Roof Top Tent Purchase Confusion...

So after going down the rabbit hole with RV’s, overland trailers, tradition tents, etc, I’ve pretty much decided on a RTT with bed rails.

Problem is that there is SO much info out there it gets confusing as hell. The RTT thread in this section alone is almost at 1200 pages.

Is there anyone out there who can take pity on me and point me towards a good one-stop shop that can talk me through the process of what might best serve my needs so I can buy the whole thing in one shot? Does such a place even exist?

 

PM me or stop by my build thread and I can try and help as best as possible, did a ton of research before buying the setup I have now

 

You're awesome buddy, thank you! PM on the way...

 

I know REI does Yakima, Tepui (which I guess is owned by Thule now?), but finding a store where those are actually set up for you to look at may be difficult. I remember being impressed when my local REI had a single Yakima set up during a parking lot event. I don't think I've ever seen one set up inside.

I'm not aware of any other one stop shops for roof top tents, especially when you start getting into the campers (like Go Fast Campers). It's such a big and bulky item in a niche market, you just aren't going to find a shop that stocks several different brands.

IMO best thing to do is to find a dealer (or even the factory) where you can go and actually touch the product you're interested in. I know places like Go Fast let you do factory tours. When you're considering throwing down anywhere between ~$1k and $7k+ for a bed mounted camper, I'd certainly want to get inside one and kick the tires first. Watching sponsored youtube videos of overlander bros doesn't really help much.

 

I just ordered one after a few years of back and forth.

soft or hard shell? Start there, then how big do you want. For the most part all the tents are built in the same factories. @uploadadventure may be able to help if you go with a Desert Armor brand.

for your bed rack go with a fabricator type company directly if your looking to save money. That being said, some distributor type companies have stuff ready to ship.

 

Went with the 23 Zero Walkabout 62 and KB Voodoo Tacoma bed racks. Once I get a few trips under my belt I’ll post on results.

 

Wow, moved quick. Looking forward to Picts

 

That’s how I roll...

 

Depends on what height bed rack you want. If you’re doing mid rack soft cover or hard cover are pretty easy.

If you’re going can height I 1000000% hard shell.

 

Done deal. Went with with KB Voodoo racks and 23 Zero Walkabout 62.

 

Nice! You’ll like the 23Zero.