[Ramdough]

Hello,

This is my first post on this forum. I have a 2011 Outback with the factory roof rack.

I have used roof top tents before on my tacoma and have built my own roof rack for my tent. That tent is about dead and the family has grown, so I am considering a larger tent. I thought it would be nice to be able to mount the tent on either the tacoma or the outback.

This is the tent I am considering.

I think the factory rack can take the load empty, but what about fully loaded with 4 people?

Anyone with roof top tent experience on the outback?

Thanks

 

[chuchu]

Reach out to member 2Shoes, he's had a CVT tent on his 2nd Gen Outback. See here: http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/63-gallery/46768-expedition-outback-build.html

 

[chuchu]

Also, here's some more Subaru RTT inspiration for you.

Maggiolina rooftent on 2010 - Subaru Forester Owners Forum

Compact AWD Overland 2006 Subaru Forester "Blackberry" - Expedition Portal

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...-outback-car-camping-thread-4.html#post168303

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...-outback-car-camping-thread-2.html#post156450

 

[Chris Sandstorm]

I have an RTT and mounted it on our 2011 Jetta wagon TDI.

It looked a bit silly but worked great and the factory rack on the Jetta wagon handled our RTT with no issues. I used 2 Thule bars mounted on the factory rack to mount the RTT.

Have you considered pulling some kind of expo trailer with your RTT on top of that?

My RTT only weighs 110 lbs. Here it is on my LandCruiser, I will look for a pic of it on the Jetta.

 

[upflying]

I am a might bit skeptical at this claim..

"12. This is a 6 person tent".

I guess it is not false advertising since there is no disclosure of the sizes of those 6 persons.

 

[Ramdough]

Thanks for the input everyone.

I know I can physically attach the tent to the outback, but I am not sure if the rack can take the weight. Or for that matter, the steel underneath the rack. The rack is close to the edges, so i assume there is enough strength in the sheet metal. I think the tent is 165lb and between my wife daughter and myself, we weigh over 400 lb. That is until my daughter gets bigger and we have more children.
So, we are looking at close to 600 lbs+ on the plastic rack base. I assume there is metal somewhere inside, but that is just an assumption.

This is why I was turning to everyone here. I know that people have done smaller tents with fewer occupants. I just don't know where the limit is.

Any thoughts?

As far as an expo trailer..... I would love that, but it is not in the budget anytime soon.

Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[Ramdough]

Nice rig Chris! I am a big fan of cruisers. I would love to get my hands on an fzj80 some day.

 

[Ramdough]

I am a might bit skeptical at this claim..

"12. This is a 6 person tent".

I guess it is not false advertising since there is no disclosure of the sizes of those 6 persons.

I plan on only 4. I always assume that 1/3 of the tent occupancy is used up for comfort or gear.

 

[nipper]

The amount of people in a tent is just square footage, it may not be functional.

This sounds interesting, I wasnt sure if Subaru roof racks could support this weight.

 

[Ramdough]

Yeah, the weight is really my only concern.

If the Subaru can't support the weight, my truck rack can. I just thought it would be nice to have a second vehicle option for road trips. My truck would still be my primary vehicle for camping/expedition/offroad.

Does anyone know how to carry that much weight on Subaru roof rack?

 

[upflying]

Does anyone know how to carry that much weight on Subaru roof rack?

I reckon a whole lot. The rack is mounted above the very stout A,B,C and D pillars.
Rack cross bars, not so much.

 

[nipper]

The have pictures on thier site of Subarus doing it, but I would like to hear first hand from someone. Roof Racks are only rated at 100 lbs.

I should ask at the Offroad.org people, they have similiar set ups and would know

 

[JAvendan]

i don't have a RTT but have read on different forums that the static/non-moving load bearing weight of roof rails are much higher than the manufacturer's listed weight of 100/150 pounds.

that's all i got - ha ha ha...

joel

 

[subiesailor]

Hey guys their is a big difference between an empty packed up roof tent being held to the roof by cross bars rated for 150lbs - vs two fat guys snoring away with their weight sitting on the rails - not the cross bars. If these tents lacked a frame that wasn't placing the sleeping load over the rails that run front to back on the roof - but placing the sleepers weight on the 150lb rated cross bars every vehicle would have issues.

 

[rasterman]

The roof can certainly support the load, but I have a lot of doubt about the factory roof rack properly transferring this load into the roof. I don't have any useful suggestions for engineering a better one, but I think you would find it necessary for that load.

 

[subiesailor]

If your worried about the stock rails not distributing the load you can remove them and put Yakima or Thule flat track on the roof and add as many feet and cross bars as your budget or imagination might suggest. The rails both stock and the after market flat track all mount to the passenger cage structure designed to support the weight of the vehicle if it rolls over. The trick is making sure that your sleeping load is spread out so you don't dimple the roof skin that goes over the heavy roof structure in the car.

 

[El Guapo]

The rails are the primary limiting factor regarding weight limitations. The rack mounts themselves transfer the weight down into the A,B,C and D pillars as a previous commenter noted. The rollover strength of the Outback is considerable....highly doubtful you and a friend or two are going to cause any harm to the roof. Of course, this is all dependent on the frame structure of the tent. As long as your points of contact with the roof of your Outback are only at the hardpoints, you'll be perfectly fine.

 

[rasterman]

If your worried about the stock rails not distributing the load you can remove them and put Yakima or Thule flat track on the roof and add as many feet and cross bars as your budget or imagination might suggest. The rails both stock and the after market flat track all mount to the passenger cage structure designed to support the weight of the vehicle if it rolls over. The trick is making sure that your sleeping load is spread out so you don't dimple the roof skin that goes over the heavy roof structure in the car.

Just looked those up... that looks like a brilliant solution. Not cheap, but it would be done right.

 

[Ramdough]

If your worried about the stock rails not distributing the load you can remove them and put Yakima or Thule flat track on the roof and add as many feet and cross bars as your budget or imagination might suggest. The rails both stock and the after market flat track all mount to the passenger cage structure designed to support the weight of the vehicle if it rolls over. The trick is making sure that your sleeping load is spread out so you don't dimple the roof skin that goes over the heavy roof structure in the car.

I am not motivated to do such a big modification to my Subaru. If I can't use the stock base with some minor work, then I will just put it on the tacoma. The Subaru mount would be nice but I don't want to tear into the Subaru to force it to work.

Thanks for the idea though.

 

[SkyBorne]

Hi All,

I'm in the market for a Roof-Top tent for my OB 2010.
I really like the hard shell for simplicity, but we have a dog. 60Lbs Australian Shepard X.
So, I'm looking for a hard shell with room for two adults and one dog.

Anny suggestions?