*THE RTT Owners Thread (With BS)*

Question for you RTT experts: if one had a cab rack and camper shell rack that sat perfectly even, how much of a worry would it be to mount a large RTT to the camper shell rack, where all of the mounting points are to the camper shell rack, but some of the RTT overhangs the cab onto 1-2 cab rack bars (but not mounted to them - just floating freely).

I know the cab/bed flex independently of each other; just wondering if anyone has ran an XL tent on a short bed, where the overhang is on the cab side, resting on the cab rack.

 

When I did that I used 1" feet to raise the tent up. There will be flex, so you don't want the cab pushing up on the tent. I ended up taking off the rack on my cab and selling it because the space that was left wasn't very much anyway. But then I sold my tent and bought another rack. So maybe if you do that don't sell anything because we're never happy and always changing things.

 

you happen to have any pics of yours when you had it like that? curious about the 1" risers you used.

 

This is all I have at the moment. The 1" feet are still there even though this is after I removed the front rack. And actually now that I think about it I used the 0.5" feet and not 1".

 

With the addition of a newborn, a RTT isn't conducive to our needs right now. Has anyone "upgraded" to a pop-up camper or any input they could share?
I'm on the fence about keeping my RTT with awning and annex for further down the line when the ladder won't be a worry OR selling it all and putting into something else.
If i need to move to another thread, please link me

 

I have a wedge camper but we match that with the ARB Awning Room. It's myself, wife, 5 and 7 year old daughters.

 

yeah, my daughter is 4 months haha. My wife and i love camping and getting outside so we are trying to come up with plans to make it still work in the interim.

 

All four of y’all sleep in that wedge rtt? How’s that possible?

 

My family has owned and used an old Apache pop up camp trailer since I was a young child. I’ve always preferred that to other style campers as they’re low so you can normally see behind you still and we put a rack on top of it for a canoe or small boat. The one we have is a little too big to take on a lot off road adventures it’s a fire road/campground trailer but I’ve seen some smaller ones that could tow behind nicely on some more rugged roads. I think a tent trailer or pop up would be a great option in your situation.

 

We've done that once and it was not great. We slept head to to. My kids were 4 and 6 at the time. Usually we split up between inside the bed and the wedge or the wedge and the ARB room.

 

They trap condensation even with good ventilation? Windows cracked and all?

How is the usable leg room with a thick mattress like an exped?

 

I pre-ordered the IO carbon, will post up pics and review once I get it and spend some nights in it.

 

I would not recommend their tents. It’s just rebranded Chinese stuff. After just over a year on my truck the plastic was ruined from the sun and started cracking. The warranty was only for a year so they told me to kick rocks.

 

So I've had 2 RTT's before, on another vehicle, and then on my truck with bed bars/bed rack. The RTT I'm planning to get over the weekend is a good bit larger than my previous ones (about 200lbs), and the plan will be to run it on top of my camper shell. Considering I'm short, have a lifted truck, and can't lift something that heavy and bulky by myself that high, what are some of your favorite ways to load/unload a RTT by yourself (without a hoist system).

Obviously a hoist system would be the best. But I don't have anywhere I can drive under to make that happen, or anywhere to build a standalone system for that. Aside from recruiting friends/neighbors or hoisting, what are some of the best ways? I've used 2x4s as ramps before and that worked okay, but wondering if anyone has figured out something easier over the years I've been out of the RTT world.

 

Also, anyone have any recommendations for a DIY wind fairing for a prinsu styled rack? I had planned for a plexi/steel flat bar mount solution but would love to see what others have come up with.

 

when i was using my rack with my tepui kukeman, i could undo all the bolts so the tent was sitting on the rack. then open the tailgate and slide the tent down onto the tent on its side with a sort of squat. with cardboard or something on the ground to protect the tent cover from the concrete ground, i would then "flip" the tent off the tailgate onto the ground. then "flip" it again so its on something you can move it around with. if i had a dolly i would have used that, but i just used those black and yellow plastic boxes from costco and shoved that thing around. this way, i could take the tent off by myself without actually carrying all the weight of the tent, it was always leaning on something else. the hardest part was getting it off the rack onto the tailgate.

your comment of a 2x4 ramp makes a lot more sense though. i might try that with my shell now.

my tent is also only like 130 lbs so a little easier to handle by myself.

 

Thats definitely the method I used with my previous tents to take them off the truck. I've learned that with the way gravity works, getting the tent off is the easy part. I'm more so wondering about an easier way to get it on the truck without a hoist system. I'm kinda thinking a couple 2x4s as ramps off the very back of the truck. I think it'd probably be best to have a cross board on each end so they don't spread apart, and would also give me leverage to lift both boards at once from the bottom side. Basically prop the tent against the bottom of the ramp, squat the bottom, lift and try my best to slide the whole thing (2x4s included) onto the truck. I could then disassemble the 2x4 ramp and remove each 2x4 side easily from underneath, then mount the tent. Sounds plausible, but also sounds like a lot of weight for a short guy trying to manage above his head the whole time lol. Maybe I should incorporate the floor jack instead of my back

 

lol.

i put my tent on the way i take it off in reverse, squatting it from the tail gate and sliding it over the rear bar. it left a bit of a scratch, but my rack was also used and cheap.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

Do you have a winch with synthetic rope or a come along? Here's my thoughts for trying to load something that high and heavy. Put the boards like a ramp up against your camper shell roof rack. Run the winch line over your truck and safely pull the rtt onto the rack. If you don't have the winch the attaching the comealong to your cab rack should work too.

 

I definitely thought about using a front winch over the top, but don't have a winch yet lol. I'm now remembering why I always just left my previous RTTs on full time... I forget how cumbersome they can be to handle by yourself. I guess the 'tumble in reverse' method may be the method I try first, and I'll move to the 2x4 ramps if needed.