Rooftop for family of 4

Submitted: Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 20:18
ThreadID: 77559 Views:14504 Replies:8 FollowUps:16
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Hey all,
I've always loved the idea of rooftop tents and am now getting very close to either buying one or buying a touring tent. I would like to sleep everyone together: my wife and I (both medium sized ;-) as well as our two kids 7 and 3yo.

I was thinking 3yo son across the top with the rest of us lengthways, but what happens when he grows too long....maybe in another 3 years? I guess one of the kids could sleep along the back seats (Landcruiser 80) although its a bit uneven (mattress might help with this?).

Has anyone had any experience with:
--> sleeping a family of 4 in a rooftop?
--> sizes of rooftops suitable to fit all of us in?
--> sleeping one of your kids across the back seat?
--> failing at all of the above and buying a tent of some sort?

Thanks
NUTS!
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Reply By: NUTS! - Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 20:19

Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 20:19
Just found this:

Eezi-Awn 2.2M WIDE SERIES 3 FAMILY ROOF TENT

Anyone tried these out yet?

Cheers
NUTS!
AnswerID: 412167

Reply By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 20:48

Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 20:48
The only problem would be with a family is that to move your vehicle at all, you have to fold up the entire tent.. or put it on a trailer as per the pic.. Michael
Patrol 4.2TDi 2003

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Follow Up By: NUTS! - Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 20:59

Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 20:59
Good point! I didnt think of that....

I was playing with the idea of putting it on a frame on my box trailer....but it kind of defeats the purpose. I want to be able to go away without taking a trailer.

The other thing I just notices was that these things are 98KG! anyone know what the max load rating is for the roof of an 80 Series?

Cheers
NUTS!
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Follow Up By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 21:04

Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 21:04
probably about 150kg INCLUDING the rack but static it would cope with much more !!
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Reply By: Tonyfish#58 - Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 21:11

Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 21:11
ShippeShape

The above are not cheap - We have the full setup - I would say with your young family you could sleep 4 in the main bed - there is a lot of room.

Its worth a look and is very good quality.

Regards
AnswerID: 412182

Follow Up By: NUTS! - Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 22:29

Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 22:29
Wow! they look good...
They only thing I noticed was the mattress size seemed much narrower:
"1880x1370"
Do you really think I'd get 4 on that for a good nights sleep? (I'm about 1800 tall)

Cheers
NUTS!
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Follow Up By: Tonyfish#58 - Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 17:40

Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 17:40
We had a bigger mattress fitted. There was more room to play with around the standard size mattress.

It depends on how big the best half and the kids are :-) as to what you will be able to fit in a standard roof top tent.

The solution below with the two roof tops sounds like the way to go.

Cheers Tony
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Reply By: yakodi - Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 21:16

Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 21:16
Gday Nuts, we have been using our Eazy-Awn family roof topper for about 12 months now and its been great. It's on an offroad trailer, but can be moved with a bit of effort onto the roof of the Patrol onto the rhino racks. It is very heavy, but once unfolded/setup you end up with about 40-50kg of weight on the roof and the other 40-50kg on the 2 ladders supporting the other half. Either way on any car you would be over loading the roof rail capacity with 50kg of tent plus 2x 70kg adults plus 2x20kg small kids plus bedding. The load capacity for the roof of a Patrol is about 200kg if the load is distributed over the roof rail. Therefore based on the weight of all 4 people plus the tent you would be approx. 30-40kg overloaded on the roof rails.

Its not unusual to see 2, 2 man roof top tents on some vehicles which would also overload the roof load capacity. Maybe a traditional tent might be an option? A lightweight roof top tent may be another option with 2 people in each roof top tent? Best of luck making up your decision.
AnswerID: 412184

Follow Up By: yakodi - Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 21:21

Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 21:21
Could upload a few pictures if images for non-members were an option.
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Follow Up By: NUTS! - Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 22:23

Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 22:23
Interesting.....So is the ladder also used to support some of the weight on these rooftop tents? I thought there might have been some locking mechanism to join the two sections together structurally...(i havent seen one of these things in the flesh yet).
Do you ever run into problems with the ladder legs sinking into soft ground? or sliding away?

Is the roof load rating only for when the car is being driven? ie Can the roof hold more wieght when standing still only?

My original camper trailer idea was to put 2 x 2man rooftop tents end to end on the trailer....one folding out over the front, one over the back. For some strange reason, I hadnt thought to do this on top of the cruiser. Good idea but as you said, i'll probably hit the same problem with weight.

Cheers
NUTS!
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Follow Up By: yakodi - Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 15:55

Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 15:55
Gday Nuts, The ladders support about half the roof top tent weight- both ladders must be locked into place to prevent any movement of the other side of the tent that flips out. If you forget to lock the ladders in then you will have issues with unsupported loads.

No trouble with the legs sinking into the ground, as each ladder has a single flat piece of metal on the bottom of each ladder to prevent this from happening.

I'm guessing that in regard to the roof load capacity, A static load may create less issues compared to the load on a roof when moving/driving? Don't quote me on this.
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Follow Up By: malglo - Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 20:13

Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 20:13
"ladders support about half the roof top tent weight"

Ladders actually only support about 1/2 of the folded out section ie. that is about a quarter of the total weight ( 1/2 of the folded out section is supported at the hinge end.

