Possible roof top tent group buy

Ok guys it was too dark in the warehouse to take good photos. By the time I broke down the tent I didn't want to unfold it again outside to get good light.

To ease everyones worries, the tents are constructed really well!

Here's how they come packed:



Everything is inside the tent when you open it up. Rails, hardware, rain cover etc. The annex is in it's own box and I didn't unpack it, but it's tan like the rain fly.

Setting it up was easy since I had a friend help me. Construction and installation is just like the ARB Simpson II. Ours are constructed with better materials though, but overall they are the same.



I highly recommend attaching the rails and grey cover while the tent is off. Then all you simply have to do is mount it up. The grey storage cover has a groove that slides into on the tent side, so make sure you don't miss that. After it's securely mounted to the roof you can unfold it and check it out.



Every seam inside it taped and sealed. It's really spacious and comfortable. I moved around quite a bit and the tent seemed solid.



A few things that are off are the trim/edge banding is navy blue and it looks weird against the green and tan.



The ropes on the end to guy-out the over hang are crap. They should be tied up together but they come apart, so they won't bear any resistance.




It's not a big deal, and I'll be replacing them with some paracord. The fabric seems to be weather sealed, which is great, but your hands don't smell very good after handling the tent for a few hours. The last thing and I'll verify this when I install the annex, but it seems as though the tension poles won't allow that annex to be zipped all the way back. I'm sure these are all issues with the name brand tents as well.

But that's pretty much it, unless the annex is a big surprise these tents are great! I'll try to make a short video and walk through the tent. I think filming will be a better way to show the tent than with photos.

 

Awesome! Thank you for the pics, and the quick write up! Can't wait to pick up mine Monday night!

 

Yeah! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

I didn't realize how bad I wrote my quick review so made some edits.

Also here are some quick pointers on installing the tent.

1. When unpacking the tent have a friend help. It's definitely a 2 person job. Remove it from the packing and set it on a table. You will have to open it up a few times before it's ready to mount.

2. One side of the tent has 4 black "dots". These are caps covering the holes where the rails go. Place this side down.

3. Undo all the black straps the are holding the tent closed. There are two long ones and two short ones. Once those are free, open the tent and remove the rails, storage cover, and two bags. One bag has the hardware while the other has the tension rods for the windows.

4. With the tent open, position the tent so the side with the black caps is off the table and can be accessed from the bottom. You'll need a helper to make sure the tent doesn't fall off and to lift the mattress so you can tighten the bolts. You'll need 4 of the long skinny bolts, with washers and nylon nuts. Take the rails and slide the nuts into the grooves in the middle. There are two oval holes and that's where the bolts and nuts should line up. Hold the rails and nuts from the bottom while your helper tightens the bolts from the top.

5.Close the tent back up and grab the ladder, hinges (triangle looking things), and smaller 10mm bolts. There should be 4 more caps along the edge. Mount the hinges with the pointed end towards the inside of the tent. The rubber washers go between the hinge and the tent. Be careful not to over tighten as it will bind the tent.

6. Grab the grey cover. There is one side to the grey cover that has a navy blue strip that's about an 1" wide. The end of this will slide in a groove on the hinge side of the tent towards the bottom on the aluminum framing. Slide it all the way through carefully so you don't catch the edge of the framing with the fabric and tear it.

7. Tighten the smaller side straps and fit the cover over the tent. Connect the smaller zipper on the bottom of the tent to the cover and close it. Be very careful to tuck any fabric away from the zipper as you close it. You don't want to break this zipper so go slow.

8. Tighten down the two longer straps across the top and you should now be ready to mount the tent.

9. This step may vary from person to person depending on how you mount your tent to your vehicle. What I did is place the tent on the cross bars on my camper shell and centered it to see where it would fit. I then lifted one side of the tent, slid the mounting brackets in the rails with the bolts and did the same on the other side. From there I took the lower plates and nuts and snugged everything down.

10. After it's been mounted you are now ready to open the tent for use. Undo the straps and zipper. Fold the grey cover over and grab the ladder from the bottom. It should slide out and lock into place about a three quarters of the way out. If it doesn't, stop and twist the two black nobs on the top. They are spring loaded but can get stuck in the open position. Once the ladder is locked, pull the tent down and towards you.

11. Once the tent is open, position the ladder so the base it at your feet but you can hold it at arms length. Climb up and stop at the entrance. You will see a silver tube across the front. Pull it out and position it along the bend of the over hang. The ends of the tube will go into black hinges at the base near the opening.

12. Take the bag with the tension rods and place them around the tent. I have noticed that it's easier to insert the non curved end into the tent first, and they in the grommet on the cover. You need to do this to a total of 3 windows if you want. Or you can leave them closed.

13. Your now ready to use the tent. To break it down you basically do the same steps in reverse, but careful to tuck all loose fabric as you close and pack the tent.

There are some bungee cords in the hardware bag and I think these go inside to keep tension on the fabric as you fold it back down, but I haven't installed them yet. I also haven't installed the annex, but I think you simply zip that along the perimeter on the the large zipper.

Time wise for setup and break down I about the same of a similar sized tent. I think once I get the hang of it the time should be faster.

Notes on improving the tent.

1. Replace the rope with paracord if you are going to use them or remove them all together..

2. LED lighting in the interior. It's pretty dark up there and it should help at night when moving around or getting out.

Let me know if you guys want any specific pics or have any questions.

 

It looks similar to my CVT. On the CVT there are openings in the annex that aloud the tension rods to go through. Put the annex room on first. Then. look for the opening for the tension rods.

Good looking tent!

 

So these tents are of good quality? Looking to get some with my buddies.

 

Dang, I'm pretty stoked to get mine.

I don't have a way to mount it onto my truck yet, so I'll have to learn how to use a tube bender first.

 

Tacoma full of tents and one is yours!

 

Lucas, do they fit between the wheel wells?

 

No barley fits between the rails

 

Copy! I need to move the two I have and I wanted to check.

Thanks!

 

If you have the cleats in the rails take them out, barley got the tail gate shut. But they fit

 

Got it mounted, very happy!

 

Nice! I noticed your ladder is kind of long. You can drill two holes so it locks sooner at the correct height.

 

Sweet, looking good. The Chinese did good

 

Luke, what size OD tubing is your rack made out of? 1.5" or 1.75"?

 

.120 wall 1 1/2" tubing (All Pro) The size works great for the tent mounting hardware.

 

This! ^^^

 

Subbadubdub

 

received mine aswell. Big thanks to Luke for making this happen. no unpacking pictures, just mounted and deployed. looks awesome.

 

Johnny, your welcome, and thanks for sharing your pictures!