FEEDBACK REQUESTED: Car camping (or overlanding) rack options

[NTXTremor]

I like the small camper option. Just spent the weekend out in mine doing the campground thing. I just didn't feel like driving all over the woods looking for a boondock site just before Labor Day weekend.

Big thing I like with this is that it's solid against the weather. We had some rain while we were out, and never a concern with getting drips or spray or whatever. You do lose a little bit of maneuverability when offroading with a trailer vs. keeping everything in/on the truck, but an offroad capable trailer doesn't lose much. I've seen vids of people taking them on some pretty rough stuff. Get an offroad articulating hitch and you're in great shape.

Mine's not an offroad model, so lightly maintained gravel roads are the worst I'll take it on.

Most small trailers like this are built by small regional builders (find one reasonably close to you so you can take advantage of the better support and easy pickup you'll get from being close to the builder) and demand is high enough that they're almost entirely built-to-order. Not exactly backordered.

Most of the cost of these, tbh, comes from the trailer base (and however it's been beefed up for offroad use) and the options you add onto it. The electrical system I have in mine is probably at least 1/4 of the total cost (100Ah LiFePO4 battery, 240w of solar, Dometic fridge, interior lighting, maxxfan, lots of outlets. All of the lights you see in this pic are solar rechargeable on their own, and don't attach to the camper's electrical system.

They aren't all that complicated, either, and if you're up for it, you can build your own. 2 things I see that the usual manufacturers do consistently better than the DIY folks is building on good quality trailers (most DIY builds are on cheapo harbor freight trailers) and the finish work details. You can build out a cargo trailer, too. Though the extra height on those can be a little tricky for offroading, I've seen it done. Saw a build thread of one where the guy tore his cargo trailer down and basically re-welded it to get the height he wanted, offroad suspension, etc. Not sure why he didn't just weld a trailer up from scratch. And for that matter, I like putting a RTT onto a tiny offroad trailer better than putting it on my truck. That way, I wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of removing the RTT from my truck after a trip. Can just unhitch the trailer.

My trailer fits inside my garage no problem. And I've got some height to work with if I wanted something with raised suspension. Some ppl use airbags, at least in part so they can deflate them and squeeze into a garage. I've even seen examples where people remove the wheels from their trailer, and then put the hubs onto dollies in order to squeeze into a short garage.

Great information!

I REALLY LOVE the idea of a trailer, but besides the upfront costs, I really do not have a good place to store one (Thanks, HOA!) so storage costs are a big factor for me, too.

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[Theslim_spaydee]

I'll cut you a deal on a retrax embark ls cover and a compatible bed rack with RTT brackets if you want to meet half way to atlanta!

 

[NTXTremor]

I'll cut you a deal on a retrax embark ls cover and a compatible bed rack with RTT brackets if you want to meet half way to atlanta!

Let me think about it. I will DM you if I decide to go that way.

 

[ProtonDecay]

Thanks for the very thorough response! There is a lot to digest here.

How did you tear the heck out of the rack? Is it not well made or heavy duty enough?

We go off-road as much as possible. Doing this subjected the loaded rack (150lbs of RTT) to significant side-to-side stress as we went over rocks and such. The Yakima design is partly to blame, IMHO, but at the end of the day, if you put a steel bolt into an extruded aluminum channel and then load it, that steel bolt is going to rip right through the much softer aluminum sooner or later. The other Yakima design flaw, in my opinion, is using friction plates to hold the cross bars into the uprights. These are also subjected to significant load when going off road and they slipped, which exacerbated the problem with the partially exposed bolts below. The fix I applied, which held quite well, was to drill out and then double heli-coil the bolt holes and then sink metal screws through the uprights into the cross bars, essentially locking them into place (you probably wouldn't want to do this if you intended to raise and lower the uprights very often). Anyway, it has been rock solid ever since, but we only did another couple trips with the RTT before pulling all of that off and switching to a trailer. I only recently put one of the rack arches back on to hold my Starlink dish, and it only weighs a few pounds. So, I don't know if it would have stripped out again if we had continued to go off-road with the RTT. I still think the Overhaul HD is a good rack - but I would probably use screws to lock everything into place up front if I were going down this path again.

