Roof Top Tent (RTT) Questions

Randun

Randun

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 15, 2020
Messages
112
Location
a city by the beach, CA
Hello everyone!

I'm thinking of getting a roof top tent, and I was wondering if anyone has any opinions on the different types of RTTs that are out there?

I have been doing my research and I see that there are soft tents, hard ABS/Fiberglass style tents, and I have also seen aluminum tents. Does anyone have any pros or cons of these different types of tents?

Thank you so much for your time and your help!
 
FYI, I have owned two so far. Both Smittybilt.

The smaller one and the XL with the annex.


We enjoy being off the ground. They are pretty warm for a tent. Smittybilt is pretty down the line but it’s been working good so far.


I wouldn’t mount any of them to a TJ. I’d run it like I do, on a small off-road trailer.


The hard shell ones are not cheap. But offer some advantage to quick setup from what I’ve seen, but smaller.
 
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If you decide to run it on a TJ, I’d find the lightest one possible (especially if you do anything beyond fire roads). I wouldn’t run one on my rig outside a few very specific trips I may do and would also favor an off-road trailer setup that’s mostly custom built.
 
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rasband said:
If you decide to run it on a TJ, I’d find the lightest one possible (especially if you do anything beyond fire roads). I wouldn’t run one on my rig outside a few very specific trips I may do and would also favor an off-road trailer setup that’s mostly custom built.
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Yep, had the smaller of the two on top of our 4Runner. It’s heavy, over 5k pounds and you could feel it enough, I wouldn’t do it to a soft sprung, lighter TJ.
 
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Rubi04 said:
FYI, I have owned two so far. Both Smittybilt.

The smaller one and the XL with the annex.


We enjoy being off the ground. They are pretty warm for a tent. Smittybilt is pretty down the line but it’s been working good so far.


I wouldn’t mount any of them to a TJ. I’d run it like I do, on a small off-road trailer.


The hard shell ones are not cheap. But offer some advantage to quick setup from what I’ve seen, but smaller.
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How does a TJ do pulling something like this. I've always wondered because I would possibly like to do this someday. But I've never really pulled anything on-road wise with a TJ. Does it take considerable more time and pedal to get up to speed and maintain speed on the highway?

Would you take a multiday trip pulling one?
 
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TJ Starting said:
How does a TJ do pulling something like this. I've always wondered because I would possibly like to do this someday. But I've never really pulled anything on-road wise with a TJ. Does it take considerable more time and pedal to get up to speed and maintain speed on the highway?

Would you take a multiday trip pulling one?
Click to expand...


Mine is not the perfect example. I have 4.10’s and 33’s on steel beadlocks.


It’s slow. I live in mountains too, so that hurts.


My trailer, loaded for camping is 1200 pounds. The Jeep can do it. I just don’t expect a fast pace.


Now geared properly or stock, yeah no worries at all. I also start to worry about the weak brakes. I don’t have trailer brakes because it spends more time behind the 4Runner.


But trailer brakes would be a must for TJ duty....and BMB for the TJ would make me feel better too.
 
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I believe mine is the smaller Smittybilt RTT. Works great on my small Jeep trailer. Plenty of room inside for two.

IMG_20180721_150201752.jpg
 
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Rubi04 said:
FYI, I have owned two so far. Both Smittybilt.

The smaller one and the XL with the annex.


We enjoy being off the ground. They are pretty warm for a tent. Smittybilt is pretty down the line but it’s been working good so far.


I wouldn’t mount any of them to a TJ. I’d run it like I do, on a small off-road trailer.


The hard shell ones are not cheap. But offer some advantage to quick setup from what I’ve seen, but smaller.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your opinions!

I am glad to hear that the SM RTTs have done well for you.

How nice that you have a trailer. That must make it so convenient on your trips!

I'm leaning towards a hard shell RTT due to your points exactly. Thank you for them.
 
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rasband said:
If you decide to run it on a TJ, I’d find the lightest one possible (especially if you do anything beyond fire roads). I wouldn’t run one on my rig outside a few very specific trips I may do and would also favor an off-road trailer setup that’s mostly custom built.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for your opinions. I really appreciate it.

