Roof top tent experience

[RaisedByWolves]

Love my RTT.
- Pulley system in the garage with the axia rack mounts means I can install/uninstall in <5 mins.
- Keeps more room available inside the 4R which is important to me with wife/kids/dog.
- Its more efficient to pop up than a ground tent during the rain.
- The mattress makes for restful nights.
- You can tent right next to lakes on uneven ground by just getting the 4R level.
- My son loves it.
- MPG went from 16 combined to 15 on use... and that’s a lot of high altitude and off-road driving.

Everyone is different, and it’s definitely a bit of glamping, but for me it was a worthwhile investment for sure.

GL on whatever you decide OP.

 

[TheFabFour]

I have a question about room, can any RTT fit two adults and two teens in there comfortably?. Our ground tent is 12 x 7ft. Fits 2 queen mattresses with space for shoes. I have always written off a RTT for us as even the bigger ones that I have looked at seem like too much of a squeeze for that many people.
Thanks

 

[Cymon]

I have a question about room, can any RTT fit two adults and two teens in there comfortably?. Our ground tent is 12 x 7ft. Fits 2 queen mattresses with space for shoes. I have always written off a RTT for us as even the bigger ones that I have looked at seem like too much of a squeeze for that many people.
Thanks

You will absolutely need one of the largest RTT, like a CVT Mt. Denali. Our RTT is rated as a 3+ person tent (the same width of a King Size Bed) and we sleep 2 average size adults and two kids under 6 and we’ll likely outgrow it in the next year or so. Another option is to sleep 2 or 3 in the tent and then 1 or 2 people in the annex room below on cots or something similar. The largest RTTs like the Mt. Denali are about 15 inches wider then a king size bed.. I know CVT is now selling something called the 3 sisters tent which is even bigger but I have no idea how that would work on a roof of a 4runner, you’d need a forklift to mount it.

 

[leftyguns21]

I have a question about room, can any RTT fit two adults and two teens in there comfortably?. Our ground tent is 12 x 7ft. Fits 2 queen mattresses with space for shoes. I have always written off a RTT for us as even the bigger ones that I have looked at seem like too much of a squeeze for that many people.
Thanks

that is entirely too much weight on the roof. I wouldn't suggest it. like [MENTION=120701]Cymon[/MENTION] mentioned, I would get a 2+ RTT with the extended annex. I sleep two adults in the RTT and the annex has 2 kids + my dog and all of the gear. you could easily fit 4 adults in the annex. if you look back on page 2 in the thread you can see my post with the annex (or click in my signature). the Mt Shasta extended stargazer is the one I have.

 

[Cymon]

that is entirely too much weight on the roof. I wouldn't suggest it. like [MENTION=120701]Cymon[/MENTION] mentioned, I would get a 2+ RTT with the extended annex. I sleep two adults in the RTT and the annex has 2 kids + my dog and all of the gear. you could easily fit 4 adults in the annex. if you look back on page 2 in the thread you can see my post with the annex (or click in my signature). the Mt Shasta extended stargazer is the one I have.

[MENTION=76]lefty[/MENTION]guns 21 is correct. This is why we are eventually switching our tent over to custom trailer rack. Most racks including our Frontrunner have max weight capacities between 600 and 800 lbs. Yes you'll see people potentially running them with more but why chance it. We are right at the limit now with our Mt. Rainier Extended Summit (approx 200lbs) with the 4 of us (approx 400lbs).

 

[sn_85]

Like anything, there's always pros and cons to whatever your use case is. I've used both and your opinion is purely biased towards ground tents, but there are cons to ground tents as well:

1. Uncomfortable as hell
2. If #1 bothers you, you have to carry seperate padding
3. It takes 20min to setup all the sticks, tie it down, unpack your padding, unpack your sleeping bag, blow up your pillow, etc etc...
4. Depending on the tent, the wind will make it a nightmare
5. You're on the ground...say hello to critters
6. When you're not using the tent, it takes up a ton of cargo room if you include all your gear..which could just be left and folded up inside an RTT.
7. 250lbs? What kind of RTT are you thinking of running? As an example, Front Runner makes a 80lb RTT.
8. You can't include the cost of a roof rack in this scenario because roof racks serve a million more purposes for people including packing your ground tent+gear up there.


