Rooftop tent question (newbie)

[Justin_324134]

So while I am waiting for my new Ram Rebel next year, I am going to put a rooftop tent on my Infiniti SUV; it has a dynamic load rating of 150 LBS; I have heard static load is usually 8-10x the dynamic...looking at these photos, does anyone see any "red flags" for throwing a rooftop tent up there? Thanks.

 

[sebm]

Are you worried about the load when you are in the tent at night or the tent closed up on highways and such?
Can you show a picture of the whole car?

In any case, I can't recommend that you put a tent that is heavier than 150 lb on those bars.
There are many reasons why engineers put load ratings on things and they are usually not obvious.
I would say that with a car not moving, there isn't much risk besides damaging the car.
It does get really tricky and complex when the car is moving.

 

[Justin_324134]

Thanks for writing back; I was worried about it supporting the load while stopped with people in the tent. The tent I am getting will be below the 150 lbs limit, so I am okay there. Infiniti JX35.

 

[sebm]

If you dont already have the tent, you can test the load by getting up high near the car and putting a lot of your own weight (safely) onto the bar where the tent will have its foot (one bar, one side, most of your weight) .
This would be a subjective test but it should feel very sturdy because it would simulate the tent load with 2 persons inside.

If you do have the tent then installing it and progressively adding weigh inside and monitor the bars for deflection or signs of weakness.

Otherwise searcing the internet for someone else that has that vehicle with a tent.

 

[Kevin108]

Rooftop tents typically have their own aluminum crossbars that mount to the strong outer rails that run the length of the roof.





They do not mount to the relatively flimsy OEM cross bars. Because the rails are flush to the roof on your vehicle, you are going to need a different roof rack to safely carry a rooftop tent.

 

[Justin_324134]

Rooftop tents typically have their own aluminum crossbars that mount to the strong outer rails that run the length of the roof.

View attachment 240370

View attachment 240371

They do not mount to the relatively flimsy OEM cross bars. Because the rails are flush to the roof on your vehicle, you are going to need a different roof rack to safely carry a rooftop tent.

Wow, I had not idea. Thanks. I see people mounting them on the cross bars on YouTube all the time. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[MOAK]

Rooftop tents typically have their own aluminum crossbars that mount to the strong outer rails that run the length of the roof.

View attachment 240370

View attachment 240371

They do not mount to the relatively flimsy OEM cross bars. Because the rails are flush to the roof on your vehicle, you are going to need a different roof rack to safely carry a rooftop tent.

Agreed 100%. I read the OPs question a couple of days ago and wasn’t able to articulate why not. Get a proper roof rack and be safe. Think of it this way, if ( a big if ) one is involved in an accident, that rtt needs to stay put. You wouldn’t want those flimsy load bars ripping free and having that tent flying through the air, causing even more damage & bodily harm.

 

[Justin_324134]

Agreed 100%. I read the OPs question a couple of days ago and wasn’t able to articulate why not. Get a proper roof rack and be safe. Think of it this way, if ( a big if ) one is involved in an accident, that rtt needs to stay put. You wouldn’t want those flimsy load bars ripping free and having that tent flying through the air, causing even more damage & bodily harm.

Thanks for that perspective (I am in PA too)...but check this out...what if you want to rotate the tent so it opens to a different side of the vehicle? In other words, the tent itself comes with those bars that are attached to it that then connect to the car's roof rack...if you turn the tent so it opens, say, to the side and not the rear, how would you do that if you don't attach to the cross bars?

 

[Rolando]

You can install the aluminium bars of the tent by 90 degrees. They are just bolted on to the floor on most tents.

 

[OTH Overland]

We had a similar factory rack set up on our Grand Cherokee, the bars were designed for best airflow and sound levels more than they were for weight, the posted limit was 150 pounds, most likely based on highway use. even with a 60 pound thule rocket box to carry my Gazelle tent mounted to one side of the rack it flexed like crazy when off road. We did some research and found some optional factory bars that were rated for 150 pounds each that fit in the stock tracks. now we have carried our 120 lb 23 zero tent over all kinds of terrain with no issues. Another thing to look at is how well is the roof rack track attached to the roof itself, a lot of vehicles just have rivnuts or similar thru the sheet metal and when carrying lots of weight off road the flex can crack the metal and cause the fasteners to pull through. Many aftermarket racks avoid mention of dynamic vs static loading of their racks, and if the off road rating is different or not. usually in the case of the platform racks you need to remove the actual weight of the rack from the total capacity. As others have mentioned, last thing you want to see is your roof top tent going a different direction than your rig.

