Roof top tent on home made cross bars??

[Reagan_overland]

Just wondering what yalls opinions are. I have a 2018 Chevy Silverado z71. And bought the smittybilt RTT. They say it weighs about 120 pounds. I built some
Cross bars and was wondering if y’all think these could support it?
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[jeepers29]

I would think if anything fails, it would be the angle. That is pretty thin material. I am thinking about doing something similar for my f250

 

[Reagan_overland]

I would think if anything fails, it would be the angle. That is pretty thin material. I am thinking about doing something similar for my f250

Yes I agree. I’m thinking of welding some gussets to our on each corner to at least give me some piece of mind.
And yeah man! They work great so far for everything else that I put on them! I always stand on them to do yard work. And I’m 200 pounds. Thank you for the feedback!

 

[jeepers29]

Yes I agree. I’m thinking of welding some gussets to our on each corner to at least give me some piece of mind.
And yeah man! They work great so far for everything else that I put on them! I always stand on them to do yard work. And I’m 200 pounds. Thank you for the feedback!

If you get everything out to weld, I would do 1 at each end and 2 spaced within the rest of the length. Overkill would not be bad here, seeing as how it would be cheap and easy. I like the fact that with this setup, it puts the tent below the cab when traveling. Less wind drag and less wind buffeting on your tent cover.

 

[SubeeBen]

Unistrut ! Agree with above L angle looks way to thin from picture I could be wrong but I know unistrut is more than capable. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Jedi]

I will second @Jku Ben's comment about the angle looking too thin and that unistrut/superstrut is the way to go. It will be much more flexible while also being sturdier than this setup.

 

[Reagan_overland]

Unistrut ! Agree with above L angle looks way to thin from picture I could be wrong but I know unistrut is more than capable. Just my 2 cents.

Perfect! That’s actually a great idea! Thank y’all for the tips! Will try to get it rigged up with the unistruts!

 

[Reagan_overland]

If you get everything out to weld, I would do 1 at each end and 2 spaced within the rest of the length. Overkill would not be bad here, seeing as how it would be cheap and easy. I like the fact that with this setup, it puts the tent below the cab when traveling. Less wind drag and less wind buffeting on your tent cover.

Yeah I agree. That’s why I wanted to go low. Keep he wind off

 

[Viking1204]

I did mine with the Superstruts from Lowe's and 1/2" stainless hardware, super strong! If you want to see more than these pictures check out my build thread below to see how I built it from start to finish and all the features of what you can do with it!

2011 F-150 RTT Rack Build on Diamondback Cover

I bought my truck new and until recently didn't know about RTTs until I saw a truck with a rack and a CVT tent on top. After researching RTTs I figured before I could even think about getting one I needed a way to transport and use it. I decided to build my own rack after seeing the prices of...

www.overlandbound.com

 

[huudlum_jk]

Superstrut is very strong and more than enough for my girl and I (220# and 130#) plus our Ruggedized Tepui at about 185#. Not as cool looking as the superstrut cage above, but it was a quick fix to a problem before a 2 week road trip and worked great!

 

[Viking1204]

Yeah I agree. That’s why I wanted to go low. Keep he wind off

I've actually been surprised, thought my gas mileage would go down with mine above the top of the cab but so far that hasn't been the case. I built mine up so I could use the area below for storage when I go on longer camping/overland trips.

 

[Viking1204]

Superstrut is very strong and more than enough for my girl and I (220# and 130#) plus our Ruggedized Tepui at about 185#. Not as cool looking as the superstrut cage above, but it was a quick fix to a problem before a 2 week road trip and worked great!

Honestly it was a trailer like yours that inspired me to build the rack on my truck out of Superstrut. Before seeing that I had never heard of Superstrut and now that I have I can see using it for other things too. I like that it allows you to build things like a RTT rack without having to weld. I've never welded and don't have a welder so the Superstrut solution was perfect for me!