*THE RTT Owners Thread (With BS)*

I have a tall rack. I will say that tippy spots can be unnerving. When I hit a stiff breeze my truck turns into a reverse sailboat. I don't have the balls to add up the amount I spent in gas from last week's road trip. It can be tough having to climb all over the truck to open/close everything.

I do like the height above the ground. I also like the room I have in the bed. I'm strong enough* that carrying my dog up is easy.



*You got me. She's just small and light.

 

Anyone hear rocking the victory 4x4 rack!? Just ordered mine and will be picking up a CVT tomorrow pics would be rad!

 

The RTT mounting brackets we put on our racks is what I use.

 

Leitner Designs ACS

 

I have a pair of these lights mounted to the rear of my bed rack. For the price, they are a great addition to my vehicle. I think these would work great on the roof rack.

 

hell of a concept

 

True. I should probably stop complicating things. I'll just grab some flat stock and blast some brackets on.

 

I use the mid-height CBI rack. Nobody made that height a while back, so I built my own for my 2nd gen, but bought the CBI for the 3rd gen since it was basically the same height that I built. It creates a nice arc for air going over the cab and tent on the highway, virtually no change to MPG even though the tent sticks up over the cab a bit. Not too tippy, and I usually have twice the weight of the tent in camping gear loaded in the bed when doing tippy things anyway. Rear visibility is unaffected, bottom of the tent sits right at the top of the rear window. You can still access stuff in the bed relatively easily. You can mount things on the side (jack, shovel, axe, or rotopax). If you are 5'10" or taller (add more inches if you have a lift, do your own conversion if you are Canadian), you can do most of the setup without climbing all over the truck.

For the bad, you still have to climb around on the truck a little to get things set up and torn down. Depending on how you mount the tent, the cab may block one of the window rods, but I attach a bungie to the roof rack as a substitute and it works fine. If you have an annex, the shorter height makes the annex room smaller. When not camping, limits the height of things you can carry in the bed.

I'm sure there's more, but cost comes into play. Bed bars are a cheaper way to get started.

 

Thanks for sharing! I got a good deal on some mid height bed bars locally. I figure I'll start there and if I want to upgrade to a rack down the road I won't be out to much cheddar.

 

Just thought is share my most recent experience since we don't live too far from one another and drive the same roads. I don't think you'll take that big of a hit on MPGs with it up high but there will be some. Note - I only have experience with this setup.

I'm running a Tepui Autana 3 on a Prinsu rack up top of a camper shell. We just went to Utah a couple of weeks ago and from Superior to De Beque I recorded 16.5 MPG(didn't pay much attention after that as I was having too much fun ) which is just a little better than what I get around town without the RTT up top and without all of my gear. Highway trips without the RTT up top or camping gear I usually get around 17-17.5 going out through i70.

 

...This reroute - it turned out - had a few highlights in store for us. With plenty of recent rain and snow melt, there were some reasonably sized puddles on the road - a temptation that few truck owners would be able to pass up.

And I'm not one of them.

Read the full story and see all the pics: Hells Canyon Part 2 - Zumwalt Prairie to Hat Point

Hells Canyon Part 2 - Zumwalt Prairie to Hat Point

see the whole trip report: [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4]​

 

Mid-height is the way to go IMO unless you really want to pile on the sides. Maxtrax only fit on the side the tent doesn't open towards (unless you have a bracket to lower them an inch or two) and I'm guessing Rotopax aren't going to fit either.

I took no MPG hit with my RCI rack and the height is still good for accessing cargo up near the cab.

 

I prefer low profile bed racks with the RTT mounted flush with the cab myself, not just for looks but also for keeping the center of gravity low.

One big downside to this though is the bed space you lose with a low profile rack, I can make it work but I don't need my truck bed for anything all that big most of the time. If I do (like picking up something big from Home Depot or the furniture store) then I end up putting the merchandise on top of the tent and getting creative with ratchet straps lol. Have a roof rack helps a lot for that.

 

That's what I'm going with. I picked up a set of Tacoma_Pocalypse mid height bed bars off CL this morning. I should still be able to add some Maxtrax and 2 x 2 or 3 gallon Rotopax once i get the longer gear panels put on. I'm going to sand the bars down a little and add a layer of semi-gloss paint. Any recommendations as far as which can of spray paint to go with? The previous owner sprayed bed liner on them and it's held up pretty good.

 

$7 Rust-Oleum 7798830 Stops Rust Spray Paint, 12 oz, Semi-Gloss Black

https://www.amazon.com/Rust-Oleum-7798830-Stops-Spray-12-Ounce/dp/B0009X8LPE

It's not as tough as the spray-on bed liner stuff, but mine's been on my sliders for a year and it still looks great. No noticeable fading, and cleans off easily.

 

This is perfect! Thanks @iK0NiK!

 

More important would be the prep work -- knock that rust off and scuff all over with a Scotchbrite pad, then wipe down with mineral spirits or acetone. Don't underestimate how many cans it will take -- I'd get at least 3 cans if not 4. Spraying tubes tends to waste a bit of paint due to the spray pattern (a lot of paint just goes into the air) and having to go around them.

 

Installed my BAMF Expo Bed Bars the other day with my Skyrise. I won't be able to test the new setup until next week though unfortunately.

 

Decided to lower the RTT, it was previously on the top of my topper.