I want to start camping again. (The unintentional build)

Just finished mounting the Thule EVO 60” roof rack and wind fairing. Pics to come but now I need to mount the Roam boxes on top. Need to run to Lowes for washers. Anyhow, I am really impressed with the quality of this roof rack. Thule really put some thought into these and the instructions were excellent.

https://www.etrailer.com/multi-prod...5152&HHYear=2017&HHMake=Toyota&HHModel=Tundra

 

I would have considered something like that eventually, except on the tent. Good way to haul a bike or kayak/

 

I just posted a mini review of the Thule roof rack and Roam gear boxes with pics in the following thread for anyone interested.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/thule-evo-wingbar-roof-rack-with-roam-gear-boxes-mini-review.103583/

 

This is the route I’m planning on taking. Curious if you have done it.

love the cvt Denali (2 adults 3 kids under 6) with the extended fly for a room underneath. We have 2 dogs as well.

I can bring mtn bikes / road bike. All other stuff in truck/bottom of trailer.

 

Did you check out the CVT Denali? That is soft top though, don’t know if looking for hard top

 

I am really only interested in hard tops. The whole point of the RTT for me is the easy up/easy down aspect, and because it will need to essentially live on the truck year round. Soft top tents just don't fit the bill.

 

that makes sense. i'm having a hard time finding a Hard shop one that can sleep 4 or 5, thats the issue i'm running into, which is why i'm leaning mroe and mroe towards the CVT, i like the extended fly that adds another room with 2 spots for some air mattresses or changing rooms etc

 

The larger hard tops that I know of are the iKamper Skycamp 2.0 (They are releasing the 3.0 soon) or the Roofnest Condor XL. After the complete horsesht that I have gone through with Roofnest I would highly recommend that you avoid them at all cost. Absolutely garbage company with no quality control that I hope goes under as soon as possible.

Depending on the budget you could look at a Go Fast Camper and sleep 2 up top and a few in the bed below. As stated, not cheap, but American made and beefy build.

 

kids are too young to do that 3 under 6. wife wouldn't want them down below i don't think

 

Ah, yeah likely not going to work for your current situation then. Check out iKamper Skycamp then. It's about the size of a king size bed from what they say. Also, because of the new model coming they are all discounted right now. $200 off if I remember correctly. As previously stated, Roofnest is cheaper, but they are chinese knockoffs with awful quality control and poor execution of design.

https://ikamper.com/products/rooftop-tents/

 

I've looked into them, i like the idea of this though. would be on a travel trailer not directly on my truck, so will set up a trailer with roof racs can put bikes etc under it all.



https://cascadiatents.com/pioneer-series.html

i like the extended fly as it gives another room for the family. this will be more camping at Campsites, with bathrooms etc for the wife and kids at first, but hope i could take it to more primative places later once we get the hang of it. Hard thing right now is me finding a 4x8 Utility trailer i can mount it to. a 4x6 would be perfect but hard to find those right now too.

 

I concur, I’d suggest the iKamper. The RoofNest is very poor quality.

Also, hard shell tents are so much easier that soft tops.

 

You can get annexes for the hard shells as well. https://ikamper.com/products/accessories/

The only advantage I see in the soft tents is the cost. Everything else can be matched in a hard shell. That's not to poo poo anyone sticking to a budget, though. Gotta live within our means.

 

The struggle is real. I usually look at the overall rating, number of reviews, and see if it's even worth the time. If it's only got 5-20 reviews it's probably just friends and family BSing the reviews. If it's got over a hundred it starts to help, but only if there is some variety. If it's got a nice solid number of reviews I go to the 4 stars and read, then go to the 1 stars. Seems to give me the best balance. If I still don't think I have a feel I will include the 2 and 3 star reviews.


As for my situation, FedEx Freight is supposed to be picking it up today. No word from the warehouse on whether or not it's been picked up. I should know today if it's picked up, but I would bet that FedEx drags their feet and doesn't show up until close to 5. Once I know it's picked up I will get the signed BOL and send a copy to RN and ask politely, once, for my refund. If they give any flak or excuse I'll go straight to my CC company and push for a charge back.

 

It would depend on the tent. I would say the world expedition level tents are built to be on the vehicle 24/7 365. I feel my Eezi-Awn Blade would have easily lasted the life of the truck on it full time.

 

Yes, I think you are right. The aluminum tents seem to be the most 27/7 365 ready IMO. That was part of why I went with the Overland from RN. I had high hopes for the aluminum fold out, but we know how that went.

 

I agree. In the case of RoofNest, do you notice that they don’t have a Google account. With no Google account means no Google Revoews. They can control the reviews on their website but companies cannot control Google Revorws. With @GODZILLA and my issues with RoofNest, I did some digging. Found on some forum, not sure which one, that RoofNest closed their Google account to stop all the bad Google Reviews. Not sure if that’s true, but would make sense as to why they don’t have a Google account.

 

There's lots of rumors that they nuked their google business account to avoid bad reviews, and apparently their FB page is set so they can scrub it as well. Only Admin approved comments are allowed. I cannot verify as I do not have anything FB related.

 

Our companies no longer support FB but when we did we had to administer all comments and reviews. The out right malicious lies and fake plants by competitors were relentless. Got out of that mess by completely dropping FB.

so I can see why RN does what they do but they also want to cover up the actual reviews as well.

 

Got an email and notification that they issued a refund.





Email did say 1-3 business days to hit my account. I'll be pestering my CC company now.

 

That's cool. I know you’re finally relieved and can start thinking of the replacement. Good for you.

 

Yup. Thanks for keeping me company in the waiting room!

 

BTW, I got the new shorter struts in yesterday. Was going to put them on today and after starting it seems will be more difficult than I thought. Going camping this weekend with the Son and didn’t want to screw anything up so I just tightened the existing one back up and will tackle it later.

 

Definitely keep us posted on how the install goes and if they help.

 

I know I mentioned earlier that I was going to put the large Waterport inside the bed, but after I attached the water hookup valve, it ended up being too long to fit inside the bed. So, I ended up fabricating some “V” brackets and attached it inside the bed rack right above the tonneau cover. Worked out quite well.

 

I have the same rack and would like to see how you made the "V" brackets what is the orientation to the maxtraxs brackets

 

Actually quite simple. I bought 4 elbow brackets (10”) from Lowes and bent each one to the correct “V” angle.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/ReliaBilt-RB-10-IN-ZINC-CORNER-BRACE/5001634759

Then used 1/4” x 3/4” bolts and flat washers to attach to the outside of the bed rack side plate. The bed cap, or the top of the Retrax tonneau side rail in my case, provides the underlying support.