RTT and Rack Shopping - Feeling Overwhelmed

[jrgray86]

Hi All.
I'm in the market for a hardshell RTT and rack for my 2019 Raptor and could really use some feedback from this group. Feeling a little overwhelmed by all the different options and most importantly, I want to be sure I'm not forgetting any important considerations before I pull the trigger.

Tent:
I am leaning towards the Roofnest Condor. I also considered the iKamper 2.0 Mini but A) cost is outrageous and B) the sleeping space seems a little tight for two people (about 10" smaller than Condor) and C) there's no telling when the iKamper 2.0 Mini will actually be in stock. Could be 6 months+ before I can actually order one.

That said, anyone have any war stories to share about either of these tents (good or bad)? The Roofnest seems like a great competing product to the iKamper but the reviews are a little suspect...seems they may have a whole ambassador team or something that fluffs up reviews all over the internet.

Comparison between Roofnest and iKamper:

Roofnest Condor: https://roofnest.com/product/condor...uyITiIZ3IJuE8hIjvqoMZGkvV-XT2QORoCTPoQAvD_BwE

Rack:
I am leaning towards the MAX Modular Alumax rack but debating between 14" and 10". There seems to be 3 factors to consider here: A) tent location in relation to roofline, B) ability to access the bed, and C) rear-view visibility. The Roofnest Condor is about 12" high when closed which would put it about even with the roofline on the 10" rack. On the 14" rack it would stick up above the roofline about 4-6". There are also space limitations to consider with the 10" (i.e. ability to get to equipment in the front section of the bed, open a cooler lid, etc.). Lastly, the 10" rack would seem to pretty much ruin all rear-view visibility. With the 14", I would still have a little bit of a tunnel to see through.
-Will having the tent extend above the roofline severely impact gas mileage or road noise?
-Anyone have the 10 or 14" rack and if so, what are some of the pros/cons?
-Anything else I should be considering?

MAX Modular Alumax 14": https://www.max-modular.com/shop-max-modular/alu-max-14-high-aluminum-truck-bed-rack

Appreciate any advice anyone can share.

Thanks.

 

[Bracamonte]

I've spent A LOT of time reading and looking at Youtube. I've settled on the UpTop TRUSS rack, and the TuffStuff Alpha II RTT.

The TRUSS has a Retrax XR rail version that mounts on my Retrax cover. I'm going with mid-height so that RTT should be right at roofline. The rack weighs 36lbs! and seems very solid.

The TuffStuff Alpha II tent just came out and is the competitor to iKamper Skybridge Mini - so it'll fit the bed of the Raptor without having to extend over the cab roof. It's very similar to the Condor, but only costs $2199!! It's been found that all these tent companies (other than iKamper) are sourcing their designs and materials from the same Chinese companies, which is why they are so similar. The U.S. companies just make small detail changes, accessory changes, and add their own logo. (iKamper differs bc it's made in S Korea.)

And yes, extending RTT much past the roofline will definitely increase NOISE and decrease MPG. Might not matter to you if you have cashola for gasoline and good loud music to play in the cab.

 

[wweaver]

Take a look at Leitner designs. I have had mine on three raptors and about 160k miles now. Great product and company to work with if you have issues. Welds are the best I have seen on anything truck related.

 

[Mark in Oregon]

I just finished my build with Retrax XR/CVT Shasta/Max Modular 14”. Perfect setup. See my post under a similar thread I posted this morning.

 

[two24studios]

I'm running a Retrax Pro XR bed cover, with a FrontRunner Slimline rack, and a CVT Hybrid Mt. Rainier. Overall I 'd say I like the set up, but might consider a hard shell tent if I were to redo things.

Also, not the biggest fan of the FrontRunner rack... it looks great, but it's a PITA to install and line up all perfectly. Some of the decisions they made in terms of how the hardware works is really confusing... they could've really made it a lot easier to adjust and remove.

