Baja Rack with Roof Top Tent Installed
 

I am looking for options to mount my roof top tent.

I have been doing extensive research including going through 5+ search pages. Looks like the Baja Rack is the winner for me. I saw pics of the Baja Rack mounted on the Disco on this page:

https://landroverforums.com/forum/mo...reviews-26349/

However, there were no pics of roof top tents installed on the rack. I have a Disco with a 2" lift.

1) Does anyone of pics of their Disco with the Baja Rack mounted with a roof top tent?

2) I am trying to decide between the two Baja Rack options: the Standard rack (with the side rails around the roof perimeter) or the Expedition Rack (with the side rails only on the front section and no rails at the end of the rack for mounting of the roof top tent). I prefer the Standard rack as it has more uses for carrying stuff when I am do not have the roof top tent mounted. Please see two pics for comparison.

3) Any comments on the stability of the vehicle when off-roading, especially with the high c.g. with the Standard rack? Much of my off-roading involve switchbacks and gradients here in the Pacific NW.

What are your thoughts?

I'm not dodging your questions, but I thought you may may be interested in knowing...

A very generous member on here just recently released a "how-to" build your own roof rack that will hold a roof tent just fine. The rack is legit, only costs a couple hundred bucks to build, and looks awesome atop a DII. Can you weld?

Clicky Clicky

I do not have a roof-top tent. But I do have the Baja Rack with the side rails. Like all racks, there is a significant increase in the wind noise at highway speeds. The Baja Rack is well made and should last a long time. I have thought of measuring to see if one of the hard shell Autohome rtt would fit inside the side rails, but haven't gotten around to doing it yet.

Thanks for the suggestion.

I am aware of Jean's great project. Unfortunately, my hands are full working on off-road trailer project where I am building a top lid, modifying to full length wheel fender to hold fuel tanks and water tanks, add fridge and kitchen slides, replacing the Jeep wheel with Disco wheels and finding the correct wheel adapters, changing to 360 coupler, etc. The trailer is designed with coiled springs and shock absorbers without an axle housing underneath for added ground clearance. This project is consuming much of my time. Here is a pic of the project.

Plus a wife and three young sons... plus other personal volunteer commitments... plus a busy job that requires travel.

I am looking for a roof rack to purchase and get ready for some off-road events that are coming up quickly.

Where in the pac NW are you? I'm in Seattle and will be doing the same thing except with a safety devices rack.
My plan is to mount the tent to bars running across the top rails. It'll give me a little more width for a wider hard shell tent and I'll store stuff between the tent shell and rack floor.

I'm not as concerned about the weight in the roof as I am about getting fouled up in areas with low lying branches etc

On another note, if you're local and handy with a cutter and welder, I have a damaged safety devices rack in my garage that someone drove into a parking garage with. My plan was to cut off the top rail where it raises up to follow the trucks roofline and create a box at front and a flat area for a roof top tent at the back. Give me a shout if you'd prefer to explore that route

We are using Baja Racks on our trucks here @ Lucky 8. Our Project LR3 has the basket style and works great. I have the expedition style on my LR3, but I do not have a RTT. I chose this style so I can use it when hauling many goods from Home Depot. I will be putting a basket style on my project D2 this year.

With that said, I hardly notice a difference in noise with the rack on the LR3. It is extremely quiet.

Robert,

I lived in Seattle and Bellevue from 1988 to 2002. Then Portland from 2002 to 2014. Moved to Chilliwack, 75 clicks from Vancouver, BC for a new job assignment last year. How about them Hawks??!!!

I do not quite understand your second paragraph... are you looking to sell the damaged rack? I may be interested depending on the extent of the damage.

Thanks!

I'm glad you're not getting an increase in wind noise with the LR3 and the rack. I am very happy with the Baja Rack. I have, however, thought about adding some kind of plexi faring around the sunroofs to mitigate the noise.

D2 or D3?

D2. I have to have more than 5 characters in my reply. So says the forum software. So there. More than 5 characters.:D

Ever consider putting the RTT on the trailer? That way you can set up base camp and not have to stow the tent to drive a trail. Also keeps the weight off the top of the Disco.

The RTT is needed for overlanding outings with the club guys. So, it will typically be me and one of my sons (as a special father-day bonding thing) where the RTT will suffice. The outings are typically 2 to 3 day trips where we do not go back to the same base camp. The routes where here in the Pacific NW can be steep with switchbacks and lots of vegetation. Pulling a trailer would not be convenient.

