Roof Top Tent Bed Racks

Hey guys, just wanted to pick your brains and possibly explore some options for bed racks for a roof top tent and see if any of you have done this. I have looked around but haven't found anything, could be just searching the wrong thing however…

I am very interested in getting a roof top tent, most of my camping is done for a few nights and the truck remains stationary. So a standard rack would work great. BUT, every year I spend a week with my boat that is a 18 ft. Flat bottom drag boat that needs to be taken out of the water every night, and put back in, in the morning. Setting up the tent and taking it down every day would be a bit of a hassle. So I was wondering if any of you have built something simple that could be removed from the bed, and possibly add legs to it so you still get the benefit of not sleeping on the ground (something similar to the base camps - spider racks CVT offers, but making use of the bed rack itself). Hope this makes sense.

Thanks in advance.

Cam

 

I have just bed bars ... three separate ones..

 

Well by 'setting up and taking down' the RTT, aren't you just folding it back onto itself - shouldn't take but a couple of minutes either way. Now, if you dealing with an annex or other RTT 'accessories', then it becomes a bigger deal.

To help your brain-farting, start thinking about camper jacks - built out far enough from the truck sides. Park, drop the camper jacks, drive the truck out from underneath....

If you go for it, post up pictures...

Your just needing the truck on the week-long trip to launch and extract the boat?

As a cheapo alternative, when you arrive at the site, remove the RTT from the truck and set up on a couple of sawhorses...

 

Actually some good ideas. The other thing is make some legs for the opposite side of the floor that is not connected to the rack. You can make them removable, but just so there is some support out on the end where the ladder is. Because remember you already have support at the opposite end with the rack. Just my 2cents

 

Ya, that was the idea I was basing this off of was something similar to jack stands on a camper. I am looking at either the Mt. Bailey, or Bachelor with a max weight of the tent being around 120 pounds, a simple bed rack system would be easy to lift off with the help of a few friends, then some sort of quick release legs that could be popped in.

That is something to consider as well Bobby! I haven't had any personal exposure to roof top tents just what I have seen online. I imagine the ladder is somewhat easy to take on and off? Im just trying to keep my costs as low as possible. University is not cheap, or else I would be all over just getting a base camp and calling it a day.

Saw horses isn't a bad idea either, but one more thing to carry along taking up space. I was thinking 4 posts that can just be added to the existing bed rack would take up less space.

And ya, there will be other trucks around but they all are in the same boat of taking their boats in and out everyday. Coming back and switching trailers although not much effort, takes time and I can see this becoming annoying after a few days especially after getting off the water and wanting to dive into some ice cold refreshments! This scenario is the only reason I have been hesitant on pulling the trigger on one of these tents. It would be nice to be able to use the roof top tent as they are intended (elevated off the ground), and not taking down the tent/setting it back up everyday for the 20 minutes a day I will actually need my truck.

 

In all reality without setting up the annex you can have the rtt sleepable in under a minute and closed up in 2-3 minutes. Although I feel like the camper legs would be a pretty sweet idea!

 

Lol it takes more than a minute and its a real PITA to set up and break down the RTT for a short drive. Part of the reason I sold mine.

OP, instead of building legs, just set the bed rack on the ground. There is no need to be 6ft off the ground unless you are using the annex. I was considering being a campground host with my RTT last summer and that was my plan. You will be a foot or so off the ground with most bed racks so you won't be in the dirt. I am not sure but with the retractable ladder that Tepui uses you could probably get by without any additional mods. The ladder CVT uses will need to be removed (depending on height of the bed rack) and replaced with something to add the necessary structure.

If you go this route you may want to look into an aluminum bed rack to reduce weight for taking it on and off.

 

I was thinking something similar in height to what has been posted above, keep the tent below the cab to reduce drag when on the highway, and as minimalistic as possible to allow it to be as light as possible. Everyone states setting up and taking down takes very little time, but I can just see it being very annoying everyday. I like to get there, set up, and be done with it. I guess a few cinder blocks under the bed rack would get you another foot off the ground as well

 

In theory, if the last 6" or so of each of the rack down tubes were vertical you could 'un-pin' each leg from the leg bases (assuming you have a smaller diam tube stump at the base). Lift, (more than one person negates this for me) then insert the 'legs' of your length choice. Improperly engineered could make for a pretty shaky support

 

Yeah it will get old pretty fast. It's fairly quick set up and pack up but I rarely made the 5 minute time that is often suggested. After a day of activities the last thing I wanted to do was set it up. I am a show up, set camp, then go play kind of guy.

I would strongly suggest getting a slightly higher bed rack than what was shown. That way you can reach in and open boxes and such with out having to unload the bed to get to the back. You won't really notice wind drag on the tent if its slightly above the cab IMO.

 

Just looked at the thread of your adventures BabyTaco. I like the height of the rack you were using. Any idea approximately how far off the bed rails that rack was. What was the visibility like through your back window? That was another thing I was just thinking about. It would be nice to have SOME visibility through the back window instead of just seeing the tent.

Also, obviously most people just drill/bolt these bed racks. Are there any other options to mounting? I prefer to avoid drilling holes through my truck if at all possible.

 

I still have the rack. I just cut it in half once I sold the RTT. I went outside to eyeball it and I would say it's somewhere between 10-12 inches. I can actually measure it out in the morning if you want.

There is zero drilling of the truck bed for the majority of the bed racks (that I know of). I have carriage bolts holding mine on. The heads were grinded down to slide into the rail system and then the bed rack has slots that slide over the bolt. You then tighten it down with a nut and washer. If that doesn't make sense I can grab pictures of that as well.

As far visibility I had little to no issues with that rack. You get more than 50% of the rear window. At most I had to duck my head a bit to see under the tent. With the regular cab, the back pillars create a massive blind spot and anything blocking the rear view is pretty dang dangerous. Just be mindful of whats mounted on the sides and you won't have a big problem.

 

here is what i did.
DIY mods for the 95-04 tacomas!!!

the nice thing about RTT, is they fold-up/un-fold pretty easy. i have an eezi-awn tent. i am set-up/broke-down in less than 5 mins. eezi-awn is on the higher end of the price, i dont know how long other RTT set-up takes. but, the nice thing is, is that since it is so quick, you can just leave on the truck instead of taking out of the truck and setting on the ground. just fold up and go....hope this helps in any way.