Car Camping / Trip Reports / Photos / Buildouts / “Overland” / Expedition Rigs Area (homeless?)

That setup is awesome!

 

Everyone is gearing up for wheeling season!

3 days and i will be too

@davidpick id just go buy a large canvas tarp. Ive been using one for years to just cover my stuff and it works great. Lasts forever too.

 

Sweet setup!
How are you locking the RTT? Just got one and dont want it to walk away

 

So I'm nowhere near the level that most of you are on an expedition vehicle but that has always been my vision for my truck. I don't do hardcore rock crawling but I hope to get it to a point where I can explore in it. I don't have a roof top tent but I really hope to someday get one once I can afford a shell. For now, I have a bed tent that works well and was under 100 bucks. College keeps me from modding too much but I have a new front bumper coming this month. Next up will always be a shell once I can afford it!

Here she is. Glad I found this thread for ideas!

 

I have not figured out a way to lock it either! Everything else is locked though

 

Some of the guys use eyebolts and a padlock instead for the mounting hardware that comes with the RTT. Only on one of the 4 anchor points. I think I saw it in the RTT tread.

 

Hmm got any pictures?

 

Found it!

 

Nice! May give this a try.

 

That tent looks pretty sweet. Just keep an eye out on Craigslist. You can get one pretty cheap.

 

I will! Thanks for the tip!

 

I still don't get the RTT thing. Seems like it would be a pita to climb into. It takes about a minute to set up a walmart tent, and I can sleep on a nice, comfy cot. Are you guys scared of snakes or something? I'm not busting balls, genuinely curious what the allure is.

 

Threads galore on the topic... Here is my take: RTT has too many negatives for me: expensive, heavy ~150 lbs, mount in worst location possible, kills mpg, vehicle handling worsens, high profile is bad for windy locations, hard to leave camp in an emergency if RTT deployed. Etc.

The positives are if you move locations each day it can make it easier to move camp. Especially useful if the ground is f'ed up like camping in sand dunes, or mud.

 

I guess I could see it if you had a bunch of rugrats and space is at a premium. For two people and a dog...sleeping quarters are completely set up in under 15 minutes, and the kitchen is set up in five. As you know, a lot of it is how you pack. What you need first goes in last, etc. We practice a lot, and typically camp 30-45 nights a year. Last year was closer to 60 days, but most of that was hunting season. What do you do when you have to go whizz at oh dark thirty? Put on boots and climb down?

 

For us, it's 20 minutes to pack it all up (less actually, because as we use stuff in the morning it gets put up in the truck/FJ) and 20 minutes to set up and have a beer in hand in front of the fire. We jumped three times last weekend, it's not like we stay in the same spot very often. We also have a travel trailer, but hardly ever use it because it's such a pita for just a weekend. For stints over a week long it's nice though.

 

I go back and forth on the RTT. For I sleep on top my platform under the camper shell. I have plenty of space to store all my crap. I think I'd skip over the RTT and go straight to a 4wd type pop up in bed camper.

 

I saw the thumbnail and knew you were talking about pissbags.

 

I guess a lot of it depends on where you live. In this area sleeping on the ground puts you in the mud, rocks, ants, skeeters, snakes, ext. The RTT is comfortable and clean up above all the bullshit. I haven't spent much time in other parts of the country so I can't speak intelligently on that but here it's nice.

I keep mine on all the time. Mostly cause it's a pain to take of and I like being packed and ready to go whenever I want. I think mounting height is important. My rack is 13" tall which gives me enough height to open my tool boxes or crawl into the bed if need be, but only puts the tent about 2" above my cab.

Around here the are a lot of off camber areas that can rip a tent off if it's mounted too high.

I've had ground tents before (still do) and they have their advantages, but overall I much prefer my RTT.

Oh sleep better in it that I do anywhere else but home. I don't sleep well in strange places normally. I rather stay in my RTT than most motels or even friends/family's homes. On road trips its awesome. If you need to call it a night pull into the local Cracker Barrel parking lot, pop the tent open and crash out

 

I'll say also that I love my RTT on my truck but there's no way I would want one on a SUV. They simply mount too high for my taste. Every branch or gulch would be trying to rip it off