in, unless we have a trip planned. Ours came off within the last 2 weeks. The big RTT's are quite heavy, I'd dare say 150#'s for our massive Mombasa, so taking it down & putting it back up often is a pain.
The downside to leaving the tent up on the vehicle is that the tent cover gets a lot of sun and our cover actually started to come apart. My cover got shredded and I just ordered a replacement. That said, our tent is a handful of years old and has seen a good deal of use.
- Location
- Sandy, Ut
There are about a dozen different brands all coming out of the same factory(s), some obvious re-badges of the next while others are uniquely different. However there are some notable quality differences even amongst those that look similar, fabric types and qualities used, the mattress type and quality and even the general workmanship seems to differ. It could be the quality control standards one buyer has over the other or it is possible that while looking very identical the in fact come out of sister plants? Hard to say and for obvious reasons its not something the manufactures discuss.
I leave mine up year round outside sun/snow though it will beat down on the tents cover. Ideally its either stored inside or removed when not in use. Given I've been using mine on average every other weekend its a bit impractical to be taking it on and off so having to replace the cover prematurely is a risk I'm willing to take.
This is another major aspect I didn't really touch on but aside from the design and quality differences between the tents themselves, the mounting, ladders and covers can differ starkly too. For example the current ARB cover is very stalwart, thicker material than similar offerings (and their older units) and all the seems are tape-sealed. The zippers have improved over earlier designs too. Some tents don't use zippers rather ratchet straps or bungy cords, these can be easier to stow but may allow moisture to get into the tent.
- Location
- Never Far From Nowhere
I found this on one of the Zuk forums, thought that it was very ingenuitive. It is a Cabela's Double Cot Tent mounted to the rack. For us poor Samurai owners who a) have very small vehicles and b) are cheap this seems like a pretty slick setup.
- Location
- Sandy, Ut
Hey, if it works for his needs right on.