*THE RTT Owners Thread (With BS)*

Ohhh .. well not that you would want to but I doubt it would weaken them.. you can Dremel/sand that aluminum bracket to fit flush in the slot

 

That’s definitely not right.

 

I have that style for my (new to me) XCover 1.0 and they sit flush. Is it just the one or are all of them like that?

 

Yes they are all like that.

 

I'm new to IKamper, but have been impressed with customer service so far. I'd see what they have to say before modifying anything. If there isn't a good solution, maybe Home Depot or Lowes for a strip of aluminum that fits the channel and drill the holes you need to make it work. Not familiar with the 2.0 stuff, but could that be modified to work?

 

Unfortunately the part of the 2.0 bracket that slides into the channel is riveted together. I suppose we could drill out the rivets and use bolts in their place. But that will be last resort as I really don't want to modify the brackets in case we get a rack for oue F150 and need to use them on that truck.

I will reach out to ikamper and see what they say. I also have a message into the dealer who installed it with these last year. I mean it worked, but I don't love it.

 

Be very careful with Ikamper per and their warranty service...they have a bad habit of declaring defects as your fault...no exam...no discussion just NO you must have done something...so I would not modify anything before they ok it...your previous installer should be reported to them...that install is/was criminal...
I use the front runner mounts as the v2 didn’t work with my front runner rack either...

 

Got the chance to try out the new 23Zero. Also the first trip with the Engel fridge and the OVS awning. Very happy with how everything seems to be working. This is my third and hopefully final RTT. Family has grown a lot and our needs have varied since we started the kids camping early and they're now 3 and 1.5. The trailer has been a game changer for us.

We spent two nights in VT and took the ferry across Lake Champlain to return home.

 

Thought I'd share a simple solution for a problem I know a lot of others have. Getting my 60 lb dog into the RTT.

I searched a ton through TW and all over the internet & didn't see any solutions that worked for me, and that didn't cost $200. I tried & failed using a thick canvas wrap, but ended up with this instead.

Materials:

• 1 sheet of 4'x2' sande plywood
• 6x 1" outdoor screws
• 1 roll of 4" wide x 15' long 3M safety walk grip tape

Tools:

• Table saw to rip the plywood
• Countersink drill bit to pre-drill and set the screws flush to surface
• Utility knife to cut the tape
• Random orbital sander to smooth edges & knock off the corners
• Hand phillips head screwdriver to avoid over driving
• 12" rafter square to over-engineer making sure the tape was cut and applied straight across the boards

Process:

• Rip the plywood longwise down the center into 2x 4'x1' pieces (these are the 2 main ramp sections)
• Trim ~1.5" off end of each (you will use these offcuts later)
• Clamp the 1.5" offcut onto the very end of each ramp sections to hold at a right angle (these should be ~1.5" wide x 12" wide to match the width of the ramp)
• Use your countersink drill bit to drill 3x holes through the top of the ramp into the clamped on 1.5" piece (drilling into the edge of plywood isn't ideal but it's feeling very strong and if it ever fails i can easily replace - didn't feel the need for wood glue, and there's absolutely zero wiggle on mine) - be careful as this is very close to the edge and there's only 1/2" of plywood to drill into.
• Use a hand phillips head to drive your 1" screws into each of these holes
• Remove your clamps and this should be a tightly fitted piece now
• Cut the safety-walk tape into 11.5" long sections and apply down the length with about 1" space in between - I found if they were spaced further he couldn't get grip as the plywood is super slippery

Training:

