If you go down the roll cage route I can recommend Whitbread Off-Road. The cage design was adapted to my son's requirements including integral ladders either side, brackets for the light bar and space to store kite surfing boards. They even stored the tent and delayed installation for a few weeks after the R380 output shaft splines stripped themselves and he had to wait for an Ashcroft replacement. Great quality and great service.
 
Yeah whilst out in the landy today was doing a lot of thinking about it and have decided to do it obviously just need to decide on which Roof tent to buy :D
 
I think there's a lot to be said for making your own roof bars, you can get a close fit on the roof and put the brackets in the best locations. And becuse they don't need to be ajustable they can be more rigid.
The first thing is rigid or fabric? I like the look and feel of the rigids but that stopped when I asked the price! I did think about making one. The mech is just 4 gas struts with a top and bottom cover. The tricky bit could be getting the fabric to fold neatly.
 
rob1miles said:
I think there's a lot to be said for making your own roof bars, you can get a close fit on the roof and put the brackets in the best locations. And becuse they don't need to be ajustable they can be more rigid.
The first thing is rigid or fabric? I like the look and feel of the rigids but that stopped when I asked the price! I did think about making one. The mech is just 4 gas struts with a top and bottom cover. The tricky bit could be getting the fabric to fold neatly.
Click to expand...
If you look at how to make camera bellows and scale it up without as many folds it’s quite an easy process. The hard bit is having it laid out right through the house while you build it :D
I may (if I can maintain enough bothered) do a pop up on my camper this way. :)
With a roll of age related canvas and a few sheets of 1mm foamex, anything is possible. o_O
 
Sorry guys i completly forgot all about this thread and just stumbled across it on google :oops:
Anyway i'm about to purchase an Adventure 2 roof tent by Direct 4x4 and a roof rack by Flatdog although i'm still undecided wether to go for a roof rack or roof bars as Flatdog do them both but most peops are saying go roof bars but will see :)
 
Usually people use roof tents in areas like australia and africa where there are plenty of creepy crawly bugs and snakes for safety. I find it hillarious that a "rattler" want to find a way to go up in a roof tent :) As they say more power to your elbow.
 
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cornish rattler said:
Anyway i'm about to purchase an Adventure 2 roof tent by Direct 4x4 and a roof rack by Flatdog although i'm still undecided wether to go for a roof rack or roof bars as Flatdog do them both but most peops are saying go roof bars but will see :)
Click to expand...

That looks like a really nice tent, but I'm not sure that the claim of lightweight applies at 88 Kg! Is it really that heavy? I have a Bundutop which I thought with a solid aluminium case was about as heavy as they get - and that is only 64 Kg.
Mine is fixed to the D2 with 4x Flatdog bars. There would have been no space left on a roof rack anyway and bars are much lighter, much cheaper, you can use as many as you like and position them as needed to exploit the structurally strong points on the car. The only downside is that it is much more difficult to fit an awning if you go down that route.

For reference I have a Bundutop tent with an attached Ostrich awning, bolted to 4x Flatdog roof bars with 16x M8 bolts. This was us recently wild camping in the Outer Hebrides with my son and his Bundutop equipped D90.
233498894_4582537838457297_5006967637203649631_na.jpg
 
Si Click said:
That looks like a really nice tent, but I'm not sure that the claim of lightweight applies at 88 Kg! Is it really that heavy? I have a Bundutop which I thought with a solid aluminium case was about as heavy as they get - and that is only 64 Kg.
Mine is fixed to the D2 with 4x Flatdog bars. There would have been no space left on a roof rack anyway and bars are much lighter, much cheaper, you can use as many as you like and position them as needed to exploit the structurally strong points on the car. The only downside is that it is much more difficult to fit an awning if you go down that route.

For reference I have a Bundutop tent with an attached Ostrich awning, bolted to 4x Flatdog roof bars with 16x M8 bolts. This was us recently wild camping in the Outer Hebrides with my son and his Bundutop equipped D90.View attachment 246515
Click to expand...
Yeah i wonder if its lighter as i've seen a different make of the same tent and they say its 85 kg can't remember what the other make was though as there are quite a few companies that the same tent
 
rynner said:
i would not like to be in the pictured if a gale blew up.
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The Bundutop tent itself is fine in very strong winds. I have used it in a gale of over 35 knots (Force 8 Gale) and it was totally stable with no flapping whatsoever (unlike most roof top tents). The main issue would be the car being blown over, and in anything stronger than about 40 knots I would tie down the car itself (I carry 4 stakes and ratchet straps just in case). Using this technique they have been proven on expeditions with far worse conditions than that. The awning is about the strongest on the market and is self-supporting in most circumstances, if the wind gets up you can put poles down and peg down each arm, but it is a huge sail area and in strong winds I would spend the 30 seconds to take it down. I would not leave it up unattended and I always take it down before going to bed.
 
Couple of pics here of a friend of mines tent.
 

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I've only gone and done it bought my roof tent an Adventurer 2 RTT from Direct 4x4 and i've decided to buy a pair of roof bars off ebay as the Flatdog ones won't fit a series only Def's without the ribs on the roof so i've bought some that fit a series and everything is due this week :D:D
 
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cornish rattler said:
2 bars for now but may go to 3, the tent comes with a kit that fits most bars but will see whats in the kit when it all comes
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2 is too few IMHO even for road use. If you are planning on going off road or anywhere that might induce a sway from side to side, then I would say 3 is too few.
 
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