Thread: Roof Top Tents - What's the issues People Find using them?

G'day Rob,

I had a Hannibal RTT for a year or so and took it through a wide variety of conditions....wet and wild, hot and sticky, dry, dusty and downright freezing. I eventually sold it and got a Mulgo Pop-top on the Defender instead, but I liked it a lot.

As yours is going to be on the box trailer, you've already overcome the foremost disadvantage; that of being unable to drive once you're setup. So, what are the other disadvantages....

Dust and dirt? I didn't find that an issue because when I'm camping, I'm not worried about getting dirty. If the cover is dusty it's only an issue when you put it back on when packing up and are refitting the cover...so let's start there...

Packing up is a pain.
For some reason, the covers are sometimes an awkward fit or the zips seem to want to wreck themselves around the corners, which need dry lube from time to time. I suspect there's a better way...but yeah, this used to be a pain.

Setup. Too much to do.
The essence of the RTT is simplicity and speed of setup....but I found, with the Hannibal at least, that the add-ons such as the window flap stays and the poles for the extension fly to keep the ladder undercover were poorly designed and took too long to setup, all of this exacerbated of course by a 2" lift and me being a shortarse.

Getting up in the night to have a wee.
The ladder is not made for sleepy chaps who have a balance issue due to the beers they had that made them need to get up for a wee in the first place. This used to bug me enough that on cold nights I eventually started getting out onto the front of the roofrack and peeing over the side (passenger side of course, don't tell Mrs Bobby she has no idea...sleeps like roadkill that girl).

Levelling the vehicle.
Not exactly difficult if you have airbags/ maxtracks or similar, but it's another job to do. Worse with a normal ground tent I suppose.

Leaving bedding in the RTT.
Not as simple as you'd think because when you're packing it up, the doona and pillows fall into the middle and everything gets squished. Makes for an unhappy Mrs Bobby because she likes the bed to look nice. Needs bungee cords to keep it down or it all wants folding up before you fold the RTT up.

That's about it. I still rate the RTT as an idea. You're not dealing with a muddy floor or inflatable mattresses, guy ropes and pegs in rocky ground. If you pack up wet, it's super easy to get it out to dry when you get home....assuming you don't need your Landy for an hour or so.

What's the alternative? For me the cheap alternative would be a swag on a groundsheet under the awning or a simple tent + self-inflating mattress.

Fortunately I was in a position to invest in the PopTop so none of these things are an issue anymore. Still miss my swag though, sometimes!

Austrack Campers


G'day Rob.
I'm not recommending these blokes by any means as I know diddley squat about RTTs but they have had some reasonable reviews (& not so reasonable, like everything else it seems today) on another forum.
They're also sort of local being at Caboolture.
Good Luck
Steve

Rellies bought one for a Cape trip, took it off when they got home and have never used it since.
One problem was the ladder. It was steep and they and their kids kept falling down it.
Also, the RTT base was weak and bent and they had to pop rivet extra reinforcing bars on it, because the bloke is a BIG lad.
Another disadvantage is you lose the use of much of your roof for carrying extra spares, fuel etc.
We prefer our camper trailer or, for difficult travel, swags on stretchers under an awning.

Nice report Bobby,
We are selling ours soon due to moving into a camper van. We just wanted more, more space and more freedom basically. Used ours for approx. 5 years, and had many trips, Tassie, Vic High Country, Southern Flinders, Vic Coast.
The clincher for me though was during our trip during Easter in 2013, we had issues with the car and were in a very windy place, (SA coast) and I think emotion got the better of me.
Senses heightened, I think I heard every conceivable noise that a tent could possibly make, and thus made the decision to get a camper then and there on the spot.

The tent itself, although the cheapest on the market at the time was just awesome. Ultimately, we had people tell us they wished they had seen these instead of paying in excess of 2.5-3k for their "brand name" units.
We never got wet in ours, always left our dooner and pillows etc in it when travelling, well ok, Leeanne had one of hers in the car,,, so she could catch a few more zz's through the day , but packing it with everything in it was pretty easy with a bit of thought as in where to place stuff.
Levelling the car I don't remember as really being an issue, we watched Leeanne climb in and out whilst being what one could only describe as being "spastically drunk" (we were waiting for the fall ). We also had a ladder "extension" which solved the problems of "steep" ladder angles, which obviously you wont have on a trailer.
Set-up time wasn't too bad for me, but was made much much easier when I got myself a ladder to carry with us, which allowed me the ease of getting to everything as required with no effort and not having to climb up the side of the car. As Bobby said, getting dirty/wet/muddy is not really a problem, comes with the territory of camping anyway, and you'll soon learn what to do and not to do.
Pack down time for the tent itself was good too, its all about doing it right, however, being on top of the canopy, we had to do everything in an exact sequence, which took time, as the canopy has to be done first. So for us, it wasn't "just" the tent.
On this point, one of the hardest things for us was the fact that when travelling in a group, one tends to talk and be distracted easily This slows the process somewhat apparently

Being on a trailer, you wont have the "not being able to move" syndrome. I was supposed to put legs under mine (the canopy, which held the RTT), but just never got around to it, and this would have let us leave it set up and still be able to use the car.

All in all, they are a great invention, we had extremely comfortable sleeps whilst we had ours, and waking up high and dry is a big bonus, and then looking out the windows at the views is sooooo cool

Thought I was going crazy...than realized I replied to this thread that you posted on myswag

Robmacca
Been thinking along the same lines as you, but starting with a defender axle, and building a box trailer with all the goodies, either a RTT or some sort of hard shell pod, on top, so I can put a solar panel on top of it all.
Will watch your progress with interest

As always, you need to consider whether your needs and priorities are the same as those of the member offering advice.

Age, athleticism and bladder capacity probably affect whether the issue of climbing up and down the ladder is important.

Some people might be inconvenienced by the problem of not being able to drive around once you are set up. Obviously some people don't find that an issue. I can't remember the last time I felt the need to drive somewhere after I had set up my slide-on camper, so for me, that is not a big worry.

I am thinking that it will get really really filthy on dusty or wet roads in the configuration you are planning.
That makes set up and pack up dirtier and fiddlier.