How to Mount a Rooftop Tents on a Trailer

rooftop tent

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If you love living an active lifestyle that includes outside activities like camping, mountain biking, and more, then there’s a relatively accurate chance that you’ve heard of — or better yet, you’ve given some idea to — RoofTop Tents (RTTs). Read how to Mount a Rooftop Tents On A Trailer or a pickup truck.

While there are many questions about RoofTop Tents, many campers (especially these eager on getting their hands on one) are curious about the place and how they can use them.

This, therefore, begs the question of whether or not RTTs be used on trailers?

RTT comes in quite a number of shapes and sizes, making them very convenient to not only put them on your car but also to use them on just about any trailer. It is important, however, that you be aware of your trailer’s weight capacity.

This way, you’ll end up settling on an RTT that is now not only appropriate for your trailer but also one that your trailer can support.

Here’s an Idea of How to Mount A Rooftop Tents On A Trailer:

Mounting a rooftop tent on your trailer or your camper, utility trailer, or a different system is comparable to mounting it on top of your car. Most trailers can hold a capacity of up to 1,000 lbs, depending on the type that you have. Mount your rooftop tent to your trailer using mounted roof racks and mounting tracks.

Online Roof-Top Tent Stores:

Here are some of the most popular online models to purchase:

BrandPrice RangeModelLink
TMBK*Overland Vehicle SystemsAmazon
Tepui* *Explorer KukenamAmazon
Smittybilt*Smittybilt Overlander TentAmazon
LMHX* * *Automotive Rooftop TentAmazon

How Do You Mount A Rooftop Tents On A Trailer?

Mounting an RTT on a trailer is no longer as challenging as it sounds.

In fact, you’ll be amazed by how effortless it is. The trick with mounting rooftop tents successfully on top of a trailer is all about the equipment that you use, especially when using the proper tools the right way.

The equipment you’ll need when mounting RTT consist of a box cutter, 10-millimeter ratcheting wrench, 13 mm Ratcheting wrench, and hacksaw.

You’ll additionally want the following hardware accessories:

  • Tent Cover
  • Wrenches
  • Channel Slides (with Nuts and Bolts)
  • Bolts with Washers
  • Steel Mounting Plates
  • Ladder Brackets
  • Ladder

Equally essential when mounting RTT on trailers is following the proper steps, from pre-installation to the real set up process of the tent on top of your trailer.

That said, these steps (if followed correctly) will see you set up your RTT on your trailer in no time.

Step 1: Prepare Your Trailer:

Once you’ve acquired your RTT, you’ll want to place it on a floor that is not only clean but also stable.

You can get such a surface by simply doing away with any debris present on your trailer. To make your surface stable, you’ll want stabilizers.

If you don’t already have stabilizers, strive to find ones that suit your trailer’s dimensions and buy them online.

Step 2: Installing Mounting Tracks:

When installing mounting tracks, make certain you set up them perpendicular to the crossbars or rails on your roof rack system.

This way, they’ll effortlessly connect to the sidebars.

You’ll additionally want to secure your mounting tracks. You can do these with the use of washers.

Place them on every bolt and input them slowly till you pop every bolt into the hole.

Step 3: Use Your Ladder:

Once you’ve installed your tracks on the trailer and positioned your RTT on it, you’ll want to flip it over.

You can do this using the ladder your RTT came with.

If your ladder came separately, you’d want to connect it to the tent first. 

You can do this by taking the ladder brackets and aligning them over pre-drilled holes at the edges of your RTT.

Ensure that you remove the bolts from the brackets before you begin attaching the ladder to your tent.

Step 4: Cover:

With your ladder working smoothly, you’ll then prefer to re-secure your RTT on your trailer.

Do this using the C-channel positioned on the side of your RTT.

Step 5: Positioning:

With the RTT on top of your trailer, it’s now time to re-position it if necessary.

You can do this by placing two channel sliders and the supplied bolts into every end of the mounting tracks.

Once you are done, lift your RTT slightly, then move the slide/bolt combo to have one on each side.

Do these for each area of the mounting track, as well as where the crossbars meet.

Step 6: Mount A Rooftop Tents On A Trailer and Secure Your Roof Rack:

To secure your roof rack, you’ll want metal mounting plates, 4 of them to be precise.

Place them beneath every pair of mounting channel sliders, then use the provided nuts to secure them in place before tightening them with a wrench.

How Much Weight Can A Trailer Carry On Top?

This tends to differ depending on the kind of trailer you have.

There are presently three kinds of trailers that are very in many instances used alongside RTTs:

  • A-Frame Camper Trailer
  • Small Open Utility Trailer
  • Pop-Up Camper Trailer

With the a-frame camper trailer, you can carry on the top weight between 1,300 and 2,400 pounds. On the other hand, the pop-up camper trailer can carry a weight between 1,400 and 3,000 pounds.

This offers you a respectable load capacity of 3,000 pounds.

With small open utility trailers, the total amount of weight you can carry relies upon the kind of open utility trailer you have. If you have a short aluminum utility trailer, you’ll be able to carry weight up to 1,000 lbs.

A wide, double-ax trailer, on the other hand, allows you to lift up to 3,000 pounds.

How Heavy Are Roof Top Tents?

While there is no specific answer to this question, RTTs commonly weigh between 100 and 200 lbs.

This difference is commonly a result of numerous factors, with the principal ones being the dimension of your RTT, sleeping capacity, and materials used to construct it.

If you are dealing with an RTT designed to occupy, let’s say, three or four people, assume it to weigh close to 200lbs. RTTs designed to occupy 1 or 2 people are commonly not that heavy.

One or two-person rooftop tents will typically weigh around 100 to 120 lbs.

How Much Support Do These Roof Top Tents Need?

RTTs, provided you have the proper roof rack system, can be installed on simply about any trailer.

However, it is necessary to understand the amount of support they need as this helps with selecting the proper support system for your rooftop system.

In general, RTTs weigh between 95 and 200 pounds.

So when searching for a roof rack system to support your RTT, you want to go for one that can cope with such weight.

How Much Space Do These Tents Require?

RTTs, in general, do now not require too much space.

This is one of the primary reasons why they’ve become so big — not just in Australia but also in the US — in a concise period. Typical RTTs commonly have closed dimensions of (WxLxH) 56 x 48 x 14 in and open dimensions of 56 x 96 x 52 in.

It’s well worth noting, with regards to space, is that some are barely larger.

We are speaking about RTTs with a sleeping footprint of 10,586 square inches (79 x 134 inches) and 8,360 rectangular inches (88 x 95 inches).

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