Anyone ever mount anything UNDER their roof bars?

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JeffnMar

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So I just installed a rooftop tent on our 2019 Subaru outback. I upgraded to Yakima bar’s and risers since the Suby stock bars Are not really meant to carry more than 150 pounds. As you can tell by the attached picture I have plenty of room underneath the roof top tent which is wasted space , so I was thinking of mounting something under the bars To help with storage... So couple of ideas I am thinking about is adding some Rotopacks for fuel/water ( weight might be a concern though ), Or some larger PVC pipe to hold fishing poles or gear. I have roughly 8 inches of clearance which makes it nice when taking the tent off and saving a bloody knuckle or two .

Any ideas are welcome and I’m curious if anybody else has taken this approach, seems backwards I know, but would like to utilize the space.

BTW... treeline tents are the BOMB , Better than CVT and TEPUI ( my humble opinion) ...

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dr_r2r

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I'm thinking the same thing. Either a maxtrax set or a folding table or a retractable solar panel.
 

Viking1204

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I'll be mounting my PVC pressurized water system on top of my Diamondback cover underneath the RTT Rack I custom built! I can also mount storage containers on top of the Diamondback cover and use the RTT Rack to tie them down and keep them from siding off, it's a very versatile system!

Question for you @JeffnMar, what makes Treeline better in your opinion?

RTT Rack Build 2.jpg
 

JeffnMar

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Thanks for the replies thus far , some great ideas Injave not thought of , this group Rocks...

As for my take on the treeline series of RTT . First a little background , I must admit I had a bit of analysis paralysis when doing my research including visiting several showrooms and talking at length to each vendor. I live near Bend, Oregon so very familiar with CVT and Free-spirit tents. It’s not that I dislike Tepui, Free Spirit or CVT but the Treeline RTT had what I was looking for.

After researching and climbing in each of these tents I had my choices narrowed down to a few , non ruggedized ( 3 season ) tents

- Tepui Kukenam Sky
- CVT Mt Rainer
- Free Spirit High Country series
- Treeline Mesquite

All are great tents don’t get me wrong , but here are my deciding factors.

-Treeline has a honeycomb base , the others are layered . The treeline base can carry more weight and has a better insulating value , better build in my opinion .

- The treeline Rainfly has a clear PVC window so you have views out the skylight when the Rainfly is on , the only other tent that had this was the CVT ‘ stargazer’ series .

- the treeline has a ‘rounded design’ when deployed helping keep rain/ snow from accumulating on the tent . When inspecting the other tents and doing walk arounds in person the other tents had areas where their were ‘pinch points ‘ of square design where water or snow could puddle up.

- I went with the larger footprint of 72” by 96” , just wanted more room :) and the tree line had this abailable.

- the tents I mentioned above all come with a 2.5 or 3 inch mattress . The Treeline comes with a 2.5 inch mattress with a waterproof cover where the other do not.

- the rain fly when deployed ‘ surrounds ‘ the front and back doors , with windows. The other tents just cover the top of the front and back doors not the sides( with exception to the CVT). This is a nice touch.

- Cusotmer Service , this is a Canadian company out of Alberta , I found them very responsive to email , almost always replied same day with answers to my questions ( which at times was me getting into the weeds) :) , but they were AWESOME! Even shot some video for me and emailed back .

Price - price point for all these tents were pretty much in the ballpark , I did work with a vendor out of San Francisco that stoped carrying these tents ( not cost effective as these are made in Canada and shipping rates and tariffs made it cost prohibitive) he gave me a heck of a deal WITH free shipping .

For me the devil was in the details and thoughtful design. One can say that all these tents come out of the same factories in China , but from what understand Treeline spent time looking for a good manufacturing plant to adhere to their design and QC , and it shows .

Just my 2 cents and I am extremely happy with the tent , the RUNNER UP was the CVT Mt Rainer , similar build but would of compromised a bit with it .
 
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Echelon

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Hoping to see the same, we have a tent that covers the whole roof and want to mount a solar panel somehow to our setup. Only space we have room is under the tent or hanging down the side of the car or above the hatch.
 

Stepsride

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I mounted some C Channel to the bottom of the rack. I put some spongy Molding material to keep if from rattling. I used 2 pins to secure it from sliding out the back of the rack. You can access the table from the back of the vehicle. I got the C channel from Lowes. The table I had was a one piece plastic table. The one issue I had and I resolved quickly with drill was water would build up because I stored the table upside down. This was to keep the legs from slamming into my roof. I wish I can find some pics but I sold that vehicle last year. Sorry about that.
 
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