Rooftop tent, genuine nissan roof rack

[thefattymatty]

Hi guys just a quick question I am very new to 4wd and just purchased a 2014 titanium edition that has the nissan roof racks, (alloy heavy duty rhino rack style) I am expecting a adventure kings roof top tent in the mail any day now and was wondering if the tent will bolt straight to the roof racks or if anyone else has this roof rack/tent set up, the bloke on the phone said yes but been doing a bit of research and a few people are saying no, the missus and I are about to go on a Christmas road trip and the tent is pretty important just seeking any advice, thanks in advance

[Stropp]

sorry mate it will depend on how the tent mounts to the rack, i have a mesh base on my rack and my tent has bolts and plates to go under the mesh to hold the tent down, the bolt goes thru the plate on the underside of the rack and bolts to the bottom of the tent and can be fitted anywhere on the rack.

[happygu]

Matt,

Here are a few things to consider .....

I bolt my mounting plates around the tubes on the RoofRack, rather than just the mesh .... although it depends on the type of mesh you have. I have seen the thinner mesh disintegrate from the dips and corrugations.

You will be able to bolt your tent to the Rhino Rack bars, and that will work as long as the bolts are long enough to go around the bar itself, which the standard ones supplied will most probably be that fraction too short..


Knowing how hard it is to get the tent up onto the top, and off again, and how expensive your truck is, I would be a little worried about how you will get it up and down safely enough without slipping onto the top of the vehicle without a flat platform to work on. Sometimes it is nice to be able to climb up on top to assist. With only roof bars you will need at least four tall, nice and strong people to lift it up there.

Because I have a full flat roofrack, I can lay two planks from the ground up to the top of the rack, and can then get the tent safely up on top with two people by sliding it up the planks, and can get it down on my own too if need be ( I have put it up on my own ). Tents are only 70 odd kilos, but are super awkward, and not easy to manoeuvre on your own. I don't think that would be possible with bars only.


The next worry is the fact that the Rhino Rack Bars aren't spreading the load as a full Rack does, with a rigid base, a mesh floor, and lots of legs...... and this would be Ok for a short easy trip or on the bitumen, but I wouldn't want to cross the desert with it. My cheap full alloy rack broke on the last desert crossing, which I purchased to save a bit of weight over my steel one ..... makes me wonder how a couple of lightweight bars would do, as there is a lot of weight momentum when hitting the dips and bumps out on the tracks, which means more than 70kg weight loading. Rightly or wrongly, I see these type of bars as city use only.

Mic

[Bigcol]

^^^^^^ all valid and interesting points Mic

I have only ever seen the roof tents on full mesh roof racks...... never just on Bars.......

[Clunk]

Matt,



The next worry is the fact that the Rhino Rack Bars aren't spreading the load as a full Rack does, with a rigid base, a mesh floor, and lots of legs...... and this would be Ok for a short trip, and an easy trip, but I wouldn't want to cross the desert with it. My full alloy rack broke on the last desert crossing which I purchased to save a bit of weight over my steel one ..... makes me wonder how a couple of lightweight bars would do, as there is a lot of weight momentum when hitting the dips and bumps out on the tracks. Rightly or wrongly, I see these type of bars as city use only.

Mic

There's an easy way to get around that, get 1 or 2 more bars and a rhino pioneer platform (I cant remember if the platform fits directly onto the bars or if it fits onto the legs only).......... might be an idea to pop onto rhino racks website to have a proper look

[Ceason]

Thanks for the honest post. Tents on ground it is.

[graeme1969]

I have got my roof topper fitted to an ARB touring roof rack which is designed for roof top tents. No mesh on that one and it is just clamped to the rack bars.

[docp1980]

I had a roof topper when I had a D22 Navara. The mounting equipment it came with wasn't suitable for the sports style bars but worked fine with the heavy duty commercial ones.