Modification idea for a roof top tent

[aawolf]

Hi Guys-

I have an Autohome Columbus permanently mounted on my 4Runner. We've gotten a lot of use out of it so far and love it, but there's one thing I wish we could improve.

When my wife and I are up there at night any movement by either of causes the suspension to bounce, especially side-to-side. It's not so bad that it's a deal breaker, but also not so negligible that my modification-obsessed mind doesn't wish there was a way to "lock" or "manually disable" the suspension of the vehicle.

Obviously, this would just be for when we're parked. We'll be driving/camping every day for a while starting this summer on a long trip through SA, so something as labor intensive as jacking it up and putting it on jack stands won't work (nor will I be able to carry jack stands with us on the trip). Minor manual work to lock it down would be fine though.

Is there any solution for doing this? Bonus points if it also allows us to adjust the "locked-in-place" height independently for each wheel so that we can fine-tune the level of the RTT on un-level ground.

Also, the way the roof top tent is oriented, just locking the rear suspension would probably do 90% of the job.

 

[Konkordmusk]

Possibly a scissor jack between the frame and the axle on the rear on both sides, is what I would try. Bonus benefit of being able to crank them to adjust your RTT to be level. Sure it's ghetto but it's all I can come up with for now!

 

[aawolf]

Possibly a scissor jack between the frame and the axle on the rear on both sides, is what I would try. Bonus benefit of being able to crank them to adjust your RTT to be level. Sure it's ghetto but it's all I can come up with for now!

Ah very interesting idea. So, you mean here:

My only thought is that there may not be enough vertical space to get a scissor jack in there.

 

[Konkordmusk]

Yes, I assumed you were lifted though. I was just looking at my truck for ideas but I'm lifted enough to have the scissor jack idea work.

 

[A.Wilson013]

Ah very interesting idea. So, you mean here:



My only thought is that there may not be enough vertical space to get a scissor jack in there.

Uh... that your 4Runner? If so, you've got an axle seal that has gone, it looks like.

I considered putting leveling jacks on the inside of my frame rails, but I couldn't find a jack tall enough that was anywhere near the budget I wanted to spend on this project- let alone 2 of them.

I'm surprised your tent moves the suspension that much... Mine hardly moves regardless of what er... activities... are taking place.


As an alternative to the scissor jack you could have a 4x4 cut to fit in there... Make it small enough to fit, but big enough to only allow for a tiny bit of movement?

 

[AZBub]

What about figuring out a way to use the bottle jack to accomplish this? Its on the truck, one less thing to carry. Just thinking out loud

 

[JFinns]

How about air bags in the rear coils. You can over inflate them to hold the suspension still.

 

[A.Wilson013]

How about air bags in the rear coils. You can over inflate them to hold the suspension still.

That's a very good idea. Could also level it with this, right?

 

[JFinns]

As long as the ground is close to level I think it should, the only problem I can think of is one bag would have to be inflated less and it might allow that side of the suspension to move more than desired.

 

[bybeed1]

I was going to suggest the air bags too! Also, you could build a custom drop down arm welded to a scissor jack that goes into your rear hitch receiver. Find your camp, insert the scissor jack arm into your tow receiver, use an electric impact to quickly get the jack set in the ground, and your set!

 

[aawolf]

Thanks for the advice guys. I ended up buying a pair of these small 1 ton scissor jacks.

My total expedition vehicle weight is going to be around 2.5 tons fully loaded. I considered 1.5 ton rated scissor jack to be safe but none I could find had a minimum jack height small enough. This 1 ton jack has a 3.5" minimum jack height, and I measure my 4runner has 5.5" of room there unloaded. Hopefully fully loaded doesn't cost me more than 2" of space. I figure a lot of the 4Runner's weight will still be distributed on the front suspension (and other rear wheel, while jacking the first rear wheel) so that the 1 ton weight rating won't be a problem anyway.

