*THE RTT Owners Thread (With BS)*

passenger. Sometimes you just wanna pull off on the side of the road and open on the opposite side of where traffic is

 

Driver for some reason as it feels better accessing the vehicle that way and easier to spot where the ladder drops, but I am thinking of changing in case I ever need to drop it on the curb.

 

Ahhh I like this. Finally, a justification for the driver that I hadn't thought of.

 

I do my awning directly off the back. Seems better to cover up the tailgate/cooking area rather than just the other side of the truck.

 

Exactly. Thinking about making an extension awning going from the end of the rear awning to the rtt. Kind of like a foxwing awning

 

Ooo that would be cool. Good idea! Although I'd only set something like that up on a multi-day trip where the truck sits still

 

Got my Tepui RTT a couple weeks ago. Picked it up at a transfer facility next door to my work b/c they couldn't deliver it to my house in time for our road trip a week later.
Made a custom rack to use on my leer cap even though I had an old Thule system. Don't like how high the bars are and it moves around some on the feet. I was going to get a PrInSu rack for the leer but lead time was not in my favor.
My first impressions was not good. Seeing all the metal chips inside, the quality of the drilled holes are shity, the stitching was not straight in almost all the seams and the waterproofing tape was trimmed horribly and even started to come loss on the zipper fabric after only a couple days. I also didn't like the four little hex bolts with no washers that connect the extrusion bars to the base of the tent. I was being extra carful to make my rack strong and was even going to put bigger bolts through the leer cap that hold the tracks but didn't after seeing this. I did put a extra strap over the front of the tent that hooked to my rack.
Wasn't aware that it was made in China which was quickly evident after seeing it in person. I defiantly expected better quality from a $2100 tent. At least I hope I have a good warranty or it holds up better than it looks.
With that said, I did have a great time on our road trip through ADK, NH and Maine. It did exactly what we needed it to do and was very easy to setup and put away. My wife, our 6 month old and I had plenty of room to be comfortable. It handled logging roads at 50+ mph and even hit 90 on the expressway (not intentionally). Look forward to the next trip and even trying her out in the winter time.

 

I used to leave the cover connected and roll it up, now I just slide it out of the tracks and use it as a windshield cover. Much easier in and out without it attached

 

I was pretty disappointed with the tape on my ARB as well. I ended up buying some seam sealer and painting it on all seams with a 1" paintbrush for peace of mind. Now it's bullet proof and if you've got any worries about waterproofing Id recommend it as a solution. You need 2 tubes to do all seams. Baby powder after 24 hours to take away the tack and you're golden.

$39 GEAR AID Seam Grip WP Waterproof Sealant and Adhesive for Tents and Outdoor Fabric, Clear, 8 oz

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009TFICIO/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_13?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

Did you order your tent from Tepui directly or through another vendor?

Those issues should have been immediately brought to the attention of the Tepui warranty department. If there are problems with the seams or tape coming out, those should be addressed. We discussed the metal chips from the holes recently. Nearly impossible to avoid that completely. Anytime you feel like you have an issue that could be covered under warranty, you should either call the Tepui shop or send an email to warranty@tepuitents.com with a description of the problem and a few photos.

The bolts that connect the mounting rails to the tent base should have a washer used at the bolt head on the inside of the tent and the nylock nuts that slide into the extrusions. If you were missing any hardware, you should notify Tepui.

 

Warranty seems like such a pain in the ass on these things. It's easy to say "oh that's warranty" but it's 100+ lbs and if you've got to ship it back, wait for another, remount, rerun LEDs and power, etc sometimes it's just easier to do it yourself. It's not like you just put it in a box and UPS comes and gets it at your house. I don't know, maybe it's that easy and I make bad assumptions... How does tepui handle warranty of say tape coming off seams?

 

It's all handled case by case. On genuine warranty claims if it's repairable they'll work with customers to take care of that. If they need to they'll replace a tent. Return shipping is a bit inconvenient, I'll give you that, but generally speaking Tepui covers all of that in a case of replacing a tent. Best case is to not accept delivery if damage is seen, but sometimes you don't see problems until after you've taken delivery. Regardless, it never hurts to ask the questions if you feel like you have a warranty claim.

 

We got it through another vendor. Why would that matter?

The craftsmanship was not what I expected. Functionally everything works. The stitching isn't coming apart just sloppy. The tape is only coming off the zipper fabric on part of the annex that isn't that critical. There's a lot of wasted tape that extends past the stitching that is wrinkled and looks very sloppy. It did rain two differnt nights pretty good and we stayed dry.

The metal chips in the tent is a hazard that shouldn't be there IMO. It's do to the mfg process and could be fixed at a cost.

The bolt head that sits in the thin track is small and the hole is oval. Doesn't seem like a strong design but with the shape of the extrusion maybe it is. And don't get me started on the direction and parts list.

Thanks for the info and quick response but hopefully I won't need to use the 2 year warranty.

 

I hope you're getting paid...

 

Swarf - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarf - is a common issue when machining metal. If the metal framed platforms are already assembled at the time of drilling holes for supports and what nots, the only guaranteed way to remove the shavings is flush the passage ways with an oily fluid.

I've seen a video of the South African factory for Alu-Cab roof top tents. It would be interesting to see a video of a Chinese roof top tent contractor's manufacturing process as comparison.

So, to me, it's an is what it is situation. If American consumers are not willing to pay the bill for an Alu-Cab, Eezi-Awn, Howling Moon or Maggiolina, then a middleman will provide a "good-enough" substitute from an Asian sweat shop.

I'm part of the "good-enough" group.

 

Does anyone have experience with heating a RTT in some way? We bought our Tacoma to be our exploring vehicle and it won't be completed and ready for use for another couple of weeks and my wife and I are sad we missed the good weather. Here in Utah the Unitas and other ranges get really cold at night. We have a 1 year old and really want to get out this winter but worry about the baby. We'd be fine but don't have confidence we could keep the baby warm. Are there any options?

 

Little buddy

 

Agreed. Looking to get a Mr. Buddy heater for colder camping trips. I've heard they are safe inside tents.

 

@jberry813