Weight is an important factor and I am considering that in all aspects of my build.

I'm like you and I don't want to keep the tent on my vehicle all the time. Just add it when I need it.
 
Rubi04 said:
Yep, had the smaller of the two on top of our 4Runner. It’s heavy, over 5k pounds and you could feel it enough, I wouldn’t do it to a soft sprung, lighter TJ.
Click to expand...
So lemme ask you a question about the RTT tent thing - and I'm not trying to turn this into a debate that derails the OP's intent. Everyone here in UT started getting them here about a year ago and I looked into them as well, but what I kept coming back to (and maybe I'm wrong because I don't know anyone who has one) is that you have to pack the thing up if you intend to leave the campsite. When we camp we'll be there for a couple of days, come & go from the camp (in the TJ or whatever truck we bring) so I decided against it. Seems like a good solution for "overlanding" where you just stay in one spot for a night & then move on, but do you guys use them for multi-day trips, & if so do you pack it away everytime you leave the camp? I'm just curious about the logistics.
 
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qslim said:
So lemme ask you a question about the RTT tent thing - and I'm not trying to turn this into a debate that derails the OP's intent. Everyone here in UT started getting them here about a year ago and I looked into them as well, but what I kept coming back to (and maybe I'm wrong because I don't know anyone who has one) is that you have to pack the thing up if you intend to leave the campsite. When we camp we'll be there for a couple of days, come & go from the camp (in the TJ or whatever truck we bring) so I decided against it. Seems like a good solution for "overlanding" where you just stay in one spot for a night & then move on, but do you guys use them for multi-day trips, & if so do you pack it away everytime you leave the camp? I'm just curious about the logistics.
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You’d have to pack it up. Only takes a few minutes.

However, in my case mine is on my tow rig so I can use it for a weekend trip somewhere or if it’s a Jeep trip I leave the tow rig setup as a base camp.

I also like nice bathrooms/showers so I pay for a spot at a campground, gives me power for the refrigerator and drone/phone chargers plus they have pools if the kids are with.
 
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qslim said:
So lemme ask you a question about the RTT tent thing - and I'm not trying to turn this into a debate that derails the OP's intent. Everyone here in UT started getting them here about a year ago and I looked into them as well, but what I kept coming back to (and maybe I'm wrong because I don't know anyone who has one) is that you have to pack the thing up if you intend to leave the campsite. When we camp we'll be there for a couple of days, come & go from the camp (in the TJ or whatever truck we bring) so I decided against it. Seems like a good solution for "overlanding" where you just stay in one spot for a night & then move on, but do you guys use them for multi-day trips, & if so do you pack it away everytime you leave the camp? I'm just curious about the logistics.
Click to expand...


Pretty much. Another reason why we ditched the one on the roof. We stuck with the one on the trailer to leave it as a base camp. So if you don’t want to tow a trailer, you pack it up and carry the 100+ pounds on the trail. I personally wouldn’t with a TJ myself, although I’m sure some do and like it.

They do fold easy and you do get to store your bedding with them folded so there is something of a space savings there.
 
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qslim said:
So lemme ask you a question about the RTT tent thing - and I'm not trying to turn this into a debate that derails the OP's intent. Everyone here in UT started getting them here about a year ago and I looked into them as well, but what I kept coming back to (and maybe I'm wrong because I don't know anyone who has one) is that you have to pack the thing up if you intend to leave the campsite. When we camp we'll be there for a couple of days, come & go from the camp (in the TJ or whatever truck we bring) so I decided against it. Seems like a good solution for "overlanding" where you just stay in one spot for a night & then move on, but do you guys use them for multi-day trips, & if so do you pack it away everytime you leave the camp? I'm just curious about the logistics.
Click to expand...
Great question and this is definitely something on my mind too.

I camp and off-road with a big group of people that have a combination of ground tents and RTTs. Everyone that I have witnessed with a RTT in our group packs up their RTT when we are ready to go out for the day or leave for our next adventure. The people that have the soft sided RTTs take a little longer then the hard shell RTTs, but all and all the break-down of the RTTs is really fast.
 
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