The CVT tent is really nice, lots of room (it's a 3+ person) and we have the extended version, so you can zip an annex around the bottom/ladder and have a standing room which is nice for longer trips. The annex is quite heavy though (all the fabric) so it's annoying to deal with.

 

[Bobhub]

I love the KB Voodoo (Max Modular) rack. I run a soft shell tent (CVT Mt Ranier) for the amount of space, but its hard to argue with the convenience of a hard shell. If you have a bedcover, this rack works well. Great customer support also.

 

[KingKoopa17]

I'm running a Retrax Pro XR bed cover, with a FrontRunner Slimline rack, and a CVT Hybrid Mt. Rainier. Overall I 'd say I like the set up, but might consider a hard shell tent if I were to redo things.

What is it about the CVT that would make you reconsider? I've got the same setup minus the RTT yet, but I was leaning towards the CVT Pioneer Series Bachelor. I've been debating on whether or not to shell (heh) out the money for a hard shell, but wasn't sure if the extra money would be worth it.

 

[Lilla Kharn]

Check out my build thread. I’ll edit and respond more later when I have time.

 

[Sheeepdog18]

It's all depends on how you want to set your bed up. Are you going to run a bed cover, what kind of bed cover are you running? if you are installing a bed cover most of the bed rack is not going to work with a bed cover, i.e. Leitner Designs. Some of the racks will have design so you can bolt up to your bed cover, but I will not be doing any serious off roading with it because those bolts will rip right out of the track they're in, for regular camping trips they are fine. Also be careful of much weight you're putting on the racks ( Dynamic weight vs Static weight ). Nuthouse industries build a very nice rack and rolling bed cover combo, but they're very expensive. I had me bed rack custom builded and installed on top of my Pace Edward roller cover, I mounted a Smittybilt 2783 tent on the rack along with Rotopaxs on one side, 4 Maxtraxs on the other side with no problems. But I don't do any heavy off roading just to campsites and fire backroads to some camp grounds.

 

[two24studios]

What is it about the CVT that would make you reconsider? I've got the same setup minus the RTT yet, but I was leaning towards the CVT Pioneer Series Bachelor. I've been debating on whether or not to shell (heh) out the money for a hard shell, but wasn't sure if the extra money would be worth it.

Haha nice pun. Honestly, it's just a PITA to setup and put away. One of the reasons I wanted a RTT was so I could get setup faster and I just don't really feel like it's that much easier than a ground tent. This is primarily due to how the cover comes off and goes back on, poles for the windows, and the annex if you even want to deal with it.

I'm on my 3rd CVT tent, and I much preferred the first one I had (Mt Shasta Summit Series 2017/18 model). You could leave the ladder connected, strap it down, and just throw the cover over the top of the tent once it was closed. Then all you had to was zip it down.

I upgraded to the Mt Rainier when I bought my Raptor. We wanted a little larger tent, and our previous version was the standard fly (not extended) and we thought having the annex would be nice for longer trips. Unfortunately CVT changed the design for their newer tents... now we have this Hybrid version which is similar to the Summit, but still missing some of the features I really liked. Our Summit version had a nice thick moisture barrier and a waterproof mattress. The Hybrid has a memory foam mattress which is comfy, but there is no moisture barrier and it's not waterproof, so if you get it wet, it's not drying anytime soon.

They also changed the cover, which I find to be much much more difficult to get on and off. And... you can no longer leave your ladder connected. This is primarily because the top part of the tent is no longer covered by the black clover, it's exposed (diamond plate) so you can mount additional things to the top of your tent for storage (bikes, kayaks, travel containers, etc). I'm on #3 because I hated the 2nd one so much, CVT offered to take it back and give us the "updated" design. I have yet to bother with it, but my friend who has the exact same model said it's slightly better than the previous version we had.

I think if I were to redo it all again, I'd go hard shell so I don't have to deal with covers, poles, and annexes... or just go with another company like Roam. One of my Raptor assault compatriots had one and really liked it.