*THE RTT Owners Thread (With BS)*

Great pic and nice set up. Once I get my suspension right I plan on getting some slider, a rack and a RTT.

 

May not be a high end one but damn it if you knew what I paid you wouldn't say anything

Smittybilt XL to go in the trailer I'm building for it

 

This lurker is listening. Intently.

 

Thanks for that, guess that was a one time ordeal with the video. Good to know and definitely gonna make a stop for n overnighter!

 

Typically I would totally agree, but I was taking a look at the materials list and it literally uses the same material that 80% of the non-ruggedized tents utilize and 2 year warranty. Another thing to consider is most companies who sell RTT do outsource production to china and Chinese manufacturing plants are not exclusive, so if a plant manufactures for CVT per say I guarantee they are also making tents for other companies with a slight variation due to already having built an infrastructure for manufacturing. Also shipping is expensive unless you freight it, it would most likely be par ~$200. With that said I always choose to purchase in America but for the 1/4th price cut it might be worth looking into otherwise.

Side by side material list comparison:
Note the material is the exact same, the Chinese RTT also offers a thicker version of that material to replicate a ruggedized RTT. The bases on both are aluminum. Full specs below, but for the most part everything is the same, small differences to note for pros and cons obviously but keep in mind this is anywhere from 1/3th to 1/4th the cost of comparable CVT tents.

CVT

Chinese Manufacturer

 

I went up there on a Wednesday - Thursday earlier this year and there were only a handful of other campers around and we had at least a football field between us. Everyone I came across and camped by were fairly quiet and respectful.

 

Yup

@Jack0928

I am working on offering a no BS price on hardshell tents so I have a little insight on this subject.

Just to buy one tent your looking atleast 1k in shipping/import costs, they will want a order of atleast 20 for a cheaper price on the tents. Shipping on a whole container is about 4500

 

Maybe I am not properly factoring for weight, but I outsourced manufacturing for a product I was reselling a couple years back through alibaba and shipping in freight for roughly 700 pounds came out to $700. Taxes added an addition $500, but considering my order was 1000 units it came out to hardly anything.

I suppose to really get down to the cost factor I would need to reach out and pursue it, just thought it might be a cool idea considering the materials are nearly identical

 

Your on the right track, I can almost guarantee the product is the same. But I would take the number your thinking and times it by two

 

Bummer thought it could work

 

You can probably get it to work out cheaper than buying a CVT, but in my experience:
-for something with that kind of size:value ratio you need to multiply what you pay the manufacturer by 2-2.5x to get an approximate landed cost (after freight, taxes, duties). Of course the actual cost depends on specific duty rates, freight costs, and how efficient your freight is (full container is less expensive than LCL), but I've used that multiplier to give me a rough idea of whether it's worth digging into it more.
-If the manufacturer offers a warranty, they're probably going to want you to ship them the defective part. This will take months to ship back and forth and cost a bit. Or cost more for a quick air freight turnaround.

 

I had good luck with my last reselling effort, everything was quick and costs were relatively cheap when it came to profit margins. I guess that's the difference is I wouldn't be reselling these for profit so its not as easy to overlook shipping and taxes. Gets me thinking though

 

lol
Well I agree that warranty issues would be a PITA if that required shipping it back to china. Seemed better when initially thought up

 

You could still make it work but it wont come cheap upfront. In the end you can still get a cheaper price than CVT/Tepui without a doubt. You'll need to buy at least a container load, you'll get the rate of a container without the extra cost of a LCL for shipping costs. Import fees will be what it is but its cheaper splitting the cost. Shipping to individuals after everything has landed will be expensive. Upfront I would expect it to be around 50-70k depending on tent, plus shipping to each person. If it was 60k overall cost and 80 tents in a container, Thats 750 a tent not including any shipping to the person.

Plus the entire import would be under your own employer identification number so you may be liable for other taxes at the end of the year depending how it all pans out


Im not trying to sway you one way or another, but I walked into this with my eyes closed and I learned very quickly with my wallet that its not as great as I thought it would be. Overall I am still optimistic that I will be able to offer a hardshell tent cheaper than everyone else but who knows in the end when its time

 

Yea its an expensive venture with a lot of unknowns.

Best of luck with the hardshell idea, huge market out there for an affordable option for those!

 

Info/pricing for one the size of an FJ roof please. Do you have the motorized ones? Lifted FJs are tall enough that I HATE dealing with the zippers/straps, but sometimes my fiance insists on taking her rig on trips.

 

I prefer it to the back mostly because it has less of a footprint, as compared to opening over the side. I can set up on the side of narrow trails/hills without blocking anyone. Also, if you need to move the truck for any reason, I just have to lock the ladder up off the ground and go. Additionally, when closed it has a smaller profile for wind resistance. The end of the ladder is all that sticks above the roof. Once I get a roof rack it will be the same height.

 

Not to mention the quality control, we've all seen the failures of brands that end up with the wrong thing on the tent, or stuff being backasswards.

 

Thanks! I'm going to play around with which way mine opens when I get everything mounted up this week.