Smittybilt Overlander Tent review.

Smittybilt in Sedona a few weeks back

 

I love my Smittybilt tent. Has been a great tent. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to test out and connect the Annex. I have the newly designed Smittybilt tent Annex that has the floor. Will use it as a change room, or if one of the kids ever come camping with us - as another tent.

 

Finally got my XL on my truck. Unfortunately I'll have to take it back off and move the mounting tracks 90* since the tent is just a few inches too short to reach the front cross bar. Fits perfect on top of the cap though. Can't wait to test it out this weekend.

 

I'm pretty set on pulling the trigger on one of these in the future. I'm having a rack built over my ST and this will be listed up top.

Any idea if there will be a spring/summer sale on these? The price is already good compared to other companies, but if I can save another $100 that would be great. These tents are now $900 everywhere.

I feel like this is the perfect entry into an RTT for the price and quality.

 

I’m looking to get one of these but would really like to know if mpg suffered from putting the tent over the bed with bed bars

 

I think your MPG would take a hit if the tent is above the roof line. If your sitting low on bed bars I don't think you would notice much of a decrease.

 

Just got my order in for the overlander.

 

I'm also looking for a deal on this tents. Amazon has it for $899 prime.

 

I just bought one! Taking her out two weekends from now. Hope my experience goes as well as yours! Thanks for the review.

 

Have a question about thickness of the mattress. If I add 2 inch more mattress can I fold the tent back?

 

I love the tent. I have one issue, and it involves my low bed bars. I looked at all the pics of low bed bars in this thread, and I'm guessing from all the photos from the rear only... others have the issue as well.

The window awning bows stick out in such a way that I can only use one on the side facing the cab. Any work arounds for this?



This is the angle all the other guys shoot.

 

anyone mount to a kbvoodoo rack? Just curious where your mounted points were?

 

super easy and secure when mounting to KBVOODOO, my set up is a longbed rack on short bed midheight, Overlander XL.

 

I added a 1" foam under the wimpy 2" foam, It folds just fine with the extra mattress that I added, my overland XLs cover fits best with the extra 1" foam mattress and bedding. I have had two sleeping bags, full size pillows and seven blankets folded with some more room to spare.

 

Thx man.... I don't know why i didn't see that. Was trying to secure to endbars not middle bars. I'll move them in place now.

 

Non problem! Remember to Loctite the hardware that secures the aluminum rail to the base of the tent, that has come loose on me in the past.

 

Thought I would add my 2 cents to the review on the tent. I have the Overlander XL on a 17' DCSB KBVooDoo midheight longbed rack and At the Helm Fab bed channel stiffeners. The tent has served me well. It is massive on a short bed tacoma but I don't mind or care about the look of the RTT sitting on it. I have 4 young children so there is no tent that is big enough. I have taken the tent everywhere and it has performed flawlessly. Back in Canyonlands the maze district while staying at the Doll House. My group experienced very high winds, up to 50mph. The wind would channel into the canyon where we had camp, it's possible the wind speed was greater with it channeling in the canyon. One of the ground tents at 1 AM suffered a broken pole which ripped both the tent and rain fly. Not to mention they where being blasted with sand that worked its way into the tent all night before it broke which was not the case for the RTT. They went scrambling for shelter, One person climbing into my tent and another attempted to sleep in the back of his Jeep LJ. My two children slept through the night not knowing what was going on but I didn't get any sleep. The RTT would rattle and shake. I thought for sure the metal frame would bend. The rainfly would just flap in the wind making it impossible to sleep. I did reinforce the fly with some paracord to help it out in the wind. When the sun finally came up and the wind went away I inspected the tent thoroughly. No damage!!! Possible the seems got a little stressed at the very top of the tent where the pole rubs on it but its hard to tell. The best part was every one else was just covered in sand except for the people in the RTT. The RTT being high had very little sand blown in from the wind.

The rain fly could be better. Even in slight wind the rain fly will make it sound like the wind is blowing harder then what it is. It will catch the wind and flap against the tent. I have now taken the rain fly off for the summer and just bring it along in case.

The Overlander XL has the overhang area over the ladder and entrance, its alright. It is one more step to set up and doesn't take long but sometimes I wish it could be set up like the smaller Overlander. When it rains the Annex is super nice though so I guess I would keep the overhang over not having it.

The mattress is okay, at first it was nice but then it felt like it went flat. I had an extra 1" of memory foam under it but that was no different as the memory foam just went flat as well. For now I place my backpacking mattress under the mattress. I am looking for a better mattress for it.

The windows are awesome! I love the windows on the ceiling. They really help control humidity in the tent.

The cover leaves plenty of room to leave all your bedding and some soft goods up there.

There is a corner of the tent when folded and the cover on that will take on mist from the road during a rain storm. see the pic below. The velcro does not come all the way to the corner. One time I stuffed a dry bag in there to stop the mist from creeping in. I have now made a little velcro piece that completes the velcro seal.

Off-roading with it doesn't seem that bad. I don't feel extremely top heavy. Sway bar removed when I go on these trips.

 

Awesome!! Thx for the write up. You're the first person I've seen with the XL on a bed rackked Tacoma.

Mines on a long bed. Too bad I gotta go to work overseas for a month. Would love to get out now.

 

It's because you have it mounted low, and close to the cab. I have the same issue. I don't really find that it effects anything except maybe how the tent looks. Still gets good ventilation, and no water ingress.

 

Looking seriously at this Smittybilt Overlander XL. I’ve got a couple questions for those who own one.

1) Is there anything you have changed or improved on the tent? Can be for any reason, personal preference or poor designs on Smittybilt’s part. Some examples I’ve read are the mattress and someone changed out the light.

2) Did anyone purchase their tent during a holiday sale? What price did you get? I know black Friday is coming and I am wondering where I should be looking for the best price.

3) Anyone use these in cold weather? How do they do? Any upgrades that should be done to keep it warm and dry inside during cold seasons.

Thanks in advance for any input!