*THE RTT Owners Thread (With BS)*

did you use the 4inch rise cross bar? Do i need to weld anything onto the bar to mount the tent or dose it bolt on with a U-bolt?

 

Not u bolts, but the tent will come with mounting hardware.

 

so i dont need any kind of tab to mount this tent? It'll just bold onto my bar?

 

Just need running bars

 

What is everyone doing for those really hot nights, it was pretty hot here this evening and even with all the windows open the tent was unbearable, and good rechargeable fans available, any other suggestions?

 

Keep the tent as open as possible. Also, be sure to point one end into the breeze. Preferably, the secured end.

 

There is no breeze :-( I have a bigger issue right now, just climbed in the tent for the night and one of my ladder rungs collapsed on one side, I have to wedge something in under the lock to keep it from letting go, I hope tepui will do something about it, I've only used the tent 4 times

 

After personal experience i wouldn't trust any rack that mounts only to the rails and the bed sides. Needs to come from the bed bolts. Just my experience and I know a lot of racks mount to the bed/rail but is really easy for the bedcap to crush.

 

I'm glad you mentioned this. I saw anthony's rack crush the top rail while we were in moab. it wasn't a weight issue but a bed flex issue. this makes me wonder if having 2 separate bars instead of a bed rack will allow the tent to twist a little when the bed flexes and prevent crushing the bed rails.

 

The bigger concern to me is not spreading the weight out over the entire bed length. Individual focus points apply more pressure to the bed cap then a rack that uses angle iron running the full length of the bed. Regardless you are putting weight on a rack that will most likely sway side to side off road. It can lead to crushing the cap or cracking the tailgate bed mounts. Both happened to me. That's why I now am working with LROR on a rack mounted to the bed bolts.

 

Hopefully your working on a 1st gen also, dont forget about us Gramps!

 

The design of this rack will in fact eventually have application for numerous other models. Right now we are getting it refined and ready to produce.

 

Awesome add me to the mental preorder list/test market free bedrack group

 

x2

I'm seeing a lot of people getting RTTs now and using bed racks that only sit on the bedsides. I'm curious to see how these will hold up over time.

I personally went with a BAMF bed rack that connects to the bed bolts

 

In most regards, it's no different than having a shell. I do think removing the tailgate in either case wouldn't be a good idea long term (to use a bed mounted tire rack for example).

I sometimes think a couple of bed bolt hoops would give me better peace of mind though.

 

That does make sense when you talk about a rack the uses angle iron on the bed cap the entire length of the bed. Like a shell it is spreading the weight out over the entire span. Some rack designs like pictured earlier focus all the weight of the rack on just the leg points which I have seen fail.

I guess too it depends on how far off road you take your RTT. I personally get onto some challenging trails and the RTT moves side to side quite a bit.

 

no problems here.

 

Glad you had a good time and got your tent in time. My brother has my truck right now, so you may see it running around the Atlanta area. I am still waiting on my mat and awning.

 

Tested out my RTT for the first time this weekend. Worked great

 

Good info.

I'm in the planning stages of deciding what I want to do. I have my tent on my roof rack but I want it over the bed for rock therapy next year. I have a thule rack setup I built to fit over the bed for a cargo box, and have been thinking of giving that a shot for the tent. My main concern with this is that the thule feet are plastic so the strength is questionable for off road.

My mounting idea is 2.5"x2.5"x1/8" angle iron running the length of the bed rails, bolted to the track system and sitting on the bed caps.

I've also thought of how to build a bed rack that can attach/detach quickly and be light weight. I was thinking about tabs welded to the angle iron and then bushings on the end of the rack, so I'd just need to remove 4 bolts and lift the bed rack off from the angle iron base.
I imagine I could also tie some supports to the bed bolts from the angle iron if needed.