Used to have a Howling Moon touring rooftop tent- good South African quality, but a bit 'spensive.

mal
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Follow Up By: yakodi - Saturday, Apr 10, 2010 at 17:44

Saturday, Apr 10, 2010 at 17:44
Come to think of it, that makes perfect sense. Cheers
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Follow Up By: NUTS! - Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 12:21

Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 12:21
Thanks Yakodi,
I wouldnt mind seeing pics of your eezy-awn setup, as I'm quite interested in this brand.... email to cruisernut@gmail.com
Thanks heaps.
NUTS!
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Reply By: kingswoodwagon - Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 21:50

Thursday, Apr 08, 2010 at 21:50
A mate traveled extensively (Capetown to Cairo) with 2 rooftops on a HJ75 Dual Cab Cruiser.
That was 4 adults - no problems

I can dig up some pics if you need some


Anyhows, aren't they only for people scared of crocs?




Have fun



AnswerID: 412195

Follow Up By: Tonyfish#58 - Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 17:46

Friday, Apr 09, 2010 at 17:46
Yes & no :-)

After owning one you wonder why you slept on the ground?

We camp very close to Gulf and Peninsular Rivers, we used to do it on the ground. We were camping one bay east of the fellow that got taken out of his tent by a croc in Lakefield a few years back on the same weekend.

That,s the last time we slept on the ground - Do not have to worry about snakes sliding into the sleeping quarters and rains flooding us out as well - Only issue is the nighttime calls of nature :-) One up both up :-)

Cheers Tony
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Follow Up By: The Landy - Monday, Apr 12, 2010 at 17:37

Monday, Apr 12, 2010 at 17:37
Second your comments Tony.......
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Reply By: tas130 - Saturday, Apr 10, 2010 at 07:34

Saturday, Apr 10, 2010 at 07:34
we have been using our howlling moon tourer rtt now for almost 10 years and cant fault it. we now have 2 kids 6yo and 3yo and they slep in the zip on room while we sleep up top. we wrap the top off one of those alli. camp tables around the ladder and scure it with a occy strap to stop the 3yo from climbing up. as for having to pack up to move on it can be annoying at times but really it only takes less than 10 minutes and most of that time is pulling the kids camp cots apart but if you are camping with others we just through the beds with their stuff and to be on the move takes under 5 minutes so by thetime the wife straps the kids in we are ready to go. we also added a slide out kitchen and fridge so we have a set up like a trailer without the worries of towing throurh the bush.

if you wont and tips or pics on set up just let me know.
AnswerID: 412324

Follow Up By: NUTS! - Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 12:19

Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 12:19
Thanks tas130.
I wouldn't mind seeing pic's of what your talking about with the camp tables etc, as well as the rest of your setup. If you could email them to cruisernut@gmail.com I'd much appreciate it. Your complete setup sounds like the exact idea I had in mind for touring with the 2 kids, with the slide out kitchen etc, would love to see how you've done yours, as I already had an idea in mind and it'd be good to compare. Does your car have tailgate or swing out rear door?

Do you find there is enough space in the zip on room for the two kids to sleep on stretcher type camp beds? Some of those rooms seem very small.

Thanks Heaps!
NUTS!
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FollowupID: 682908

Follow Up By: tas130 - Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 18:35

Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 18:35
just sent you some pics and info
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Reply By: Barra-2 - Monday, Apr 12, 2010 at 17:22

Monday, Apr 12, 2010 at 17:22
Another option for you, Tent & Swag

We have the Shippshape tent and have 2 rooms added to it. The bed is huge for the two of us. When we have others we take a double swag and sleep inside if they want too. Swag gets carried on the back.

These pics are from our Kimbery trip with Mrs and I in the tent and my 67 year old Mother In-law in the swag.






We are about to place the tent onto our new trailer.
AnswerID: 412662

Follow Up By: NUTS! - Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 12:27

Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 12:27
Thanks for the pics Barra2, thats a mighty fine looking rig you have there :-)

I'm a big fan of swag's and have spent many nights in mine, but I just can't convince the other half that a swag for each of the kids is the best investment :-(

Thats a top idea with the swag on the back....i like it!!!

Cheers
NUTS!
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FollowupID: 682910

Reply By: Fatso - Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 13:25

Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 13:25
"I would like to sleep everyone together: my wife and I (both medium sized ;-) as well as our two kids 7 and 3 yo".
If you are still sexually active you may want to reconsider this.
A roof topper is only for the celibate or isolated at the best of time.
Seeing as how your youngest is only 3, it would be very unlikely you would fit this category.
AnswerID: 412889

Follow Up By: NUTS! - Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 14:08

Wednesday, Apr 14, 2010 at 14:08
Hmmm....yet another thing I hadn't thought of...might be better off with just the kids upstairs in a rooftop, and a double swag for us? I dare say that any couple would experience similar problems in a family tent, though maybe not causing motion sickness ;-)

LOL - "If this cruiser's rock'n, dont come knock'n"

Can't say I'm a stranger to temporary involuntary abstinence though, (read: more than a few days without)
This could be the start of an entirely new thread...

Cheers
NUTS!
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