Also...my 2-person RTT is sitting in my garage when not in use and you say it takes up a ton of room? I have it on its side against a wall, it bothers nobody

I still can't understand how some people still whine about MPG. YOU BOUGHT AN SUV with 18mpg rating to begin with from Toyota which most never see past the first week of ownership. I get 11mpg on my 4R (without an RTT on it) and have 0 complaints and take my car out over my wife's Audi that gets nearly 30mpg every time we leave the house.

Like you said, there's pros and cons to everything so what's so hard to understand about people who complain about how an RTT effects MPG and drive handling? It's one of the known downsides of owning an RTT. I got rid of mine because for daily driving use it didn't make sense. Unless I used the tent 50-60 times a year then it wasn't worth it to ME.

You know what the problem with 11mpg is? You fill up gas every 200 miles. I average 17mpg combined and can fill up every 330 miles. When you're going on long road trips that makes a big difference in gas price, distance between fillups, and inconvenience.

If you don't care that is fine but lets not minimize someone else's qualms because you're not concerned about it.

 

[Sno Dawg]

I have a question about room, can any RTT fit two adults and two teens in there comfortably?. Our ground tent is 12 x 7ft. Fits 2 queen mattresses with space for shoes. I have always written off a RTT for us as even the bigger ones that I have looked at seem like too much of a squeeze for that many people.
Thanks

My Tepui fits two adults easily with our 65 pound wirehaired pointer. I also have the annex room underneath the RTT and bring a cot for friends to sleep over at off road rallyes.

Two adults in the tent
Two teens in the annex -then you don't have to smell their farts all night and they don't have to listen to you snore!

The tents for 4 people are best on a stable trailer in my opinion with a heavy duty rack. I think about it being able to support 4 adults weighing on average 150 pounds - yikes!

Sno Dawg

 

[TheFabFour]

Thanks guys, I will wait til it's just the two of us and no kids. A big reason for us to get one is what RaisedbyWolves and others have mentioned is uneven ground. Last trip we spent a good while in one of the Sheldon National Refuge campgrounds trying to find a place for a ground tent. Tall bunch grass, couldn't even see the ground, and major burrow holes everywhere. Plus as we seem to end up camping on rough ground we have thicker air mattresses, jeez, dealing with them every morning to break camp. I cannot wait for a RTT, I don't give a shite what it does to the mileage.

 

[e60ral]

Cots and hammocks fix the uneven ground issue

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[TheFabFour]

Cots and hammocks fix the uneven ground issue

Sent from my P00A using Tapatalk

We looked into cots but we didn't have room for them, even for two of us with all our gear an air mattress takes up way less room. Some parts of Nevada are not very hammock friendly, but they are a good idea for packing space

 

[ride16734]

Not being able to park inside our garage was a big drawback for rooftop tent.
Went with a light trailer with few mods to keep somewhat level with the runner.
Very happy with our decision and I can park my car behind the trailer in the garage.

 

[Cadesun]

Thanks guys, I will wait til it's just the two of us and no kids. A big reason for us to get one is what RaisedbyWolves and others have mentioned is uneven ground. Last trip we spent a good while in one of the Sheldon National Refuge campgrounds trying to find a place for a ground tent. Tall bunch grass, couldn't even see the ground, and major burrow holes everywhere. Plus as we seem to end up camping on rough ground we have thicker air mattresses, jeez, dealing with them every morning to break camp. I cannot wait for a RTT, I don't give a shite what it does to the mileage.

Easy solution to your leveling problem:

https://www.amazon.com/Tri-Lynx-000...ocphy=9021428&hvtargid=pla-432146686536&psc=1

We camp in the back of the Runner and have used these for years to level the truck out. Takes 2 minutes.

 

[D1105]

I went with a clam shell low-profile RTT that can fit 2 adults comfortably. My wife doesn't do outdoor so this was a perfect size of me. If my kids were younger, then I would've picked something larger. The low profile RTT wasn't low enough to fit the garage, however I'm using my basketball hoop to load and unload the RTT easily by myself with a hoist.

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[MissChili]

I spent $1500 on a 4'x6' enclosed cargo trailer in January, with the intention of slowly building it up for use the first weekend in May. After an aborted trip to Tennessee last Labor Day weekend and spending 24 hours trapped in the camp by TS Harvey I decided I wanted the option to go either way. Most of my wheeling is done at closed parks with onsite camping. On those trips I will be using the trailer. But if I do an "overlanding" style trip when I will be breaking camp on a daily basis to setup elsewhere that evening I can move the RTT to the 4Runner by simply removing 12 screws, moving the tent, and re-installing the screws, and leaving the trailer at home. Still a 2 person job to move it, but only about 15 - 20 minutes of work.

