I was tired of all the "crap" RTT's, so I made my own. - TERRAPOD!

Terrapod

Terrapod

New member
Quick disclosure. I am a professional industrial designer with 20 years experience designing and making "things". Do not try this at home without adult supervision. :D

Basically this all started because, I decided to completely simplify the rig & my setup. Over the past few months, I sold my custom off road trailer and have been working on developing a "better" hard shell roof top tent. I am presently building 2 others to fit on a couple 80 Series LC's. This one is 001 (prototype). The others are coming together really nicely.

I was aiming for an aerodynamic, lightweight and low profile solution. Keeping in mind - it is a good size (54"x91"), I achieved the low profile part @ 5.2" tall and the aero factor. The weight came in at 117lbs. Not terrible for a hard shell tent.

As far as mounting goes, I am adapting a Rhino Rack backbone. Which looks like it will work out great with a total additional mounted height of 7.5" above the roof line.

Stay tuned on this one. I should be mounting it up on the 4Runner soon.








 
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I dropped the idea of the "RTT" because of how big and bulky they were....

However, this is something I would bolt to the top of my 4runner; as a bonus, it would also match the paint!
 
Looks like an awesome design, well done! Any thoughts on going with a mounting system that bolts directly to the roof where the roof rack attachment points are (similar to GFC) to further reduce the height & weight? (And the need to also buy a rack)
 
CODERNR said:
Looks like an awesome design, well done! Any thoughts on going with a mounting system that bolts directly to the roof where the roof rack attachment points are (similar to GFC) to further reduce the height & weight? (And the need to also buy a rack)
Click to expand...

Yes. I decided to keep my SAT radio. So the RR Backbone made sense and was the lowest option I could find.

Direct mount is in the works. Once I get the mounts done for the 80 Series guys - that's next.
 
Terrapod said:
Quick disclosure. I am a professional industrial designer with 20 years experience designing and making "things". Do not try this at home without adult supervision. :D

Basically this all started because, I decided to completely simplify the rig & my setup. Over the past few months, I sold my custom off road trailer and have been working on developing a "better" hard shell roof top tent. I am presently building 2 others to fit on a couple 80 Series LC's. This one is 001 (prototype). The others are coming together really nicely.

I was aiming for an aerodynamic, lightweight and low profile solution. Keeping in mind - it is a good size (54"x91"), I achieved the low profile part @ 5.2" tall and the aero factor. The weight came in at 117lbs. Not terrible for a hard shell tent.

As far as mounting goes, I am adapting a Rhino Rack backbone. Which looks like it will work out great with a total additional mounted height of 7.5" above the roof line.

Stay tuned on this one. I should be mounting it up on the 4Runner soon.








Click to expand...


Count me in for a full black one if you put this into production. Do you plan on the side windows also being entry points? Or only the back?
 
kso818 said:
Count me in for a full black one if you put this into production. Do you plan on the side windows also being entry points? Or only the back?
Click to expand...

Entries are on the sides only. The rear has a rainfly (not shown) and is mostly a window / exit.
 
[MENTION=148699]Terrapod[/MENTION]

brilliant work. Could you post up some photos of the rear, closed and open. Could you also detail the latching mechanism you used.

thanks!
 
Subbed! I had completely discarded the RTT idea but this is making me take another look! I was thinking the entry/exit was on the rear (makes sense if you have a ladder on the hatch) then you wouldn't need another ladder for the side.
 
Hey, it looks good.
Kind of reminds me of the Columbus Variant model.
Columbus | Autohome US
The Fiberglas shell one in the small size is $2600, the carbon fiber one is $4800. I presume your design would cost a little bit less. :happy:
 
Quick side note - I am 6'6" and my wife is 6'1". We needed some space. That said - if we fit...I assure you the average Joe and his wife will fit as well. ;)
 
Kamalani Mahie said:
Subbed! I had completely discarded the RTT idea but this is making me take another look! I was thinking the entry/exit was on the rear (makes sense if you have a ladder on the hatch) then you wouldn't need another ladder for the side.
Click to expand...

90% of the off road SUV's out there have a hatch that prohibits rear entry. Or at the very least, makes it almost unusable. The side entries were then final decision.

Having the rainfly will be huge for ventilation during downpours.

I'll do my best to post up more photos in this thread as we go through in-the-field testing.
 
Man I've been searching and waiting for a sub 6" closed RTT so I can keep it on my roof and drive out of the garage. If you end up making these for anyone else please let me know.
 
Not trying to thread jack, but can somebody tell me how the photos are posted? I'm not seeing them and this will help me troubleshoot.
 
this is really cool. Great job!

I saw a jeep with a RTT that looked to be at least 16-18" deep on it the other day, and it looked totally ridiculous. It would take a team to remove it, and i'm sure it's going to rot up there.

This is the first RTT that I've seen that looks like something I'd be interested in taking through the back country. Very slick design.

Looking forward to some more photos and a test trip. :thumb:
 
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