• The important piece I barely saw any info about online!!
• I started by putting these ramps on the ground so he could sniff & get comfortable around them
• Get some highly motivating treats that work for training & will keep your pup's attention - I use cheese, he goes crazy for it
• Start coaxing him towards the ramps while on leash and as soon as he touches the ramp reward with cheese
• Slowly progress to reward only as he puts 2, then 3, then all 4 paws on the ramp
• Then reward only as he walks along the ramp, eventually the full length of it
• Next, prop one ramp section up on a single step on a staircase and reward as he walks up it
• Then, prop up 2 steps at a steeper angle
• Finally, insert your wife into the tent, prop up the ladder onto a cooler or storage case (this is the case i store my tent pillows, blankets, annex, etc.), and coax the pup up the ramp with lots of cheese & praise when he starts making his way up it
• TAKE YOUR TIME and don't overwhelm the pup... I took each of these steps slowly and only did about 15-20 min blocks each day. When he lost focus, I stopped the session, and then came back the next day and he kept getting more comfortable each day

Final note on training: Shockingly, I never actually got him into the tent while practicing at home, but after only 1 week of slowly progressing on these steps, he walked right up the ramp into the tent while we were camping. Smart pup, who loves cheese.

Storage:

• I chose 1/2" plywood because the way my tent is mounted on my UpTop Overland bed rack, there's ~3/4" gap between the bottom of the tent & the top of the crossbars of the bed rack
• The space between the tent brackets holding onto the crossbars from left to right is ~28", so this leaves the perfect place for me to slide these right into this space
• Then, I take 2 large spring clamps and clamp the lip on the edge to the crossbar while in transit so they stay in place - then I can also use the spring clamps to latch the ramps onto the ladder when in use if it's shaky (also good for other uses at camp)
• This is awesome because that was totally unusable space and now I don't take up any room in the bed or cab where I already have a ton of boxes & supplies loaded up!

PS there are shorter sections of grip tape because the 15' roll was just 2' too short to have all the same length lol maybe if it drives me crazy enough I'll fix but it works for now.

Hope this helps someone! I'll post more pictures with close ups of how I store it for transport, etc. if there's interest

 

There is absolutely interest!

So do you kick out the ladder into the ramp section, get the dog in, then take it down to the normal ladder position for you to get up into the tent?

I would almost consider something like this, similar to how pop up campers support the fold outs.


Or the full supports:



If you have the space/setup for those.
Then you can have the ramp stay as a ramp.
Maybe. Just some thoughts. That's pretty slick - I like it.

@TacoTuesday603

 

I solved the dog issue this weekend as well and did a rear seat delete in my truck. The mini is just too small for 2 adults and a 60 pound dog. Hopefully he'll sleep in the truck..

**otherwise, i just open the side window and use the tailgate to my advantage and lift him up that way.

 

Using the window and lifting from the tailgate is the best way to get the doggo into the RTT, as long as the pup will not flail while being lifted.

 

I would also put a costco black and yellow bin on the tailgate and have him get on that, every little bit that I didn't have to lift him was best. I would also put something on the bin (like a rug) and stand behind it and let him jump down to that, instead of grabbing him out. He's a heeler, so he's pretty agile. Still though, too much dog in an ikamper mini. Lol

 

you have a 60 pound heeler?! We need pics of this chunky boy. LOL

 

He's between 55-60. I try my best to keep his weight at a healthy level.. He had a spiral fracture in his leg when we adopted him at 5 months so he's never really been as crazy as the typical heeler. And doggy DNA test say's he's purebred

 

What a handsome boy!

 

He's the best dog and an asshole all at once. Too smart for his own good.

 

Sounds like a heeler to me. A neighbor has one and I like him a lot, especially after losing my dog a year ago, but he's an ass at times. The dog, that is. Neighbor is pretty decent.

 

I'll take some pics & post in the next couple of days for sure

That's pretty much the process, just extend the ladder all the way to prop up on the box, then place the ramps on top, he pops up inside, then take the ramps off and put the ladder back into human climbing position for me to get up. Then the same in reverse to get out.

That's a cool idea on the supports, maybe that could work going into the side window.

More to follow RE pics of the storage and up-close pics!

 

I have a 50-55lb catahoula which is pretty close to a heeler. She's sleek not chonk. Thought she'd be about 70lbs but she just never grew much more than when we got her when she was almostna year old. We think she might be a runt or something.