The first picture is the camp in Tennessee. Everything pictured in the camp below that came out of the trailer during the May weekend, with room left over in there. I added a 270 awning after the Jambo in May but have not had it camping yet. The trailer is capable of handling maintained forest roads, and some LIGHT off roading at a very slow pace, and I will readily acknowledge it is not an off road trailer. But I didn't buy it intending to make it so. I bought it to use as a base camp. Including the already owned RTT and awning I'm at around $3300 invested so far.

LOVE THIS ALTERATION! After owning a Tepui RTT and ARB awning for a year, we decided that we are going to do a similar build with a 5x8 cargo trailer. We have several trips planned for 2021 where we will be camping in one spot for 2-3 nights, but want to drive the 4Runner around. Set-up/take-down of the RTT each day will get annoying. We are also avid mountain bikers and like the idea of having a cargo trailer to lock up 4 mountain bikes (about $5k a piece) inside to be out of sight if we go to town for dinner or something. We LOVE the RTT, and it worked for all our trips this summer, but like the idea of a cargo trailer "base camp".

 

[tls3601]

Being in Arizona with rattlesnakes AND Scorpions I like the idea of the RTT, especially one of the hardtop variety. The Roofnest Falcon looks very appealing, anyone own one and have an opinion? Planning on supporting it with a Gobi full size rack but Gobi never returns phone calls, so not sure if I want a Ranger or the lower profile model. Anyone has have NO customer service with Gobi? Had they returned any of my calls(3 so far) I would have already have it ordered. Actually now considering other racks if I ever have a issue with theirs I am sure they won’t return that call either.

 

[tls3601]

Yes I was!

I think you were there with two other vehicles. I recall you guys drove out the day after the snowfall but I stayed until Tuesday morning. All of my trip pictures are here: Sun To The North: Back to Coyote Flats with the Expedition Trailer

Just read your blog, that area looks incredible. What size tires and lift are you running? And what would be a good setup, lift tires for that area? Thanks!

 

[tls3601]

I went with a clam shell low-profile RTT that can fit 2 adults comfortably. My wife doesn't do outdoor so this was a perfect size of me. If my kids were younger, then I would've picked something larger. The low profile RTT wasn't low enough to fit the garage, however I'm using my basketball hoop to load and unload the RTT easily by myself with a hoist.





How do you like the Roofnest Falcon? I am considering the standard size, not the XL. How is it for 2 adults? Is it snug in the width dimension? I don’t want to be cramped for two adults. Looks plenty long and from what I understand you can’t put anything inside of it including the ladder when you close it. Is that true? The XL is heavier and I think would looks ridiculous on a 5th gen. Thanks for your input. Tom
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/23076818@N07/43598112064/in/datetaken/" title="Untitled"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/43598112064_f66d148258_z.jpg" width="640" height="428" alt="Untitled"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

How do you like the Roofnest Falcon? I am assuming it is the standard size. Is it big enough in width for two adults? Or is it tight? Thanks for your input. Tom

 

[D1105]

How do you like the Roofnest Falcon? I am assuming it is the standard size. Is it big enough in width for two adults? Or is it tight? Thanks for your input. Tom

I usually go solo but there is plenty of room for two.

 

[AggieOE]

My take...
I like our RTT over a ground tip for many reasons but I don't like having it on top of the vehicle.

If you camp somewhere for multiple nights but use your vehicle to get around during the day, the tear down and set up gets old.

Our next trip will involve a DIY RTT rack on a little utility trailer. That way wind noise goes away, MPG should come back a little, and base camp ease will be way better.

 

[3wbdriver]

LOVE THIS ALTERATION! After owning a Tepui RTT and ARB awning for a year, we decided that we are going to do a similar build with a 5x8 cargo trailer. We have several trips planned for 2021 where we will be camping in one spot for 2-3 nights, but want to drive the 4Runner around. Set-up/take-down of the RTT each day will get annoying. We are also avid mountain bikers and like the idea of having a cargo trailer to lock up 4 mountain bikes (about $5k a piece) inside to be out of sight if we go to town for dinner or something. We LOVE the RTT, and it worked for all our trips this summer, but like the idea of a cargo trailer "base camp".

A 5x8 would have been my first choice but was a little more than I was willing to spend. Sounds like you have a good plan.