Roof Tent Anyone??

[Marty V]

Check out some of the pics at the end of this thread...

Its an ARB rack...They fully remove the existing rails and install their own...The rack is still removable...

http://www2.pajeroclub.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=12410

[D4Dazz]

I am looking at these cross bars:

http://www.rhinorack.com.au/Vehicle_MITSUBISHI_Challenger_4601.aspx

Weight rated at 80kg, same as the roof rails. 1.4m tent weighs in at 55kg so well under that. They also appear easy to remove so would be able to get the tent on/off quite easily with two people

The rail are rated to 80kg! The tent weighs 55kg! Does that not only leave 25kg for bedding and more importantly humans!

[pavloh]

That is dynamic weight when the car is moving etc on the freeway. Stationary weight is much higher than those figures. The ARB rack looks good, however think I will just go with the Rhino HD Cross bars and get 3 of them to distribute the weight better. Cant justify the extra $$ right now for the full replacement racks, and only plan on having the tent on the roof only. The Rhinho sysmtem looks easy enough to take on/off with the tent attached but would feel better getting some more feedback from people who do this and what they think of taking the tent along with the racks in 1 peice off.

[pavloh]

Spoken to a few places about the Rhino Racks now, have been told there is no point getting 3 cross bars as the tent can only be mounted onto 2. Can anyone confirm if this is the case I will just get the kit of two cross bars. Thanks

[Wrex]

Spoken to a few places about the Rhino Racks now, have been told there is no point getting 3 cross bars as the tent can only be mounted onto 2. Can anyone confirm if this is the case I will just get the kit of two cross bars. Thanks

Thats Bulldust.

All roof toppers are supplied with the brackets, screws and bolts for 4 attachment points. You can always source another 2 from Bunnings for your extra cross rail.



These are the type of brackets you get. The 4 brackets in the pic slide into the rails that are attached to the tent. You have 2 of these per mounting point in total 8.

In this pic the piece of flat bar on the bottom of the cross rail are usually too short for the sports/aero bars but are desighned for the square/box section cross rails. A trip to bunnins for some flat bar fixed this to get the wider stance needed.




The only problem I can see with 3 cross rails is if your roof is slightly curved your middle rail will be higher then the other 2 rendering it useless with the roof top tent.

I would only source a 3rd cross rail if your going to use a flat basket/rack and then put your roof top tent on top of that. This will allow you to put other items such as spare tyre, jerry cans etc.

When i take my tent off I store it upright on its side on some foam mats against my carport wall, takes up next to no room. I am fortuanate to have a split level front yard so putting it on my car is still a 2 person job but is very easy as ground level is at the bottom of the cars windows.

If you've got the room, I don't.

[pavloh]

Thanks for the info guys. That hoist system looks good was thinking about getting on of them from bunnings later on. My decision is certainly much easier now knowing I can use the standard roof rails and get away with just a few cross bars. When you guys have the tent mounted on the car, guessing it opens up to the rear end of the car. How do you find the rear boot door when opened as its a single piece unlike the land cruisers etc, is it too long and interfere with you ladder etc to get up into the tent?

[Wrex]

In storage


Position on the car


Overhang passengers side for awning placement


Drivers side







Awning placement

[Wrex]

Hope these pics help Pavloh.

As for rear or side mounting we were all geared up for a rear opening, but when we orientted it that way it sits 200mm wider accross the car and with the rear tailgate open and the annex attached to thee tent the spare wheel gets in the way. If the rear door was covered in dust/mud then your annex would be dirty on the inside.

We will try it on the side for now and perhaps do a few trips out to the back.

[pavloh]

Thats a nice setup there, thanks for posting some pics. So you take the tent and awning off each time you get back from camping. How long does the whole process take you? The awning you detach totally from the racks when packing also?

[chris newman]

Standard Rails with Rhino Heavy Duty Bars ok

I have a fiberglass Apollo roof top tent on Rhino Heavy duty cross bars connected to standard roof rails.

It's been on the car for over 100,000Km and no problems. Just installing an electric hoist in the garage to move it to the new NT and to be able to store it.

It has not been off the car for many years and so far all is good, we use it several times a year.

Chris