*THE RTT Owners Thread (With BS)*

The station above my house gives 24 cents on diesel. The truck holds like 38 gallons, I bring it home on fumes at least twice a week....lol

 

I like my method wheels more than SCS. But that’s just my 2 cents

 

I looked at Method and they’re a close second for me. The weight of the SCS at similar/same price is really attractive.

 

What hardware are you guys using to mount RTT through a cut out on your bed rack? Are you just using same hardware but with a shorter bolt or shorter bolt and large washer? I’m about to swap out for a taller rack and want to mount to bars running length of bed to give some additional support to tent. Hopefully this makes since.

How I have mounted now:

Where I would like to mount:

 

If you have a Tepui tent, you used to be able to buy spares directly from them with everything. Including a piece of aluminum bar that acts as an extra large washer.

Their website has kinda gone downhill, but I think this is what you would need
https://tepui.com/products/ayer-2-spare-parts?variant=32211195461697

As @Squatting Pigeon said, some fully threaded M8 bolts, nyloc nuts, and flat washers from the hardware store would probably do you just as well

 

Thanks for the replies! I have 23Zero tent and figured really anything from Ace would work but, wanted to confirm.

 

It's exactly what I did..

 

That’s perfect! Thanks for the picture. No issues moving around I assume?

 

I have 2 rack bars running the width of the truck, tent rails running the length of the truck, and just 4 bolts holding the tent down (1 at each rack and rail intersection). That's it. Never ever moved on me. Hardware is all stainless steel with nylon locking nuts. Easy and simple.

 

Just received my new mattress for the RTT. Looks & feels really good.
After reading what everyone has to say about the Exped mattress, I went shopping for one. When I went to Backcountry.com I noticed their own version of the same mattress which looked pretty good, & on sale, so I thought I'd try it. Now i just need to go camping.

Edit: Does not come with a pump. I had a rechargeable mattress pump that works great. Fills it in less than a minute.

Even cheaper on Steep & Cheep.com

 

Awaiting your report.

 

Still need some work (mostly reinforcing lumber), but this is mostly finished. I made the brackets for the handles using stainless steel.


















Still waiting for cross bars. The RTT will be moved between vehicles, and stored when not in use. I needed to be able to load/unload it myself.

For other Roofnest owners, here is a materials list, excluding the hardware to mount/reinforce the winch. That will depend entirely on your ceiling joists, and after operating the winch a few times, I see that I need to do some further reinforcement.

4 handles
4 large eye bolts EDIT: Changed to rock climbing slings
Water weenie (or foam insulation)
12 large locking D-rings (carabiners). I upgraded these to rock-climbing locking carabiners for ease of use
8 camstraps, each 12 feet long. One could use ratchet straps here. I tried both. Camstraps are much easier to tweek later when leveling
9 nylon shackles. I bought mine at HD for 98 cents each EDIT: Use rock climbing slings - about $4 each new, but the HD nylon shackles are already showing friction/heat deterioration after only one week.
1 turnbuckle - this would be best if it swiveled 360 degrees about the y-axis of the winch. I could not find one like that (see photo above)
12 feet of stainless steel flatbar. Your Roofnest comes with hardware for attaching the ladder to the extruded aluminum rails. The flatbar on the Roofnest Hardware is the appropriate dimension, but not readily available at every big-box hardware store. I needed to source my stainless steel from a local fabricator
8 stainless steel Grade 8 bolts, washers, and locking washers. I am a metric guy. I used 8mm x 1.25
Blue Loctite
Tap and Die set with appropriate drill bit, tap, and handle
Set of calipers is helpful, otherwise a precise means of measuring
Set of punches - seriously, get some
Set of drill bits - type depends on the metal one uses
Drill. My cheap Ryobi cordless drill worked as well as my cheap Ryobi drill press.
Deburring bit
Some means of cutting metal - I just used a metal cutting wheel
Benchtop grinder and vice are very helpful
Zip ties and Duct tape - always have zip ties and duct tape
Friends and libations if ya got 'em

Pro tips:
I wish I would have just invested more in aluminum rather than SS. In the end, SS is so hard to work with I wasted a lot of time and money learning how to work with this very difficult metal. There is a process called work hardening when working with SS. Essentially, the hotter it gets, the more hard the metal becomes. If it gets too hot, which is very easy to do, the metal will harden to the point that it becomes almost impossible to work with. Aluminum dirt bike grab handles cost about $20 where the SS cost $5. Aluminum flatbar and fasteners are more expensive. However, learning how to work with SS cost me about 5 good drill bits, deburring bit, and more than a couple trips to the hardware store. In the end, I learned a lot about SS. But if you decide to use SS, take the time to do the research before drilling/cutting/tapping. The best cooling agent I found for SS was just plain old water, and lots of patience. Once I got the system all finished, the tension on the camstraps to the eyebolts is not that taught. I say this because in the end, aluminum would have been fine and much easier to work with.

When drilling the SS, I started with a pilot hole and worked my way up. As the diameter increased, so did the difficulty and risk of work hardening. Maybe someone else can chime in on how to work with SS properly. But even after a lot of research, expanding that last hole was always a pucker moment because the last hole was the one that work hardened the easiest. I used 8mm because those are what the manufacture used in their hardware. In hindsight, I could have gone with 6 mm bolts instead of 8mm bolts and the job would have been easier, and still provided the support. I would still want to use a coarser pitch thread (1.25 or 1.5).

If you have watched Youtube videos of guys testing their winch systems, many of them use their own weight to test the strength. You can't outrun gravity. I thought it not best to put my body below 50 pounds of steel dubiously supported by my recent DIY project. I wish my cord to the controller for the winch was at least 5 feet longer so I could get as far away from hundreds of pounds of metal supported by my ingenuity alone.

There is a proper way to thread camstraps. LOL! I have been using camstraps for years, but if threaded properly (following directions real men never read), they are very adjustable. Once the full weight of the RTT was hanging on camstraps, it was very easy to tweek the height. This was almost impossible with ratchet straps to get that final fine tuning.

EDIT: I took the whole thing down and rethunk it. Now it looks like this:



Hoist is now perpendicular to the chords, not parallel. Replaced locking D-rings with locking climbing carabiners, removed eye bolts, using climbing slings instead. Still need to replace the HD shackles with more climbing slings. I still need to add a backup safety system in case the lag bolts fail, and I am considering a backup to the camstraps that support the weight while in storage.

 

I ordered one from here for $169 +tax, shipped.

https://www.steepandcheap.com/stoic...8D3YrrXhxveFZYWY-qXt8-A-LSQ6HoRMaAsJCEALw_wcB

 

Oh, HELL no! lol

 

@HickOnACrick, what sort of winch/hoist are you using?

 

Got it at Harbor Freight...about 1200 lb capacity if my memory serves. It's a Pittsburgh brand.