 

[NTXTremor]

We go off-road as much as possible. Doing this subjected the loaded rack (150lbs of RTT) to significant side-to-side stress as we went over rocks and such. The Yakima design is partly to blame, IMHO, but at the end of the day, if you put a steel bolt into an extruded aluminum channel and then load it, that steel bolt is going to rip right through the much softer aluminum sooner or later. The other Yakima design flaw, in my opinion, is using friction plates to hold the cross bars into the uprights. These are also subjected to significant load when going off road and they slipped, which exacerbated the problem with the partially exposed bolts below. The fix I applied, which held quite well, was to drill out and then double heli-coil the bolt holes and then sink metal screws through the uprights into the cross bars, essentially locking them into place (you probably wouldn't want to do this if you intended to raise and lower the uprights very often). Anyway, it has been rock solid ever since, but we only did another couple trips with the RTT before pulling all of that off and switching to a trailer. I only recently put one of the rack arches back on to hold my Starlink dish, and it only weighs a few pounds. So, I don't know if it would have stripped out again if we had continued to go off-road with the RTT. I still think the Overhaul HD is a good rack - but I would probably use screws to lock everything into place up front if I were going down this path again.

Thanks! That makes perfect sense to me now. I appreciate the additional information.

 

[halligan1201]

I got the Retrax pro with t slots and love it. There is a definite difference in the security of the plastic roll top and the aluminum roll top. The aluminum also has a much longer lifetime guarantee that the polycarbonate. The only downside I see of the retrax over roll up or flip styles is the canister size at the top front of the box. Otherwise, It is better in every regard IMHO. Doesn’t even block rear window. Locks at any position. Looks great.

I haven’t moved forward on a rack yet, but if I do I will probably go with the Xtrusion Overland or build my own aluminum extrusion version. It is much cheaper than the elevate or overhaul and more flexible. Basically you can do anything the t-slot aluminum profiles.

The Xtrusion Overland is $250-300 more than the Elevate (which is why I went with the Elevate lol).

 

[mtbikernate]

Great information!

I REALLY LOVE the idea of a trailer, but besides the upfront costs, I really do not have a good place to store one (Thanks, HOA!) so storage costs are a big factor for me, too.

I have an HOA, also. It's pretty mellow as far as they go. I keep my trailer in the garage, and there are no rules about parking my cars in the driveway. For that matter, I can technically keep a trailer outside the garage, but the HOA has some vague rules about "approved screening" in addition to needing pavement instead of gravel (or grass) to park it on but no other guidelines aside from that. Nobody in the community has really made an attempt to get any sort of screening approved to park a trailer at their house and only a couple people have had extra driveway pavement poured. I threw it out to the wife as an option, and she would rather pay storage fees than to figure out what would get approved to screen a larger camper and how much it would cost.

Storage costs are the big item I've used to avoid purchasing a larger camper. I honestly don't want to have to try to deal with maintaining a larger camper while being unable to park it at my house to do said maintenance. I am technically allowed to park it at the house for a couple of days to load/unload/clean it, but I don't have to go much bigger than I have before I have to park it in the street to do that (shortish and steep driveway). and I just don't trust people enough not to crash into it or break into it to park it in the street.

 

[NTXTremor]

I have an HOA, also. It's pretty mellow as far as they go. I keep my trailer in the garage, and there are no rules about parking my cars in the driveway. For that matter, I can technically keep a trailer outside the garage, but the HOA has some vague rules about "approved screening" in addition to needing pavement instead of gravel (or grass) to park it on but no other guidelines aside from that. Nobody in the community has really made an attempt to get any sort of screening approved to park a trailer at their house and only a couple people have had extra driveway pavement poured. I threw it out to the wife as an option, and she would rather pay storage fees than to figure out what would get approved to screen a larger camper and how much it would cost.

Storage costs are the big item I've used to avoid purchasing a larger camper. I honestly don't want to have to try to deal with maintaining a larger camper while being unable to park it at my house to do said maintenance. I am technically allowed to park it at the house for a couple of days to load/unload/clean it, but I don't have to go much bigger than I have before I have to park it in the street to do that (shortish and steep driveway). and I just don't trust people enough not to crash into it or break into it to park it in the street.