You have a good idea with the tent on the trailer. I am already working on modifying the trailer to mounting a second tent (for the trailer). The trailer will be used for trips with the entire family of me, mama bear and the three teddy bears. It will be a different type of tent as you see in the pics. Mama Bear and me will be in the trailer tent. The teddy bears will sleep up in the RTT. The trailer will equipped with a Drifta kitchen, fridge slide rack, ArkPak, propane, water and fuel tanks. I can get this type of tent for around $1000 shipped direct from China at the current currency exchange rate.

Cool. You will have a very versatile rig with that setup.

Biggest advantage with that setup is not falling off the roof of your truck in the middle of the night to take a pee. I've been torn between a getting an RTT or a pop up tow behind. I might just make a Roof top platform on which to throw a regular tent. there's a lot of friendly black bears where I go camping. On two occasions I've had a bear walk right through my campsite.

For me, the attraction of a rrt is that you have one, self-contained unit. No ground tent or trailer to mess with. I have slept in the back of my Rover a few times and it is not ideal, but a rrt would be much better. I need to be able to drive to a location where I plan to photograph at sunrise and go to bed. This way I can wake up at my location and begin to work. I know this doesn't have any bearing on your topic, but I've thought of getting a double cab 4x4 Ford pickup and putting a shell on the back. That way I could securely lock my equipment inside the truck and sleep in the back in relative security.

Ditto!

A lifted 4x4 crew cab with an expedition camper would be like heavenly. I met with the AT Adventure Expedition folks at the NW Overland Rally last year. They have a unique and cool camper mounted on a 4x4 crew cab:

AT FlipPac Full set up and pack away - Long version on Vimeo

Four Wheel Campers | AT Overland

RTT with expedition rack
 

I have an SD rack, which obviously has the side rails. The problem I ran into was that the mounting tracks for the tent didn't come anywhere close to the side rails, which means adding cross bars to span the basket. That adds still more height.

I too have a 2" lift and didn't want it getting anymore top-heavy than necessary. So did the unspeakable. I cut the sides off from the tall portion of my rack. A picture would be worth 1000 words here, but I don't have one now. Anyway, I added some steel sleeves, fabbed a blind nut into the one vertical bar that I had to cut, creating removable side bars.

My CVT hard shell tent fits much closer to the roof now, but I only put it up when I'm going to be using it for a couple few trips, not year-round. I put the side bars back on when I don't have the tent up there.

If you want to run a RTT, I'd recommend no sides.

An update on the use of the Baja Rack this summer.... I decided on the expedition version with the flat mounting platform in the rear. I've spent the summer with it and it is working out well with the current RTT hanging out at the rear of the truck. The next step is to mount another RTT on the trailer. This will accommodate our family of wifey, 3 sons and a dog.

I like the expedition version (flat back without the raised sides). The RTT is already sitting pretty high with this version of the rack and my 2" suspension lift. I had to use a tent ladder extension at its extension limit. I am 6' tall and have to raise my toes or climb up the truck to access certain parts of the tent. Therefore, I am glad that I did not get the standard version of the rack with the fully railed sides throughout the rack. This would raise the tent up by another few inches.

Here are some recent pics of the weeklong trip from British Columbia to Oregon. We camped out at the beach and sand dunes for a few days. Then another few days in Portland for the British Field Meet gathering.

How do you like that awning? I really want to purchase that next.

I use exactly the same setup as you in regard to the tent, but I have mine hanging off the drivers side when setup. I have a bit higher lift than you I think and I have to use the floor extension on the "basement" part as I call it. I also have to use the ladder extension. No way I can reach the whole thing...I climb up on the rear tires to unfold/fold it.

Hi 5kcstq,

Are you asking about the RTT awning or the side awning?

The RTT awning comes with the $1100 package price. I do not use it too often as I have a Tepui ground tent. My kids sleep in the RTT and I sleep in the ground tent. I am already using the ladder extension with 2" lift kit.

Regarding the side awning, it is a OzTrail 2-meter tent. Most of the side awnings sold by the different brands use a similar design (except for Hannibal). I recommend a side awning to anyone. They are easy to set up and re-assemble. They provide quick shade relief for temporary rest stops or during camping. One thing though.... I wished I had bought OzTrail's 2.5-meter version instead of 2meter version. I would like to add the side walls/awning room. Apparently, OzTrail does not offer awning rooms for their 2-meter version. This would be something which you may want to check.

