CVT/Cascadia Tents Group Buy Event -2014

Here is my bed rack fabbed from 2 inch 16ga square steel tubing mounted on top of the bed rails (with the plastic bed rail top removed). It was built to still allow my Lo Pro tonneau cover to still be used.

 

This shot gives you a better idea of the mounting .... (along with my new-ish bedside decal)

 

Ahhh your the one with that decal lol

 

Yes it will support the tent as this is what is was made for.
Both systems have a clip that goes against the cab and when pressed down they hold the system in place so there is no drilling through the top of the cab.

 

So if no one has a pick no worries I will be at the showroom in two weeks but;

Can someone take a pic of the opening of the annex that is on the truck side? Is it like a full size door or more of an opening...? Does it zip from the bottom up, or the top down?

Sorry if that doesn't make sense.

 

Bobby, will the annex on a Bachelor for this group buy be fully enclosed? Or is it still what someone else mentioned, a 3-sided without a floor? And if 3-sided, can you put in the fully enclosed annex as an option for the group buy?

Thanks!

-Eric

 

Here you go, from the first post.

 

I have some pictures on my computer at home that can explain it for you... I'll get them on tonight if someone doesn't get some before I do

 

It zips from the bottom up in a big arc and back down to the floor so the whole wall practically opens. there are 2 zippers so you can have two up in the middle

 

OK, so I'm still somewhat disturbed to learn that the factory roof rack on a Tacoma can't bear the weight of a RTT, let alone the occupants of said tent. I called Toyota to see if I could get a clarification or at least register a complaint that what's marketed as a rugged, off-road vehicle has such a wimpy roof rack. I got a customer service rep who politely listened to my question, told me that she'd check and put me on hold for 10 minutes to come back and explain to me that if I look inside the door jam I'll find the payload rating of the truck. When I explained to her that I wasn't interested in the total payload rating and only the rating of the roof racks, she put me on hold again. When she came back, she said that she couldn't find anything in her literature or materials so she was going to transfer me to the local dealership's service department. I spoke to a nice enough guy there and he was basically surprised to hear that the payload rating of the rack is only 75 pounds but when I asked him if I dared set up a tent on it and climb inside, he basically said that he wouldn't do it but he clearly had no clue what the rating of the roof rack was (actually, he initially said, "there's only one way to find out", but I didn't care for that advice since my warranty probably wouldn't cover me putting multiple times the rated payload on the roof rack system).

Geez, it seems odd to me that the rating would be so miserably light but it seems even more strange that nobody at Toyota can even answer questions regarding the factory roof rack. Why would a rack system on a fiberglass cap be able to support more weight than the factory roof rack on the cab of an off-road truck? I just don't get it.

 

Ok, basically like a standard tent door then. I was only wondering since at some point I will put the tent on a canopy with windoors and would want easy access without opening a spot where my dog would run out under the truck. Would be nice to leave top part open and let the windoor open into annex so gear can be kept out of tent and out of elements.

sander1036
would still like to see a pic when you get home if you don't mind.

 

Sell your truck then

 

I don't know if you think you're being funny or not. Why would I sell my truck because I have a justifiable complaint about a weeny factory roof rack that Toyota installed? Otherwise I think it's a nice truck and I hope that I enjoy it half as much as my previous 4-Runner. Do you think it's unreasonable for any Toyota owner to complain about anything that they perceive as being wrong with their vehicle? Are you OK with the factory roof rack being rated to hold only 75 pounds?

I already acknowledged that I didn't do my due diligence before ordering the rack and explained that I did it at the last minute and on a whim so I take full responsibility for that. That being said, I've been a big supporter of Toyota vehicles in general and I think this is a gigantic fail for them.

 

I do think it is shitty and I feel bad you spent your money on it. I just ran accross your thread asking about the OEM rack. Wish I would have seen that so I coulda stopped you. I was going to buy an OEM one because it looks cleaner than a Yakima set up but got turned off after some research. Lots of guys want the OEM rack and I bet if you post in the Buy sell trade area you could get maybe 80% if sold local. Give it a shot ya never know.

 

I think I might leave it and use it for my kayaks but put a Yakima rack on my cap for the RTT. How is the OEM rack mounted, does anyone know? Is it simply a matter of unscrewing and removing it or are holes drilled in the cab to install it? Obviously if that's the case, I'll leave it alone.

 

Nope not trying to be funny. It doesn't bother me to know it'd only rated at 75 lbs. After seeing them in person its pretty obvious they are made to hold kayaks or 2 bikes. Not really made for much more than that. Thats why I did not purchase them.

Yes you should have done more research before just buying something but im sure you were excited (much like I get about something as bad ass as a rtt). Now is mounting it to the roof of your cab the only place you would like to put it? Over the bed a option? I think you said a couple pages back about a camper shell to mount it to. Homer taco has his mounted to a camper shell. Search his build. If you are dead set on over the im sure there are ways to do it ip there to. If you want help searching and problem solving im here to help ya out. But there is no reason to come into cvt thread to piss and moan about Toyota's mess up. Good luck in your search and im sure you will be happy with your truck and tent for years to come.

 

Calm down man. I can pretty much guarantee that the rating isn't 75lbs for the OEM rack. They are a bunch of morons at the dealership. 200lbs dynamic and 500lb static is much more realistic. I have had 2 adults and the RTT on the OEM rack and that thing didn't even budge.

Bobby installed the RTT on my OEM rack and I'm sure if he saw anything wrong he would have said something. I really have to find the literature where it said 200lb was the rating, not 75lb.

 

That would work perfect and look bad ass heading into the woods. Thats what I would do.

 

Thanks, I've been hoping that someone who's actually mounted there's on the factory rack would come along. That said, perhaps they've changed the literature or had some failures that they ended up paying for because I have an accessories catalog and also saw the 75 pound figure on their website.

 

I simply hope that my "pissing and moaning" may encourage some other folks to spend their money on more appropriate racks or to do a bit more research than I did when they see my post and others like it. My intent wasn't to hijack this thread but I think the OEM roof rack is certainly relevant since I'm surely not the only one that's considering using it.