Adding a bedroom

WilliamA

We are still on the fence about selling the trailer, but in the interim have solved the sleeping space issue for the three of us. I picked up a Smittybilt gen2 roof top tent (standard size) and made a mount for the Gladiator. Stuck it on last week and did the ceremonial unfolding today. I wanted to be able to unfold the tent with the trailer still attached so the engineering was a bit of a head scratcher. I also wanted the tent to be below the roofline of the truck when folded.

The tent, when folded, is wider than it is long. For a few reasons, it made sense to mount it so that it folded back instead of over the side. Mostly, it reduces the footprint of the campsite, as in, we can put the truck and trailer next to each other in a narrow campsite.

The ladder works perfectly on the front toolbox. Entry into the tent is actually pretty easy.

The folded tent packs perfectly on the stubby Gladiator bed and tucks in behind the cab so wind resistance is minimal.

If we end up selling the trailer I'll keep the tent. The boy loves it. We can either use it with the next trailer or by itself for adventures...

WilliamA

HikinMike

Very nice TV

WilliamA

https://teardrop-trailers.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/9618#Comment_9618

Thanks Mike. I spend most of my money on Jeeps and camping. The rest, I just fritter away on unimportant stuff...

WilliamA

HikinMike

Those are great things to spend money on.

LuckyJ

Whaaaat? You got a Gladiator! Hum.

I definitely have a lot of catching up to do!

A gladiator is on my list as well, but probably not u til t years or more.

One thing you could do to clear the tent ladder is when you have enough space is to park the trailer jack knife. It should clear tge ladder. Just a tought.

WilliamA

Just got some bits and hardware so I could make a lift to stuff the roof top tent up in the rafters. Now I just need to make a laser-containment system to keep the mice from turning it into a penthouse....

I'll make some safety-hangers just to make sure it stays up there and doesn't drop on the "mom-bomb" but it's pretty secure. Each cable (1/8" 7X19 aviation cable) is only holding 30 lbs.

When it comes to being lazy, I'll spend good money......

WilliamA

LuckyJ

This is great. My ARB RTT and my jeep LJ hard top are stored 8n a similar fashion when needed. I THINK THE RTT as not moved from her spot in 2 years. I need to take her down, forgot my gortex down sleeping bag in it the last time I used it. 😉

WilliamA

It's been a pretty crazy couple of weeks here, even by my standards. I've been working on the house pretty much non-stop. We had a propane forced-air furnace installed in our farmhouse. It had never had more than a wood fired system so it needed all of the ductwork and associated hardware to go with it. Our contractor did the heavy lifting, but I chased after him building soffits, patching sheetrock and fixing shelves. I'm mostly done with that but for paint and a few details. It feels good to have that behind us.

I also installed a new diesel heater out in the new studio and that's all done.

Sneaking about between jobs, I re-did the truck bed mount for the rooftop tent. DW and I decided it would be easier for either of us to deploy and stow if it were a bit lower so I removed the frame and cut all of the side rails off down to pickup-bed level, then rewelded it along with crossbars for the tent mount. I liked the extra room under the raised mount but it was difficult to work the tent at that height without a ladder or stool. The new mount makes it much easier to do all the setup and stow from the ground flat-footed.

Here's the "new" lower mount.

Compared to the original mount.

It's not that much of a difference. About 11" or so, but it makes a HUGE difference for reaching everything. I like it much better for that. I'll miss the under-tent space though, as well as my Rotopax can mounts. I'm making a new Rotopax mount for inside the truck bed.

I pity folks who have their RTT on top of the vehicle.

More testing (a.k.a. camping) this weekend.

WilliamA

beaky

way better location, having a tent up that high feels weird to me, it rocks around