 

[Kevin108]

Wow, I had not idea. Thanks. I see people mounting them on the cross bars on YouTube all the time. Thanks for the heads-up.

I'm sure people do. And some may get away with it. I can't speak with certainty on the durability of every OEM crossbar. And I'm not against putting a tent on your crossbars to see what they feel like. There is value in satisfying your curiosity. On the other hand, Yakima and Thule are both roof rack vendors that got into the tent game. You may find something you like between one of them.

Another reason I'm a proponent of securely mounting a tent: back in 2020, a young driver ran a stop sign and intersected the front of my FJ on the passenger side, spinning me around at 35 mph and causing the vehicles to come into contact at least twice. Nothing on the roof rack came off. This is the same tent and awning I'm still using.

what if you want to rotate the tent so it opens to a different side of the vehicle? In other words, the tent itself comes with those bars that are attached to it that then connect to the car's roof rack...if you turn the tent so it opens, say, to the side and not the rear, how would you do that if you don't attach to the cross bars?

The tent floor has 4 holes in the bottom where it bolts to its own aluminum crossbars. You can install them length-wise or width-wise on the tent floor to orient the opening of the tent to suit you. Every option has pros and cons. I've had mine oriented both ways. Opening to the back was easier to setup, but you had to deal with the ladder getting in the way. Opening to the side is harder to setup, but gives you some good shelter off the side of the vehicle.

 

[Justin_324134]

I'm sure people do. And some may get away with it. I can't speak with certainty on the durability of every OEM crossbar. And I'm not against putting a tent on your crossbars to see what they feel like. There is value in satisfying your curiosity. On the other hand, Yakima and Thule are both roof rack vendors that got into the tent game. You may find something you like between one of them.

Another reason I'm a proponent of securely mounting a tent: back in 2020, a young driver ran a stop sign and intersected the front of my FJ on the passenger side, spinning me around at 35 mph and causing the vehicles to come into contact at least twice. Nothing on the roof rack came off. This is the same tent and awning I'm still using.

View attachment 240518


The tent floor has 4 holes in the bottom where it bolts to its own aluminum crossbars. You can install them length-wise or width-wise on the tent floor to orient the opening of the tent to suit you. Every option has pros and cons. I've had mine oriented both ways. Opening to the back was easier to setup, but you had to deal with the ladder getting in the way. Opening to the side is harder to setup, but gives you some good shelter off the side of the vehicle.

View attachment 240519

View attachment 240520

Great info! Thanks for that; and grateful you survived that crash; scary stuff.

 

[4xRalph]

If I am looking at your picture correctly, it seems that you bolt the rtt on the rails not the cross bars.
Even though on your pic w/o rtt you have cross bars that are a little bit arch to support a flat surface like the one from the rtt.

 

[luchaDor]

Well, I think it depends on how much weight you want to put up there too...Roofnest has their new Meadowlark model which weighs 90# vs. something that weighs 149# that is a wedge style catching a lot more air. All that would make a difference too. If I were you, I'd wait for the truck and then you'll have lots of options on what you can put on it...especially over the truck bed area.

 

[Justin_324134]

Well, I think it depends on how much weight you want to put up there too...Roofnest has their new Meadowlark model which weighs 90# vs. something that weighs 149# that is a wedge style catching a lot more air. All that would make a difference too. If I were you, I'd wait for the truck and then you'll have lots of options on what you can put on it...especially over the truck bed area.

Thanks for feedback; great perspective.

 

[Justin_324134]

Take another look at the OP's pics and then explain how you think they're supposed to follow your advice.

Similarly, your method would've been impossible with my tracks on my shell.

While I agree that your method is preferred, there is nothing wrong with mounting to crossbars that have a sufficient weight rating.

Yes, thanks for this Drax; I was worried about it when I saw that reply; so I called some manufacturers and they told me crossbars are okay.

 

[DRAX]

Yes, thanks for this Drax; I was worried about it when I saw that reply; so I called some manufacturers and they told me crossbars are okay.

I did delete my reply since I saw they did address what I was commenting on (doing too many things at once this morning) so my reply was a bit useless. In any event, glad you're asking questions and doing the research. A lot of folks don't and then wonder why they have problems with weight, etc. :) The only thing I'd add is that the static load rating is usually about 3-4x the dynamic load rating, not 8-10x, and depending on vehicle/roof it's good to be conservative with how much static weight you have up there. I wouldn't be too concerned with your vehicle as it sounds like you're going to be using a pretty small RTT and total static weight probably won't be too much.