*THE RTT Owners Thread (With BS)*

This guy and his buddy’s rtt setups were my inspirations for setting up the tent to open out the back. It can be done with bigger tents than mine and doesn’t necessarily need to be mounted as far back toward the tailgate like I did with mine. However, you’d need to consider what else you’d be mounting/hauling behind the tailgate and how high it would be; higher is better when mounting the rtt to open out the back so that you can have better access to the bed from the tailgate and have better space for using the rtt as a type of awning/shelter when deployed. If you mount it on a camper shell type setup, then that should be good and may look more aesthetically pleasing than my setup, even if it’s mounted further back on the cab. Just take precaution to see that the cab can handle the weight distribution in that way, both static and dynamic (hard braking, acceleration, cornering, twisting when going off road).

I did mine that far back so that I could still open the cab side panel of the Diamondback HD cover. It just happened to work out that the bedrack setup on top of the added height of the DB cover, the Yakima bike rack system, the size of the Tepui Ayer II, the size of the mtb, and the Tacoma’s tailgate system allow for me to get them all working together in a fairly tight operational system. I thank the Holy Spirit for guiding me in this little build. It ain’t a Noah’s Arc, but it’s a BattlecryTaco arc... the cheese is oozing and stretchy on this one.

Edit: Note: Consider your height as a person and potentially needing to haul around a small step ladder or stepping stool. Having the rtt mounted further back and as high as it is on the bed on my setup(mid height for most rack systems of like kind) along with my height of 5’7”, I don’t have to climb up and down as much as the guy in the video does. I can zip and unzip the rtt cover from the ground all the way around. The main time(s) I’d need to get on the bed cover is when I gotta unbuckle the ladder strap to deploy the ladder that’s bolted on the Ayer 2 or when putting that thing away and buckling it back down. (I also deal with removing/applying the rtt cover at that time.) Sometimes, I’ll go up again to put on the poles for the awning for that side of the tent, but I could do those while on a step ladder or just not put up the awning on that side. However, I prefer to put it up in case the ladder side entry is not good for egress and I/we can use that opposite side as a secondary egress/ingress.

Good luck and may God bless you and your build.

Sincerely,
Guy from page 1000


Bonus footage from that same YouTuber guy:



It’s cool that they’re both Tacoma owners.

 

Awesome info. Thanks for sharing. That pretty much convinces me I am going to try mounting that way. My RTT is scheduled to arrive next week--but who knows with what's going on right now. I need to see about the mounting setup to see how much it takes to mount with it opening to the rear. I really liked that he talked about only taking 1 space--not needing 2 spaces and the level ground aspect of that. Plus, I plan to do mainly remote stuff instead of campground so that means I don't have to be as worried about finding a place that doesn't have trees next to the parking area. Let's see some pics when you get yours done. Stay safe and enjoy social distancing!

 

Hmm what is everyone's thoughts? Tent is coming soon. I decided not to get it

https://youtu.be/aBttpzoFqDY

 

Dibs on your current one

 

My thoughts are it's pricey. If you have infinite money to throw away, it's probably super nice and a great option, but I certainly wouldn't go for that one if I was on a budget.

 

Its $3k. Definitely not a budget tent.

I still like my automatic opening one. Just trying to keep things for more than a year

 

Psh you have one already

 

Need one for the Prius

 

Thule officially taken over tepui rebranded all gear with there name, sales were the left over inventory with tepui name

 

Im running the iKamper skycamp. It’s about a one minute setup and 2 minute breakdown.

 

Ive got the hardshell version of this. 1 min up/down. And no climbing around. Just the click of a button. The cover on this takes a couple more min.

https://gofsr.com/collections/clearance/products/adventure-automatic-49-soft-top

Im kinda near you, so if/when we can, you can check mine out if Im nearby.

 

@TaKoToy has a CVT tent for sale

 

Finally ordered a cap and a Prinsu to go along with it to match the rack on the cab of my truck. Plan to mount the tent on the cap and Prinsu. Are the mounting feet that Prinsu sells necessary? I didn't realize those existed until after I ordered the new rack. My plan was to put a carriage bolt up from the cross bars and through the tent, cut them close and put an acorn nut on from inside the tent? Not crazy about the mounting feet raising the tent even higher.

 

@disconnected

 

is it listed somewhere?

thanks

 

I dont see it in a quick search. Ill text him

 

For those with larger dogs who keep them in the truck when they are in the RTT, what do you do to make sure they have ventiliation in the Cab?

I was thinking about getting some of those window screens to pull over the back windows, but I was worried about it raining at night and dripping in to the truck.

Thanks!

 

i like that idea. Before going Prinsu style I experimented with building my own rack system because I wanted it lower as well. I would encourage you to do a lot of experimentation and mock ups. Most shells have an arc to them at the center so when you lay a cross bar right onto the tracks it will hit the top of the shell or damn close that in a jostling off road situation it might flex and hit the roof causing damage. You might need some sort of spacer to make it work.
the other thing you want to consider is the more cross bars you have the more weight distribution there is causing less stress on two cross bars and less stress on the shell and less stress on the tracks themselves. You definitely don’t want to pop the track off the shell. That happened to me on my last rig, not RTT related though. hope this makes sense.

 

@Arcticelf has a custom way to mount his tent. Its not on a shell though

 

my dog sleeps in the bed of the truck in the shell. He hates it lol. I put his bed down, crack a window and out a couple of blankets on him. He’s fine he’s just used to sleeping in the wife/my room. The entire family goes up top and he hears us but he deals.