This is a safe place to apply the scissor jack, right? I'm not going to be putting undue stress on the rear axle?

 

[aawolf]

I was going to suggest the air bags too! Also, you could build a custom drop down arm welded to a scissor jack that goes into your rear hitch receiver. Find your camp, insert the scissor jack arm into your tow receiver, use an electric impact to quickly get the jack set in the ground, and your set!

Cool idea, but we're going to be on the road for 9 months. A welded receiver hitch arm jack and electric impact are going to be a bit too much bulk and weight to include in our gear. We're already pushing 5000lbs.

The airbag are an interesting idea, and I like that they'd allow me the additional option of firming up my rear end perfectly for our cargo load, but I think they'd only firm up the wobbling while we're up top, not lock it down completely.

 

[aawolf]

Uh... that your 4Runner? If so, you've got an axle seal that has gone, it looks like.

I considered putting leveling jacks on the inside of my frame rails, but I couldn't find a jack tall enough that was anywhere near the budget I wanted to spend on this project- let alone 2 of them.

I'm surprised your tent moves the suspension that much... Mine hardly moves regardless of what er... activities... are taking place.


As an alternative to the scissor jack you could have a 4x4 cut to fit in there... Make it small enough to fit, but big enough to only allow for a tiny bit of movement?

Nope, it's BigFishAllDay's from this post, borrowed since it was the first google result for "4runner rear axle".

Are you in a fold-out style RTT that has legs that extend out to the ground? Ours is 100% contained over the roof, and our bodies are parallel to the length of the truck. I think if we were perpendicular to the truck and with half the weight on solid ground, there'd be no issue. It's only side-to-side movement that we notice as is.

 

[bybeed1]

Cool idea, but we're going to be on the road for 9 months. A welded receiver hitch arm jack and electric impact are going to be a bit too much bulk and weight to include in our gear. We're already pushing 5000lbs.

The airbag are an interesting idea, and I like that they'd allow me the additional option of firming up my rear end perfectly for our cargo load, but I think they'd only firm up the wobbling while we're up top, not lock it down completely.

Ahh... I didn't really consider that you will be gone so long, and that would definitely be some added weight! The airbags are something you might want to do anyway since you will be packing 5k of cargo around...

 

[white_n_slow]

Get a long ratchet strap with a hook in either end (like those use for tying down motorcycles for transport). Throw the rachet strap over the roof (between the tent and the vehicle roof), hook each end into the rear wheels (would work great with factory steelies) and ratchet it down. If you have alloys or you don't like the idea of scuffing up your wheels with the hook, you could just place each hook on the ground a couple inches in front of each rear tire and then drive up on them so the vehicle weight secures them to the ground. Not sure if they would ratchet themselves out from under the tire, but it might work.

Ghetto, and not "leveling" but simple and cheap!

:edit: only other idea that comes to mind is to fabricate a bracket on the frame and on the axle and then bolt in a piece of tube. Like a shock absorber that doesn't move. Installation could be a little tedious though if the suspension isn't completely level.

 

[aawolf]

Ahh... I didn't really consider that you will be gone so long, and that would definitely be some added weight! The airbags are something you might want to do anyway since you will be packing 5k of cargo around...

Well not 5k of cargo that would be pretty intense ... about 1250 lbs more than stock. But yah it's a lot and makes the vehicle handle considerably different. I'm running OME 890/906 springs and it's seemed to handle it OK so far, but that's without my new rear bumper and 2x jerry cans. I may very well need to think about the airbags anyway.

 

[aawolf]

Get a long ratchet strap with a hook in either end (like those use for tying down motorcycles for transport). Throw the rachet strap over the roof (between the tent and the vehicle roof), hook each end into the rear wheels (would work great with factory steelies) and ratchet it down.

Ooh, this is pretty clever I like it. I might go with the scissor jacks on the back, and if still wobbly due to the front suspension, try it across the hood in the front.