*THE RTT Owners Thread (With BS)*

Tacomagal I have the UpTop Overland low rack (6”) on my 21 Tacoma and I have ZERO use of my rear view mirror now only side mirrors. Hope this helps!

 

6” rack will sit just below the cab on 21 Tacoma

 

Nice. I recently went fly fishing couple of weeks ago for the first time and I am hooked. No pun intended. Eyeing this setup for a beginner.

$273 5 wt. 9'0" 4 pc. NXT Black Label Kit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZJQHDZJ?smid=A1YRA3K6IOXX6E&th=1

 

I simply repurposed my rearview mirror to be able to longingly stare into my dog's eyes at stoplights

 

Got to do an overnightlander mission to Mammoth Mountain Resort Monday night to go snowboarding on Tuesday. God blessed in finding a nice spot to camp at 1am in the morning.

 

You def lose all rear view functionality. I did a couple things that helped but neither were simply to fix that issue.

1. I ended up with a high rack (17in vs the original 7in I had) because I wanted a 270 awning and to be able to stand under it.
2. I added a front anytime camera, so now if I have a bed load of stuff, I flip the switch to the rear camera and call it a day.

 

Have you ever had a soft top tent to compare your hard top with?

I originally bought my soft top because I was going to take it off when I wasnt using it but between having to run a high rack, a taller roof rack and adding a slightly taller lift kit my truck no longer fits in my garage so I can't take the whole thing off like I had planned and don't like the idea of the cover getting less and less waterproof as it ages, not being able to seal the water out well, etc.

 

From 2018-2021, I ran it with the Tepui Ayer II soft top rtt. I think that was about 13-14” tall; so, I had to use the shorter Front Runner Outfitter legs for their Slimline bed rack to clear our apartment garage gate. This Roofnest Condor Overland hard shell rtt (similar in size/design to the Ikamper Sky Camp mini) is 10” tall (several hard shell rtt’s are shorter) and allows me to run the taller legs for the bed rack. That allows me to have better visibility out back via the center sliding rear window from the rear view mirror.

A comparison below on their height differences in relation to the FRO LoPro roof rack. (I believe those setups are both using the tall legs for the bedrack.)


Note: The Ayer II’s cover got dirty, but never lost its ability to protect the rtt from the elements. I had it on 24/7 since I couldn’t store it in the apartment garage. It saw a lot of the scorching sun in the San Fernando Valley heat here in SoCal. The only damage was from user error when I tied down the snowboard on one side of the bedrack next to the rtt and went off-roading with it like that. The snowboard dug in a couple small holes through the cover.

 

Damn. I didn’t even think about that. I may be able to air down and fit it in with a hard top. Interesting thought, thank you.

 

My tent still hasn't arrived, pushing my install date out to probably Tuesday.

Thinking about speeding up the process and installing the Billie Bars myself this long weekend. I'm not finding a whole lot of information on how far apart I can space them for the Ikamper Mini. Like how far away from the cab can the front bar be and then I'd like to install the back bar as far forward as I can to be able to open at least the back section of my tonneau.

 

I'm assuming you mean being able to open the tonneau with the tent off? With it on, you'd just be able to lift it a bit. If it's a tri-fold, you are probably fine installing the rear bar forward enough to open that section. Then install the front bar 14" to 18" from the cab.

 

Just have to loosen 4 bolts to move a bar. Bring a 9/16" socket/wrench. I put mine something like a foot in from each edge where I wanted the tent to be and it was fine. Tell them to move the bar fore or aft if it's not to their specs/liking.

I can raise my diamondback cover about an inch or two with the (lower) billie bars on, so you may not get much (unless you got the taller bars.)

 

The uprights are not completely bolted in, figured I'd let them do that with the tent install. The front is about 10" away from the cab and to the back it's 36" on center, hoping that works out. I can lift the back section of the tonneau far enough, I'm sure it will be reduced even more once the tent is installed. Only jacked up one section of the weather stripping on the MX4

Edit to add keywords. Billiebars

 

Can those trifold tonneau covers be installed in reverse such that they open up from the cab side toward the tailgate? If so, then I wonder if the crossbars can be positioned further back on the bed so that the cover allows for access into the front area of the bed and opening the tailgate can give access to the rear area of the bed. From my experience with a different tonneau cover, positioning the crossbars with rtt further back can also allow for an rtt window awning rods to clear the rear roofline of the cab. That would be with a smaller kind of rtt, like the SkyCamp Mini and its clones or the smaller 2-3person soft top tents.

 

Has anyone ever ordered a tent right from the factory? (In China). Really debating on it.

 

Yeah it would've been nice if they updated everyone like GFC. Don't know why the delay. @P8trit Even the Talon Sei who helped design the tent said end of May when I talked to him at Overland expo west. Glad I don't have a camping trip anytime soon or else I'd be piss too.

 

What are some recommended off road trailer companies to consider? I think ultimately my growing family is going to need a trailer. Either that or switch to a Tundra which honestly I don't want to do for a number of reasons. Getting a trailer would let me take the drawers out of my truck and use my truck as a truck again, give us more space and the ability to keep things stored and packed ready to go. Plus I can get back into a RTT after outgrowing our hardshell and move to one of the larger softshells.

Companies like Turtleback and Patriot Campers are way too expensive. I'm looking at options where starting price is around $10k. I'm seeing Ruger Trailers, To-Extreme, Taxa, Sunnyside, and Sparks Overland. We would want something more simple, so no built in sinks or water heaters or anything like that.

I know a lot guys built out an M416 but I don't have nearly enough time to do a build like that justice for the foreseeable future.

 

In the same boat as you and been eyeing a Nomad from…

https://symoverland.com/trailer-models

https://instagram.com/sym.trailers?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Taxa is down the street from me and albeit they are nice, I keep reading about axle and paint issues. And the damn price is up there.

 

Opened it up after winter storage to gear up for camp season. Other then smelling like a camp fire, it seemed to be very clean. This will be year 3 of running the CVT...





Also got the platform installed in the Odyssey.

 

Thank you. The Nomad is similar to the others I am looking at too so I will add that to my list.