Smitty built XL rooftop tent and mounting

Hello! I’m seeking advise for mounting my RTT. I recently bought a smittybuilt xl tent (gross weight 148lbs.) under the impression given by 4WD’s website that it couldn’t mount to my factory rails and cross bars and work out. Obviously after picking up the tent and realizing just how big it was and what it weighed I became skeptical. I know I could order a Gobi, Baja, victory rack etc. and be okay but I saw on another forum here to use LRD cross bars on my stock rails so I ordered 4 of them. I’m still skeptical about putting the tent up there. The tent will only be used occasionally by myself and my girlfriend who all together probably weight about 265(ish). Has anyone had luck with using crossbars on factory rails and mounting a tent of this size? Mostly worried about the static weight distribution when we are in the tent. Trying to avoid buying a rack this season. Any advise would be great!

 

So I have the exact same tent and put it on my 2020 ORP yesterday. Long-term, I have a Gobi Stealth rack on order - had one before and love them....but it won't be here for a while. in the meantime, I've put Yakima crossbars on my factory rack and secured the tent to that. I haven't used it yet, but have heard from a lot of people that it will work just fine. When my Gobi arrives, the stock rack and Yakima bars go away.
So it fits just fine, but sits pretty high up off the roof. I'm slightly concerned about changing the center of gravity so much, but haven't driven much to give feedback on that. From what I've heard, it will be fine on the stock racks.....but gotta be honest, I'm looking forward to getting it down lower to the roof when my Gobi arrives.
Hope that helps.

 

I changed my rack to a Front Runner mostly to carry some heavy gear, like a second spare. The stock one is pretty feeble, really. Having said that, your dynamic load is within limits, and there’s not much danger once you’re parked and sleeping - 265 lbs should be ok. I’d go for it, if I was you. But long term, I’d change the rack for one more suitable for what you’re trying to do with it.

 

Some of the after market cross rail systems that fit the stock rack are ok, but they’re expensive too, so I opted to spend the extra $ and change the rack. There are a lot of good choices available, and a 4 Runner looks much better when it has something that doesn’t look like it came off a 1980s Buick station wagon. May as well have form as well as function.

 

The stock rack is just fine and basic crossbars from Thule / Yak / Inno (Inno shown) will work fine. You could even use the stock crossbars, I've seen it done, however that really isn't ideal given their curvature and how they connect to the rack.

Buying an aftermarket rack may actually make mounting the tent harder, given clearance issues. Also by using aftermarket crossbars you can mount the tent to them on the ground / upside down, and then just attach the bars to the rack with the tent preinstalled.

Edit to address an above statement re center of gravity. Yes, obviously that's a lot a weight up top but I really didn't notice an issue. The weight is in the same place regardless of the brand / type of rack you use. 2 inches higher or lower won't change that.

 

Now that it has been a couple of years, how has your experience been?

 

I still have the Inno crossbars and use them regularly. They are great.

The tent lasted like two months and I sold it. Disliked the whole RTT thing once I actually used it a few times especially in rain.

 

I bought some parts and customized the mounts to make them fit a bit better.
This setup is all on the same flat plane and very strong.
The RoofNest all aluminum tent (Condor Overland) weighs 160lbs and has 2 - 200+lb people using it with absolutely no problems.
The extrusions are anodized so weather very well.
The t-slots make for very adaptable mounting for other purposes too, in fact they match the ones on the tent.

 

Interesting. How come? We've had quite a few rain storms with ours and we've had it about 2 years now. Way better than a ground tent.

 

Well several reasons that I disliked the tent... but as it pertains to rain, if you close it while wet, which you have to do if you are on the move, the tent stays wet for approximately 17 days.

 

Lol well haven't had that issue, but I do know what you mean about closing it when wet. We try not to, but you have to do what you have to do. The first time we pulled the mattress out and just used paper towels at our next site. The most recent time we just did our best to be conscious of how the sides closed. The mattress got a touch wet, but nowhere near as bad as I expected and certainly nothing I would have noticed without looking though.

 

Any Picts of the tent? This is one we have been considering, any other feedback to share?