I realize I'm dredging this thread up from the past, but can anyone identify the type of tents picured in this post? Ive been looking for something similar for months and can only find full trailer setups, no stand alone tents of a similar configuration.

Also, any leads in the Chinese suppliers. Spending $1000 on one of these would be much preferable to 3k+. Thanks!

kodiakcanvastents.com

The popular soft shell Roof Top Tents are:

Cascadia
https://cascadiatents.com/

Tepui
https://tepuitents.com/

Smittybilt
Overlander Tent and Awning - Smittybilt

Popular hard Shell RTTs are:

James Baroud
James Baroud USA - Roof Top Tents Built for Adventure.

Autohome (Columbus & Maggiolina)
Autohome US ? The world's best rooftop tents

I used the Tuff Stuff RTT (soft shell) for a year and then switched to a James Baroud (hard shell). The latter is more convenient to pack and go on multi-day overlanding trips.

You can order direct from China to save a few bucks (use the Alibaba website). However, not worth the risk for me by the time you factor in lack of warranty support, ocean freight, importation fees, etc. The cost of buying just one direct RTT from the Chinese manufacturer (called the "sample price") is typically higher than buying in bulk (usually in volume batches to fit a 20-ft or 40-ft sea can).

Sunday Beijing is one of the more popular RTT or trailer tent sources from China.

Heres mine . Saftey devices rack with tepui tent. Opened to rear. Mounted to top of rack not on rails. I bolted it down through the top rail.. I also have the full annex with floor. It sets up fast.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...c8d236705.jpeg

Quality Roof Top Tent for a good price
 

Update?
 

Hey, I just bought an '02 discovery and I'm trying to get it outfitted for overlanding. I was considering the Baja rack but have some similar concerns about finding a rooftop tent that fits. Did you ever figure something out? If so let me know!

Have you decided on the type of RTT... soft top (flip up) or hard shell? The floor size, dimensions and height of the RTT will depend what roof rack to chose.

You will also have to pay attention to the height and weight of the RTT. They will raise your center of gravity. Pretty important if you are doing frequent and hard offroading. Best to go with a roof rack with as little raised profile as possible.

This is how my Disco started 10 yrs ago:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...70ba6932d7.jpg


Added the Baja (Expedition Rack) a couple of years later.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...3cdf02cf69.jpg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...9c20d922bc.jpg


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...af5ab065e5.jpg


I did not like the cumbersome task of constantly flipping over and closing this type of soft shell RTT plus dealing with a rain cover, especially as it sat high on my llfted truck:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...76c7c49749.jpg


So I switched to a hard shell tent. I also mounted a Road Shower to the front to the rack. It acted beautifully as a fairing to keep the road noise down:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...a6f7a12cb9.jpg

The Baja rack is pretty sturdy:
https://rover-landers.smugmug.com/Ro...22/i-FzKrb87/A

@finntico you can also go with roof bars rather than a full rack - Front Runner has good bars if you are in the US the cost shipping hurts if you are outside the US.

I travel alone so I have a 1-2 person tent light and works well for me on 2 front Runner bars and a piece of 2 in square tube.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...ea420f83dc.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...1eeef6863e.jpg

I mounted mine directly to the (extended) roof rails but didn't leave it like that for too long as I didn't think it could take the weight. I ordered a set of ladder rack mounts for like $35, they mount directly to the drip rail, I then bent the top and affixed the tent mounting rails to the top, so the tent is attached to both the roof rails on the truck and the ladder rack. Its cheap and sturdy but you can only really do it if you have the factory roof rail extensions and a way to bend some 12ga steel! I love how relatively low it keeps the tent on an already tall vehicle.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...026abd0600.jpg

Do you have a link to those gutter mounts? I a have the Surco, but I don't like the optics.

Just search for Van Gutter Mount Ladder Rack and lots of options will come up. My setup didn’t need the crossbars so I just threw them away, just be sure to check if they are removable if you don’t need them (most of them are). I don’t know if I got lucky or it was pre-“supply chain” issues or whatever, but I can’t seem to find them cheaper than $65 now.

Custom voyager rack. I don't have sunroofs so had them keep the height the same from the front to the back and it is as low as the factory rails (can't go any lower then that) with an iKamper 3.0 mounted on top.