I'm looking for some ideas on building a rooftop tent for the top of my Nissan hardbody extra cab. I'd like to get a list of parts/ideas together to see if it's worth trying to build it myself. If you don't have any ideas post up what you have, what you paid (if you don't mind posting that), and how happy you are with what you have. Thanks in advance for any advice or help.
I ponder this a lot. Should I try and go soft(canvas) or hard (pieces maybe hinged). I typically always have a pickup as my primary vehicle so I think around that. I have been toying with making the bed an easy removal and have a cube style camper shell with a little pop up camper style thrown in to mount on same points as factory bed.
This would allow me to design to my own needs, potable water, solar cells, battery placement, weight distribution. OK I know I just described in some way a miniature 4x4 Chinook, but I have thought making double walled canvas sides with insulation would be a bit lighter in weight.
I also think sometimes of getting a bed cap (tonnaeu sp?) and creating a four corner lift system that would have curtain sides.....I could achieve with pistons(air) or screw style like in cheap car jacks.
Plenty of ideas, just I am starting to think I will have to find what works best for me is trial and error.:mad3:
This is kind of what I need. I need to have a tent or sleeping area up high out of the bed of the truck. I need to store my ATV and other stuff in the bed. I would really like to make a platform that folds and mount it up on top of the truck. I have an area of about 55" X 55" that can fold out to come up with a plan. I may just end up getting a very small ATV trailer and put a truck tent in the bed. What ever I do I’ll post up when and IF I get it done. Let’s keep the ideas coming. Thanks again.
If it was me, I'd make a 4 or 6 post frame and build a platform above the bed with enough room under it to load the ATV and just add tie-downs for a tent that would fit the platform. If you wanted larger, you could have fold outsides that could be braced against the uprights to give you more room. Hell, you could even make it so you could raise the platform to load the ATV, then drop it back down to transport and camp to keep it a little lower. When traveling, the platform could carry gear and other stuff.
what about purchasing a small tent to meet your needs and then making a platform that can be disassembled into several large pieces (4-8 square feet each) and stored on a traditional roof rack or in the bed of the truck. When you want to setup you can snap, screw, tape, glue, velcro, whatever the panels together and set your tent up onto it. maybe with some anchor bolt or similar since you wont have tent stakes. Nida Core panels would be good for this but they arent cheap. Plywood is cheap, but heavy, several expandable aluminum canopy poles should do the trick for supporting an overhang. If you are willing to tow a small trailer of some kind, the same thing would apply and your truck would be free for other things without breaking your tent platform down. The platform could be setup onto a roof rack or over the bed of the truck, leaving the bed free for relatively weatherproof under platform/bed storage.
We run the Expedition Series RTT from http://www.car-top-tent.com and love it.
We'll never go back to a ground tent. As far as building your own, i don't think it would be that hard if you had the proper equipment. The hard part would probably be getting the fabric to stretch properly and fold up when you need it too.
HERE is a thread to give you some ideas on how to make your own version of campers including car tops.
sorry you will have to be a member of benzworld to see the pics and to be able to access the file on how to make your own. Its very old instructions on how to make your own roof top camper.
Oh wait.... found it, here is where the orginal PDF oh how to make your own is located. NO membership needed. There are others there to get ideas from too.
Works great, just got back from 6 nights in the Steens and Alvord Desert in SE Oregon. For the price, I'd not bother building my own. And I'm so cheap I build everything, but for reliability and ease of use it is nice to have a warranty and some well thought out design.
That's an Eezi-Awn behind my truck to the right, and an Oasis to the left.
Go to http://www.cabelas.com and take a look at the two person tent cot. Looks like it would be pretty easy to remove the legs and adapt it to mount on a roof rack. I’m going to order one and try it. Should be about the right size for my XJ roof.
I have a single person tentcot. It works great for what it is, but there is no way I'd use it to make a vehicle mounted tent. The top of the tent will turn into a swimming pool in a storm. I usually cover mine with an additional tarp.
i thought about making one that would fit in my 4runner under or on top of all the gear, maybe small pieces of plywood a couple feet square each, that could bound together somehow to make a platform. throw some short 2x4s or 4x4s under it for support legs. gets you off the ground, lets water go under your tent, etc. easy to take apart and throw in the back of the truck when you are done.. a hook or eyebolt could be used to anchor the tent.
maybe you could build a multi piece platform and folds up like one of those privacy blinds peole get dressed behind, and use to metal channels to run some square stock through to make it rigid, then just throw it up on the roof and attach it to the roof rack? proally not a real great idea, but maybe if we get some brains storming going on, we can come up with a good portable platform to throw our tents on.
i am in the process of my own version. i just finished the roof rack on my samurai. next week i will get all the material to make the platform.
here is the rack.
the platform will be 5/8 or 3/4 exterior plywood. i am thinking about coating the ply in a white roll on bed liner, or roof coating to aid in weather proofing and fight heat absorption to lessen warpage. it will be 2 pieces making a total of 88x52". it will sit long ways across the back of my samurai, hanging over on each side. i plan to attach them with a piano hinge, and locking it to the rack with barrel bolts. quick and simple. also, it will fold up and store under the rack, which is why it is so tall. ill post up when the rest gets built!
what about purchasing a small tent to meet your needs and then making a platform that can be disassembled into several large pieces (4-8 square feet each) and stored on a traditional roof rack or in the bed of the truck. When you want to setup you can snap, screw, tape, glue, velcro, whatever the panels together and set your tent up onto it. maybe with some anchor bolt or similar since you wont have tent stakes. Nida Core panels would be good for this but they arent cheap. Plywood is cheap, but heavy, several expandable aluminum canopy poles should do the trick for supporting an overhang. If you are willing to tow a small trailer of some kind, the same thing would apply and your truck would be free for other things without breaking your tent platform down. The platform could be setup onto a roof rack or over the bed of the truck, leaving the bed free for relatively weatherproof under platform/bed storage.
I have been planning out this exact set up to go above a trailer. unfortunately the standard size for the larger tents always seems to be 9'x9' which is bigger than I originally planned. My thoughts are to basically make a 3 piece fold. The center section only about a foot wide making it possible to fold it up with just a basic 9'x9' tent already attached to the platform and keep my queen size air mattress inside. If this works I can pull up to camp unfold it, attach the polls and up goes the tent, then attach the airpump and I have the "Palace" my fiance requires to go camping.
Can you post some pics here none of them come up on the other thread if you're not a member.
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