rooftop tent cage

[Muckrunner88]

Hey all.
Couldnt find any info on this.
I have a 2014 dual cab sr5 and recently bought a rooftop tent.
I am hoping to get a rooftop tent cage to sit on the racks.
Just wondering what peoples thoughts are. Cage or no cage?
Am i better off just mounting it to the racks?

[Lundy]

I would go cage with mounting legs to the channel over just 2 traditional racks themselves cuz with a cage you can use it for other stuff when you dont have your RTT up there (unless it is permanent). don' have any product knowloedge as ive just been looking so far. Just to clarify by cage do you beam just a flat deck rack? from what i understand you can't have any sides on the racks where you put the RTT. Some racks however have sides up the front but not down the back where you mount the RTT

[bob14hilux]

I am sure that not all roof top tents are created equally, but I am not sure it will last too long unless the floor is supported by a deck, and not just by roof racks on their own.

[sa_lux]

I was told that all these RTT need are the 2 x roof racks

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/271398931300

Have actually talk to them exactly about that !!!

[William_Foster]

I went a bit different with my set-up; I got a local welder to make me up a tray that included a nice lip to get the tent on and off with ease and mounts for my 2.5m awning off the side; it cost about $600; but I saw that as a good investment as it saves me scratching the car when I need to get the tent on and off. I looked at a number of options from the usual stores but didn't see anything I liked.

[sa_lux]

G'DAy William

I might be interested in one of them myself

Is it designed to mount onto roof racks ?

[4bee]

A few pics of some set ups would be appreciated...
sounds great.

[William_Foster]

G'DAy William

I might be interested in one of them myself

Is it designed to mount onto roof racks ?

Hopefully the photo works. Mine is on the canopy; so the tray/platform mounts to the 4 points coming out of there, but it would work on the cab as well. When I originally got the tent I had roof racks but I got rid of them and had the tray/platform made with aluminium strong enough to hold the load. I really like the bit that extends out over the rear to put the tent on; you just put one edge on the tailgate, push the other end up so the base is resting on the edge, then push it up and on (Easy for my wife and I). The other good bit is that the tent secures nice and easily with the standard bolts (ARB Simpson III) straight onto the platform; I didn’t like the original set-up where you have the two bolts and the metal clamp across them; it was darn annoying to undo them take the tent off over the roof racks; I just undo the bolts push the tent up at the edges, slide out the bolts one at a time then slide the tent off.

[jaydo]

I'm facing the same problem as well - I didn't really want to put a roof cage/basket onto the cab of my car. However, I've spoken to the guys at ARB and 4wd supacentre and they reckon that there shouldn't be any problems mounting a RTT onto just the rack/bar parts alone (no flat deck cages)

Not sure if will effect the life of the RTT but it is certainly the cheaper option, especially if you wanna load up the top of your cars rear with another cage + supplies.

[William_Foster]

I'm facing the same problem as well - I didn't really want to put a roof cage/basket onto the cab of my car. However, I've spoken to the guys at ARB and 4wd supacentre and they reckon that there shouldn't be any problems mounting a RTT onto just the rack/bar parts alone (no flat deck cages)

Not sure if will effect the life of the RTT but it is certainly the cheaper option, especially if you wanna load up the top of your cars rear with another cage + supplies.

If you get a ARB Simpson III tent there is definitely no problem in mounting the roof top tent directly to roof racks; the tent has two aluminium pieces running the length which ensure the tent doesn't sag; the bolts go into this aluminium pieces. The only problem I have is that with the design you are working on angles with the sockets to get the units secured and off again that are very close to the painted surface which doesn't leave much room for accidents (You have one bolt on each side, and end, of the roof rack with a metal piece below the rack holding the tent down). If you aren't taking your tent on and off all the time this shouldn't be an issue.

[jaydo]

Yeah, I see. Mine would only be going on or off for the odd camping trip here and there. Most of the time I just use a normal tent or swag, but when we do big trips the RTT is the way to go. What I wanted to do was mount the RTT above the cab and then have a cage on top of my ladder racks at the back for more storage. Guess I'll just have to keep thinking about my set up for a bit longer. Don't want to damage any of the paint work because I drop tools everywhere haha!

[jaydo]

Here's my progress mounting my tent to the back racks. I was going to mount it directly onto my roof racks but decided that would be a pain to take off and on all the time. So I made my own for the back of the car. Had to bend, cut and grind a few brackets that I made, but now the tent stays fixed to the flat deck rack and I just lift the whole thing off. Its really sturdy and easier to move while attached to the rack.

[Lundy]

Here's my progress mounting my tent to the back racks. I was going to mount it directly onto my roof racks but decided that would be a pain to take off and on all the time. So I made my own for the back of the car. Had to bend, cut and grind a few brackets that I made, but now the tent stays fixed to the flat deck rack and I just lift the whole thing off. Its really sturdy and easier to move while attached to the rack.

Looks good!! saw it on FB but these pics show it all better. Im hoping to put a rack on mine this weekend similar to this but extending over the cab. No sure if using a sports bar (just the upright) at the back is strong enough though..

[jaydo]

Looks good!! saw it on FB but these pics show it all better. Im hoping to put a rack on mine this weekend similar to this but extending over the cab. No sure if using a sports bar (just the upright) at the back is strong enough though..

Cheers mate. Well the ladder rack and the sports bar seem to hold it without any dramas. I have used massive trailer U-bolts to stop it from moving.... EVER. The only way any of it is coming off is if I roll the car down a hill and it flips minimum 10 times haha.

I was going to try and build something originally to extend over the cab, but i figured buying a second cage would be the way to go so I could remove the RTT with ease. I never want to have to take it off the racks again haha.