[MTD]

Originally Posted by gshadow325

question for you RTT owners. how long you leave it on for?

I had a trip on each of the past two weekends. took it off today and its not fun to do.

If you can fit in your garage and have a nice rack for it just leave it on for the whole season. That's what I'm doing for the most part. I do have to pull it if I want to work in the garage though. (Damn 7 foot doors lol!)

[TheLast13]

I took some bad pics of my TJM tent this weekend.

[MTD]

All updated on the first post.

[MTD]

So my Thule roof rack that I have had my RTT attached to for the past couple of months has caused a terrible rattle in the roof of the 4runner. The front half of the roof is not supported because of the sunroof so this is what has been causing the rattle. there have been several post where people have stiffened the roof using flat bar from the inside, but I didn't want to pull my headliner and risk damaging it. I decide that I would take a different approach and build a flat rack that will more evenly distribute the load on the roof. I built this with basic materials that can be found at your local hardware store and used a harbor freight welder to assemble it. Now I have no more rattles that tent is secure and it sits lower on the roof. :ylsmoke:





This is what it looked like on the top side before I welded it. Nice and flush, so that the tent sits even on the rack.

[richmeyer]

What are you using to secure the 'L' brackets into the rail tracks?

[MTD]

Originally Posted by richmeyer

What are you using to secure the 'L' brackets into the rail tracks?

you can use the stock flat nuts, I used my thule roof rack hardware though.

[AZ3rdGenRunner]

I keep seeing CVT RTTs. Is this like "THE" brand to go with?

Just curious! I am looking for like a 2-3 man RTT for my 3rd gen.

[mountain mike]

ARB Simpson III on my FJ. I also had the annex but can't find a picture of it at the moment. I typically only used the annex when the wife and dogs came along otherwise I just used the RTT by itself as the annex is a bit of a pain.

[MTD]

Originally Posted by AZ3rdGenRunner

I keep seeing CVT RTTs. Is this like "THE" brand to go with?

Just curious! I am looking for like a 2-3 man RTT for my 3rd gen.

Nope. The only reason people say it is THE brand is because they have a sale in the spring where they practicaly give them away. "THE" brand would be Auto Home or ARB

I have a Tepui which I really like, If would do it again though, with more money of course I would go ARB, mainly because I know its going to get a ton of use now and I want it to hold up. Time will tell if Tepui and CVT's will be as durable as an ezi awn, or an Autohome.

[MTD]

Howling moon Is spectacular as well.

[Ducmonsta]

Originally Posted by MTD

Nope. The only reason people say it is THE brand is because they have a sale in the spring where they practicaly give them away. "THE" brand would be Auto Home or ARB

I have a Tepui which I really like, If would do it again though, with more money of course I would go ARB, mainly because I know its going to get a ton of use now and I want it to hold up. Time will tell if Tepui and CVT's will be as durable as an ARB or an Autohome.

ARB, tepui, cvt, and a few others are all made in China. They all have slightly different deniers of fabric. That's where you'll see slight differences. AFAIK, CVT is the only company that uses the same fabric for the annexes. The others use the lighter tent fly material.

Howling moon, eezi wan, and Hannibal are South African made if I'm not mistaken. They use a much thicker/durable material hence double the cost difference. If I were to go on safari in Africa for weeks at a time, I would consider the cost and quality difference. But I'm a dispersed camper with the occasional camp ground camping sprinkled in. And the Chinese made tents suit me and my family justfine.

[MTD]

Why quote me on that lol. ARB may be made in China but quality control has a lot to do with it.

[Xetabur]

Originally Posted by MTD

Nope. The only reason people say it is THE brand is because they have a sale in the spring where they practicaly give them away. "THE" brand would be Auto Home or ARB

I have a Tepui which I really like, If would do it again though, with more money of course I would go ARB, mainly because I know its going to get a ton of use now and I want it to hold up. Time will tell if Tepui and CVT's will be as durable as an ARB or an Autohome.

The ARB Simpson III is built better than most of the other China made RTTs. The ARB tents are still not in the class as Eezi-Awn, Howling Moon and Autohome tents. I would not call ARB "THE" brand as they are still a cheaper made Chineese tent. There is a reason the high end tents comand a $3-6K asking price. The tent material, zippers and overall construction are overbuilt. "THE" tent brands would be Eezi-Awn, Autohome and Howling Moon. I've owned Campling Labs, ARB Simpson III, Eezi-Awn 1600 T-Top and now I have a Medium Maggiolina Grand Tour (in that order) so I have some experience with tents lol. For most people the Chinese tents are fine and will serve you well for years but just like everything else, you get what you pay for.

[MTD]

Originally Posted by Xetabur

The ARB Simpson III is built better than most of the other China made RTTs. The ARB tents are still not in the class as Eezi-Awn, Howling Moon and Autohome tents. I would not call ARB "THE" brand as they are still a cheaper made Chineese tent. There is a reason the high end tents comand a $3-6K asking price. The tent material, zippers and overall construction are overbuilt. "THE" tent brands would be Eezi-Awn, Autohome and Howling Moon. I've owned Campling Labs, ARB Simpson III, Eezi-Awn 1600 T-Top and now I have a Medium Maggiolina Grand Tour (in that order) so I have some experience with tents lol. For most people the Chinese tents are fine and will serve you well for years but just like everything else, you get what you pay for.

All valid points how do you like your Maggiolina? I am thinking about upgrading to some kind of a hard pack tent.

[Xetabur]

Originally Posted by MTD

All valid points how do you like your Maggiolina? I am thinking about upgrading to some kind of a hard pack tent.

We love our Maggiolina. We will never go back to a regular style RTT. The setup and take down times are so much faster with this tent. I'm sure my gas mileage has improved with the Maggiolina but when driving an FJ gas mileage isn't a concern.