Sold my RTT...Why??

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RoyB

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Contributor II

1,010
Boston
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Roy
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Bertalotto
Eighteen months ago I bought a Smittybilt RTT and a small trailer to haul it behind my Toyota Venza. Although we own a 20' travel trailer/toy hauler, when my wife does not travel with me I have no need for such a large camping device. And I want to do a bit more "Outback" camping down dirt roads etc. The trailer worked out great. But the Toyota got 17mpg when towing it and my 6.4L Hemi RAM got the same, 17mpg when towing. So the whole Venza tow vehicle thing was deleated.
Now towing with the truck was OK, but I could just put the RTT up on the trucks cap and be done with the whole trailer thing! Sold the trailer....

But between you and me, these types of "soft" RTTS are a bit of a PITA when folding and putting the cover on. Not so bad when it was 40" off the ground on the trailer. But at near 8' high on the truck, a ladder was needed and it had to be positioned about 100 times to get everything covered......and holly molly what a trial when doing it in the rain! I'm pushing 70 and just too old for all the climbing.

So now what......I'm ordering up some 8020 Extruded Aluminum and I'm building a "Wedge RTT Camper" , following Ripcord's lead.....(Thank You Ripcord!)......Simple to open and close and plenty enough room for one!

Looking forward to the build!
 

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AggieOE

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Pearland, Texas, USA
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Nathan
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I 100% agree with the RTT being too high to defeat the other wins. Having ours on the roof of the 4Runner was too high. I love your little trailer though. That's my next plan but with the ability to raise and lower the height of the tent for easier set-up, tear down, and storage.
Whats the link to the wedge concept you're talking about?
 

MOAK

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Wernersville Public Library, North Reber Street, Wernersville, PA, USA
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Eighteen months ago I bought a Smittybilt RTT and a small trailer to haul it behind my Toyota Venza. Although we own a 20' travel trailer/toy hauler, when my wife does not travel with me I have no need for such a large camping device. And I want to do a bit more "Outback" camping down dirt roads etc. The trailer worked out great. But the Toyota got 17mpg when towing it and my 6.4L Hemi RAM got the same, 17mpg when towing. So the whole Venza tow vehicle thing was deleated.
Now towing with the truck was OK, but I could just put the RTT up on the trucks cap and be done with the whole trailer thing! Sold the trailer....

But between you and me, these types of "soft" RTTS are a bit of a PITA when folding and putting the cover on. Not so bad when it was 40" off the ground on the trailer. But at near 8' high on the truck, a ladder was needed and it had to be positioned about 100 times to get everything covered......and holly molly what a trial when doing it in the rain! I'm pushing 70 and just too old for all the climbing.

So now what......I'm ordering up some 8020 Extruded Aluminum and I'm building a "Wedge RTT Camper" , following Ripcord's lead.....(Thank You Ripcord!)......Simple to open and close and plenty enough room for one!

Looking forward to the build!
Agreed, if we didn’t have a trailer to mount our RTT upon, I would not even dream of mounting one up top of our Landcruiser.
 

lhoffm4

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Boise, Idaho
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Lee
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Hoffman
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I understand the sentiment... First time I saw one in a campground mounted on an M101, I thought to myself..."Self, you need that in your life..." Then I started seeing them on trucks, jeeps, SUVs and thought to myself... "Self, as cool as that looks, I'd hate to have to break camp every time I wanted to move the truck". Since I couldn't find an M101 in my area for the money I didn't want to pay, I opted to build one over a truck bed trailer I already had. I've had my set up now in ready to use condition since March, but have only been able to take it out 4 times. I NEED MORE DIRT TIME! lol
 

KD7WCD

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Keep us updated on the solution.
 

ThundahBeagle

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Massachusetts
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Andrew
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I admit I did have to shuffle around a couple of coolers and a tote from the bed to the back seat to make room to sleep, but I figured that was going to be a lot easier than climbing 8 feet in the air or towing a trailer around. So to be fair, with all that shuffling, I'm not sure this is my forever setup either...
 

FishinCrzy

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Yep, that's why I sold my soft top and got a hard top. Too hard to fit and zip the soft cover and climbing around out in the middle of nowhere was just axing for trouble. Luckily, with the hard top, I barely have to leave the ground. The height on my rack is perfect to reach and walk underneath. With the assistance of a telescoping boat hook/pole and a step that hangs on the door latch to place one of the window canopy spreaders it is now much easier. I love the idea of a trailer but I like to explore and having to turn around in tight spots is not something I want to do. Parking a trailer every time I want to check out some trail doesn't seem like something I want to do either. That, and sometimes I pull my boat. That's a lot of the reason I ended up with a RTT. I have nice tents and nice hammocks mostly for backup these days because I sleep better in the RTT than I do in my sleep number bed.