Roof Top Tents & Bed Racks

Since there appears to be a little bit of interest about roof top tents by forum members, I wanted to update this thread and moving over posts from other forum threads where this topic has come up.

This thread was originally started on the old H4O site by TXH3T but was lost when the site was shut down and I'm not sure that TXH3T saved a copy but I had saved his original pics and wanted to post them here on the new site. I have seen his set-up in person and think that it's one of the best and coolest roof-top, or in this case, bed-rack tent set-ups I have ever seen. In fact, I'm going to try to replicate this set-up for my 3T. Cotilo really loved the tent off-the-ground set-up and said that she'd go camping with me if we had one like it.

Fellow H4O member and my friend TXH3T is really into overland trips, camping and wheeling and he recentley picked up this great-looking, very well-built bed rack for next to nothing. The rack also has a shovel and hi lift mount. Ater putting the rack on his 3T, he mounted this roof-top tent that has a queen-size matress built into it. The tent sets up in just a few short minutes. Hopefully TXH3T will add more details later. The following pics were taken by TXH3T and I will add the ones I took later.






Here are pics of the tent mounted on the rack and the deployed tent







The newly-acquired M101 that I bought off TXH3T is hiding in this picture

a nice and simple set up. I saw the pics on Expedition Portal. I was thinking of doing the same to my truck -- the h1 interior width is 6' 5" so I made a bunk to sleep sideways. Time to make it more fun and comfy.

Here are the pics I took of TXH3T's set-up






...and finally, here is a pic of the M101 trailer hitched to the Unit & ready to make its way to its new home. The trailer is in incredible condition...Thank you Chris!

This off topic, but did TXH3T sell his truck? Also that bed rack is sweet!

Thanks BW.

No, TXH3T decided not to sell his T. I did manage to give his bed rack and roof-top tent a temporary home though! :wink: He knows that if he ever wants them back, I will have them waiting for him here in Tucson.

Glad he is sticking with the family. He definetaly had one cool T :thumbs:

I had not heard that. Glad he kept his T.

Bigunit said:

Thanks BW.

No, TXH3T decided not to sell his T. I did manage to give his bed rack and roof-top tent a temporary home though! :wink: He knows that if he ever wants them back, I will have them waiting for him here in Tucson.

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Which tent did he have and what is your evaluation of it? I'm looking, but still uncommitted.

Yes, after the end of the spring semester he had decided that he would need to sell the T (and all the Ts mods separately) but the time he got here some circumstances had changed and he realized that he didn't need to sell T after-all and I was able to convince him not to part-out & sell the mods. I was partially succesful, in that he drove home with the Defender roof rack, off road lights, UCP, trailer, camping gear, RAM mount and my OEM line-x'ed brushguard (that was acually TXH3T's to begin with). I gave him my brushguard because he needed a place to mount his off-raod lights and after he insisted on selling me and we removed his ARB bumper and winch. So now I have his ARB bumper & winch in my RV garage with the understanding that he can have them back when he returns to Arizona in August if he decides he can't live without them. Chris is a great kid & a good friend!

Very cool.

Paladine71 said:

Which tent did he have and what is your evaluation of it? I'm looking, but still uncommitted.

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It is the same tent that's in this video - made by Howling Moon. The quality is oustanding and very durable. Haven't gone camping in it yet (plan to do so before July 4th) but have deployed it to mount onto the bed rack & check it out - very impressive construction. It has a queen-sized mattress in it. I would recommend this one if you're going to get one. Better quality than most out there IMO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry8_UjNZd3s

http://www.howlingmoon.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=75

http://www.sierraexpeditions.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=530

http://www.hummer4x4offroad.com/forum/showthread.php?260-TXH3T-s-Truck-Bed-Rack-amp-Tent

I just purchased one of those tents, only I got the one that's the size of a king size bed. I can't wait till it gets here. I got the star gazer one. Good to hear that they're one of the best. I looked around for a while. I was thinking of getting one from CVT, but there was a distributor of the Howling Moon near me, A.O.E. American Off-road Expeditions.
:beer:

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Wow, Im gonna have to get me one of those!

A couple months ago, I met TXH3T in Phoenix and bought his roof top tent and bed rack. Here are more pics of the bed rack:










I'm going to adapt the rack to add a tire mount for my spare that will lay flat, at top of bed height in the center. That way, I would still have the whole bed for storage and the spare would be up & out of the way (like on a shelf).

Sits like it was born there. Looks great! :thumbs:

Thats pretty sweet!!

Paladine, are you planning on mounting a RTT to the Gobi? Im curious simply because that has crossed my mind before.

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How easy is to to setup the tent / put it in for travel?

cgalpha08 said:

Thats pretty sweet!!

Paladine, are you planning on mounting a RTT to the Gobi? Im curious simply because that has crossed my mind before.

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Yes, been thinking about that for about a year now. I've measured the space between my spare tire mount and my front rack lights, and an ARB Simpson III would be really tight, but might fit. I haven't measured for a Howling Moon or other types yet. I'm still wrestling with the price. $1,500 to $2,500 for a tent takes some justification. It's the way that I want to go, but I still need to explain it to myself convincingly.

Paladine71 said:

Yes, been thinking about that for about a year now. I've measured the space between my spare tire mount and my front rack lights, and an ARB Simpson III would be really tight, but might fit. I haven't measured for a Howling Moon or other types yet. I'm still wrestling with the price. $1,500 to $2,500 for a tent takes some justification. It's the way that I want to go, but I still need to explain it to myself convincingly.

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Awesome! What would your concerns about the weight be? The overall weight of the spare, gobi, and RTT would put a lot of stress on the roof. Another thought that crossed my kind would be the mod the gobi so as to essentially remove the side walls so the tent would sit lower but then if you ever wanted to use the rack for something else, you would have some trouble.

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Paladine71 said:

Yes, been thinking about that for about a year now. I've measured the space between my spare tire mount and my front rack lights, and an ARB Simpson III would be really tight, but might fit. I haven't measured for a Howling Moon or other types yet. I'm still wrestling with the price. $1,500 to $2,500 for a tent takes some justification. It's the way that I want to go, but I still need to explain it to myself convincingly.

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I have been looking at RTTs for awhile now. I was able to see Howling moon, Ezi Awn, TJM, ARB and Tepui tents in person last year. The Howling moon stuff impressed me the most, they were well designed and built only downside was the price tag.
I have been looking at some of the less expensive brands since i would not use one enough to justify an expensive one. At the moment I;m leaning towards the Tepui Kukenam due to it being a decent price for its size and quality.

Here are some resources to look into:
Tepui tents :link:
Camping lab :link: (last i heard they were out of stock)
CVT :link:
Howling Moon :link: through bundu gear Great guy to deal with he will answer any questions you have.
Ezi Awn :link:

That is all the brands i can think of at the moment.

Thanks for the links!

Good info. For the price I think I will be setting up my tent on the ground.

Or just camp out at your Brothers possible campground?

That brings up an excellent point... What is the weight limit for the H3's roof? I've seen videos of these rigs rolled over without the roof collapsing.

250 lbs per the owners manual

Notice: Loading cargo on the luggage carrierthat weighs more than 250 lbs. (113 kg) or
hangs over the rear or sides of the vehicle may
damage your vehicle. Load cargo only on
top of the crossrails and tie the cargo down to
the crossrail support cargo tie-down loops,
making sure to fasten it securely

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