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RTT, bed cap, utility rack, GVWR... help, please!

10K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  Lewers 
#1 ·
Hello, I'm interested in adding a roof top tent to my 2014 pro 4x but I've not decided on the best way to go about this yet. I'm considering either a leer CC (industrial strength) cap or a standard cap with some kind of external utility rack on the outside.

I see that the Leer 180CC and 100RCC are designed to support up to 400lbs. Is this a dynamic load or a static load? Tent (120lbs) + Me (170lbs) + Girlfriend (130lbs) = 420lbs. Is this too heavy or is it perfectly fine for a static load on that bed cap?

Would it be better to put a standard non-load-bearing cap and get an external support system such as this? 2014 Nissan Frontier Vantech P3000 Truck Topper Racks - Vantech Pickup Canopy Racks

Finally, I'm concerned about the GVWR with all of these additional items. The placard inside my door jam says I can only carry some 882 lbs of additional cargo and passengers. That seems awfully low considering the GVWR is 5600LB and the curb weight is in the 4400 ballpark I thought?

4400 (dry weight)
200 (bed cap)
120 (RTT)
170 (me)
130 (gf)
130 (fuel)
----
5150 lbs

that leaves just ~400 additional lbs for gear and luggage. Is it just me or is that kind of ridiculous? My subaru forester that I had previously could carry ~1000lbs of cargo and passengers. Why is the truck so limited relatively?
 
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#7 ·
I actually have been looking into this RTT...
Front Runner Feather-Lite Roof Top Tent

Its not the largest but can sleep 2-3 easily. I personally don't plan on more than 2 people sleeping in it max. It weighs only 93lbs which was a huge selling point for me.
 
#6 ·
Bryan,
I really like your setup! Thanks for sharing and replying to my somewhat old post. I'm very interested in that bed rack now. Did you need to take off the utility tracks to install the bed rack? How much weight do you think you could put on there safely? 400-500lbs with no problem for a roof top tent, some supplies, and 2 people? The dynamic load will only be around 200lbs tops so I'm not too worried about driving issues. Is there any issue with bed spread? Do you need to support it from beneath as well or only the sides when loaded up with a tent and people?
 
#8 ·
Thank you! Im glad you like it! It has been wonderful to have!

My truck did not have the factory utility tracks so I installed universal tracks myself (Front Runner included it with the bed rack kit). I will tell you that the kit can be installed with your factory tracks. They have options for both Nissan OEM tracks and Toyota OEM Tracks. That install is a breeze because it will require no drilling.

The Rack is rated and 660lbs. I did purposely put about 500lbs on it, right after it was installed, to see if I would have any problems with the universal tracks and I had none at all. I'm extremely satisfied this far.

I cant wait to get RTT. There's no doubt in my mind this far I will have an weight problems with 2 people and a some supplies.

Bryan
 
#13 ·
This hasn't been my experience at all, I'm getting very close to writing reviews on my experience as to how my leaking tent has been handled on expo portal, clubfrontier, thenewx, fb, and whatever ever review site I can find. I won't get too much into specifics yet because the ball is in the owners court as to how it will be handled.

To keep it short my tent was mis-manufactored and the tent leaked real bad. It's been almost 4 months since I complained and they admitted it was messed up and they would swap shells. They shipped my new shell last week to there distributor shop here in Calgary, I went to pick it up and there was a rain fly with poles and no shell. The shop who received it has said that's all that was on the order (no shell) and mine was separately shrink wrapped on top of the pallet (very poorly he added).

Now I'm told from CVT that the shell was with the order, so either it never got shipped with the pallet, or it wasn't packaged properly and fell off, or the shell grew legs and walked off the pallet. Regardless of what happened it's out of my control, it was all supposed to have been there at the shop here in Calgary. Hopefully it works out and they can track down to shell or ship another one.
 
#10 ·
Bryan,

If I already have the utility track installed from the factory, which of these 3 products would be the best option?

Offroad Load Bar Kits | Front Runner Outfitters

I would like to buy the cheapest ones, but they say they are for 2005+ Tacomas, but I don't really see any distinguishing features that make them specific to the Tacoma. Would they also work on the Frontier?

Did you buy the 1475mm or 1320mm set?

Thanks
 
#19 · (Edited)
I have the 1475mm set. If you have factory utility tracks you can get the kit without the universal track and you will use square nuts in your factory ones. I would measure the hight and depth of your track when you order it so the right size square nuts are sent.

Bryan

Just out of curiosity, don't you get a little concerned about high winds while sleeping in there? When I saw the picture, the first thing I thought was "I wonder what would happen if someone was sleeping in there when a thunderstorm with high winds rolled through."
In all honesty, I have never been in a situation where wind is even remotely close to a problem while inside the tent. I have been out and there was a good amount of wind but nothing. Just make sure everything is secure.

Bryan
 
#14 ·
And to clarify this shop in Calgary has orders that come in from CVT on a monthly basis. So there would have been a pallet(s) with orders that probably had labels and shipping orders, where from the sounds of it my items were on top shrink wrapped separately...the shop didn't even know whose stuff it was until I called and asked if they got a separate shell in. So I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a specific itemized shipping label for my items in which case the shipping company will probably wipe there hands clean.
 
#18 ·
The few people I've seen running ARB absolutely love them, again I wouldn't not recommend CVT at the moment, but that could change very quickly.
 
#16 ·
I recommend Tepui.

I have no experience with other makes, but the build quality is top notch. Have been in some really windy stuff on the mountain in Vermont and held up great.

Awesome customer service too. I lost a mounting piece, sent me a new one, free.

I have the Kukeman model, but would recommend you look at the "Ruggedized" models.
 
#20 ·
I had some extra Yakima bars laying around so I just fabbed up a system using them and the stock utilitrac. So far it's worked great... Also got a good deal on a small Camping Lab RTT (no longer made).





Also, the wife and I with the two pups sleep just fine even in winds exceeding 50+
 
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