As far as HOAs go, mine is pretty good, but they are very clear on not storing cars and trailers in your yard even if there is appropriate screening. Most of the yards are zero lot line, so there isn't even room for it.

And half of my garage is already taken by my project car, a 68 Cutlass. If I can convince my wife to let me buy a shop somewhere, I could use it to store both the car and a trailer while having a better place to work on my Cutlass.

It's only money, right?

 

[mtbikernate]

definitely only money. yeah, mine is also very clear about not parking in the yard except to do yard work (I drive my truck through the yard to dump loads of soil/mulch and leave it there until the job is done).

we have big lots, though. I have one of the smaller ones at half an acre. some ppl have over an acre. so plenty of folks have space to put down more pavement and expand parking.

 

[halligan1201]

As far as HOAs go, mine is pretty good, but they are very clear on not storing cars and trailers in your yard even if there is appropriate screening. Most of the yards are zero lot line, so there isn't even room for it.

And half of my garage is already taken by my project car, a 68 Cutlass. If I can convince my wife to let me buy a shop somewhere, I could use it to store both the car and a trailer while having a better place to work on my Cutlass.

It's only money, right?

My buddy in Arizona is a member of a co-op group that has a big warehouse with lifts and bigger tools that not only provide space for storage but also has it so you can book time on the lifts, frame machine, detail booth, etc. He stores his toys there and works on his projects and the other members help each other out. Sends me pictures like these. I'd love something like that.

 

[fortywater12]

Everyone who is giving you advice to try the RTT life before you commit to it is giving great advice.

I have had many friends that pull the trigger on a RTT and bed-rack, and then end up selling it and either going with a camper shell setup or a cabover like GFC or Four Wheel Camper. Reasons range from durability during harsh weather, easy of entry/exit, space & bed utilization/access, etc.

If you have any way to spend a weekend camping in one via a rental or friend, do it and make sure you like it.

 

[NTXTremor]

My buddy in Arizona is a member of a co-op group that has a big warehouse with lifts and bigger tools that not only provide space for storage but also has it so you can book time on the lifts, frame machine, detail booth, etc. He stores his toys there and works on his projects and the other members help each other out. Sends me pictures like these. I'd love something like that.

I am super jealous. In high school, I formed a COOP of sorts with a mail carrier and the high school shop teacher. We rented a 3500 sq. ft. warehouse for $350 / month and shared expenses for utilities and some tools such as a sand blaster and air compressor. We each restored our own cars, but we also bought project cars together, fixed them up and sold them. We also restored a few cars for other people. It was loosely a side business, I suppose.

Gone are the days of $350 / month 3500 sq. ft. warehouses, at least anywhere close to where I live.

 

[NTXTremor]

Everyone who is giving you advice to try the RTT life before you commit to it is giving great advice.

I have had many friends that pull the trigger on a RTT and bed-rack, and then end up selling it and either going with a camper shell setup or a cabover like GFC or Four Wheel Camper. Reasons range from durability during harsh weather, easy of entry/exit, space & bed utilization/access, etc.

If you have any way to spend a weekend camping in one via a rental or friend, do it and make sure you like it.

If there is one thing I have learned from this is that I really need to rent one. My wife loves the idea, too. We will look for a small trailer with a RTT to rent for a weekend trip this fall. That will give us a better feel for both the tent as well as whether we might prefer a small trailer.

 

[mtbikernate]

If there is one thing I have learned from this is that I really need to rent one. My wife loves the idea, too. We will look for a small trailer with a RTT to rent for a weekend trip this fall. That will give us a better feel for both the tent as well as whether we might prefer a small trailer.

That's a pretty good plan.

I rented a small trailer from the manufacturer before I decided to buy one.

 

[Smudgpot23]

Im running a modified RCI rack with their lifted mounting brackets. My tri-fold tonneau will not open with this rack which is kinda good for security reasons. The bed is so short on this truck that I can just drop the tailgate (non dampened) and reach whatever I need. If you have to haul something taller than the tonneau then there's a problem.
As for getting in and out of the tent. I just leave the tailgate down and place an ice chest on it and I can stand on that to get in or out. Very eazy.

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