Roof Rack Bars vs Platform for RTT?

[Anhizer]

Hey, I have a 2000 Land Cruiser that im looking to put a roof top tent on. I havent decided on the tent yet, however its going to be one of the larger ones (iKamper 4 person or perhaps the FSR 80 series). The tent will live on the truck 99% of the time as i dont have a great place to store it. I initially was planning on buying a Dissent roof rack (~1500 fully equipped, its somewhat of a boutique brand) but the cost and lead time for that rack is making me second guess that decision. I started looking around at the common ones (Frontrunner, Rhino Pioneer, eeziawn, prinsu, and few other smaller companies) and have decided there are three major types of racks: The traditional welded tube racks (not interested in those), the "platform" racks like the front runner and prinsu, and standard crossbars. I want to replace my factory roof rails as they are not rated to much weight (lots of controversy on this one, im going to err on the side of caution) so using factory rails is out.

As mentioned, i was going to go with a platform (similar to prinsu), however given 1) the tent is going to be up there all of the time, and 2) the tent is going to take up the whole roof, im starting to think that some rhino rack cross bars with the feet that mount directly to my roof (replacing the factory rails) might be the better option due to price. I only really plan on adding a few additional items to the rack (in addition to the tent)- some sort of awning (currently thinking batwing 270), a shovel, and possibly some camping/scene lights. A front mount light bar is something i might consider, but i dont really have any need for that currently. I realize that the mounting provisions on the crossbars will be less flexible than a platform, but other than that am I giving anything else up by switching to the cheaper bars? The rhino bars are ~$650 on their website for everything i need, and the cheapest flat rack that I like is $1000.

The rhino bars do have a small advantage in the width department; since they are bars they can overhang over the side of the truck giving me a bit more room for mounting the awning; the flat racks all would be smaller in width than the tents im looking at so mounting things, while not difficult, wont be super straightforward either.

 

[BizzyB]

As long as you're not going with a super large tent that requires 3 crossbars (even then you'd need a BIG platform and can still run 3 crossbars if your vehicle allows it), there's no need to go with a platform rack and spend all that coin if the rooftop tent is going to be up there all the time. I've ran my tent permanently on crossbars. I used to have a Rhino Rack system with the RLT600 towers on my Retrax Pro cover and now it's on my Yakima Outpost HD on the same cover. I'd argue that my Outpost HD crossbars are stronger than my Prinsu roof rack on my truck cab. And since most tents rest on channels that connect to only 2 bars anyway, it's not going to matter about the strength of the entire rack. What matters is the weight your roof can support, how strong the attachment method is to the roof, and how much load the bars you choose can support.

 

[Anhizer]

Luckily the land cruiser utilizes 3 mounting points so the rhino rack bars im looking at come in a set of 3 bars.

So far the only thing i can really think of that the flat style racks may do better would be to distribute the load (unless i need to utilize some sort of 'mount' which most of the tents seem to) and the looks factor. Some of the racks with the build in fairing may be a little quieter in the wind, but you can buy add on fairings for the crossbars as well. Another benefit to the bars is weight; the flat racks weigh more than the bars which counts for something.

it seems like im trying to talk myself of the more practical solution for the looks though. Let me know if im missing something here.

 

[UploadAdventure]

@Anhizer you should check out Desert Armor RTT. Same as the iKamper.
Plus you can save 10% using code uploadadv

 

[Anhizer]

Haven't seen the desert Armor before, but it seems like a lot of the iKamper competitors like the Roofnest Condor XL, Torro offroad, tuff stuff alpha. As far as i can tell all of the competitors are made in China whereas the iKampers are made in S. Korea. Not that that necessarily means anything about the quality but they are different tents. The main other hard shell tent I have been considering is the roof nest as it seems to be a more popular brand which will likely stick around for a few years. I worry about the other smaller brands going out of business and not offering the long term support that some of the bigger companies will.

 

[BizzyB]

Luckily the land cruiser utilizes 3 mounting points so the rhino rack bars im looking at come in a set of 3 bars.

So far the only thing i can really think of that the flat style racks may do better would be to distribute the load (unless i need to utilize some sort of 'mount' which most of the tents seem to) and the looks factor. Some of the racks with the build in fairing may be a little quieter in the wind, but you can buy add on fairings for the crossbars as well. Another benefit to the bars is weight; the flat racks weigh more than the bars which counts for something.

it seems like im trying to talk myself of the more practical solution for the looks though. Let me know if im missing something here.

Yeah, just go with the crossbars. If going Rhino Rack get the HD over the vortex. The vortex and HD are technically both rated for the same weight, but the HD bars flex/bounce less. No need to worry about bar aerodynamics when it's going to be under a big RTT.

 

[UploadAdventure]

Haven't seen the desert Armor before, but it seems like a lot of the iKamper competitors like the Roofnest Condor XL, Torro offroad, tuff stuff alpha. As far as i can tell all of the competitors are made in China whereas the iKampers are made in S. Korea. Not that that necessarily means anything about the quality but they are different tents. The main other hard shell tent I have been considering is the roof nest as it seems to be a more popular brand which will likely stick around for a few years. I worry about the other smaller brands going out of business and not offering the long term support that some of the bigger companies will.

IKamper has been around 1 year longer than DA. But I understand where you are coming from as far as support. You’d have to see how long the IKamper warranty is, because if it’s 1 year then it doesn’t really matter who you go with because all the parts are pretty much interchangeable.
Also.. built in S Korea with China components lol
But I’m glad to hear you’re going with a hard shell RTT.

 

[Sinocai]

I found a platform was over kill. I have a larger tent 4 person...basically a king sized bed.

I have 4 bars on the topper with the RTT on it, 270 awning attached to 2 on one seize and a large water tank/heater on the other.

I then used the rhino rack pioneer platorm for the front of the truck.