Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Hi Ian

This certainly looks interesting. An cheaper than a new RTT.
It is not clear exactly how many bodies can sleep in it?
I know with my RTT, the ladder is about 10cm off the ground, due to the lifts in body and suspension. So I either use bricks underneath the ladder or a bag of firewood tied to the bottom!
Are the legs of the "spider" height adjustable?

Hi Alex, the prices that I gave are only for the frame you still have to put a RTT on the frame, yes the legs are adjustable so hight of the vehicle does not matter. The other advantage of this system is that you put up the frame when you get to camp and leave it like that until you leave, no packing away RTT at 5 in the morning to go on gamedrive

Sold

Gentlemen, in my case we sleep in the length of the car, with myself and my wife sleeping completely over the car, and the kids sleeping in the "free hanging" section. Thus the greater majority of the load is over the roof. The ladder carries some weight, but very little as the system is designed to work in soft sand or semi-waterlogged terrain as well. Oh, and the three jerry cans are for water, not fuel.

However, I am pretty sure that if you could somehow invert your car and put it down very carefully on the roof rack, the roof would probably hold the load. I am of the opinion that the imposed limit on the weight limit that is imposed on on the roof rack has far more to do with vehicle stability than on structural strength.

And I also believe that if anything the GU is stronger than the GQ (although I could be wrong as the GQ is made from pretty thick plate).

With regard to the spider frame: I have thought about this, but I would want to feel how stable it is before I spent my money on it. The reason I say this is that I have some experience with a similar but far more robust concept.
My father has a camper body that was designed to fit on a bakkie. The reason he bought the particular product he has is because the manufacturer stated that it could be unloaded from the bakkie and be used in that state. It worked by bolting fairly sturdy-looking legs with large double caster wheels onto brackets on the side, and the idea was that it could then be rolled off the bakkie. However, the first time we tried it, on the beautifully flat lawn at home, the wheels dug in enough that it proved impossible, and we were sure the legs would collapse.

I then manufactuerd a far sturdier set of legs (made from 60mm thick round tube with 5mm thick walls, and keep in mind that the mounting brackets are just above the edge of the bakkie's load bed), and then made guides on the bakkie so that effectively the camper is lifted on the legs and the bakkie is then driven out underneath. Despite the legs of this camper being both much sturdier and much shorter than those of any spider frame I have seen, this thing wobbles around enough in a breeze that my mother struggles to sleep in it, and when I used it in some heavy storms in Mozambique, I pulled the bakkie back in every night to steady it. We have since made a cable arrangement between the legs that does help somewhat.

I am not saying it's a bad idea, as it has a lot of merits, only pointing out one disadvantage that needs some thought...

Hi Peter, did you have a look at the web site, I can't say because I have never had it up but it does come with cross braces and guy ropes

Hi Piet

Thanks again, useful stuff!
Using your tent design as reference, do you think it is possible to make the pillars on the open side (where your kids sleep) strong enough, such that it can take substantial weight (such as that of adults)?

Hey guys I must agree with Piet on this once we went to moz and a friend of mine landrover broke down ....they had to come back with me and all their stuff was put on my empty roofrack ....when I dropped them off at the airport and took their stuff to the courier company it was 560kg....?
I drove all tbe way back from moz imjambane province went on the mohamba dirt road in rainy season .....lot of potholes and holes big mud puddles ect with a boat behind and all is fine .....Not even n small dent in the gutter .........so the 2 rooftops is about 120kg empty and some more weight with people in it will be fine if I didnt damige my car sleeping in it will def not do it..... just dont get two honey moon couples in it at the same time.....lol

[quote="IanT"]Hi Peter, did you have a look at the web site, I can't say because I have never had it up but it does come with cross braces and guy ropes/[quote]

Ian, I had a qick look. I am sure the cross braces help, but the leg sections below them are still very long and look rather spindly. I was not aware of the guy ropes. However, I have only seen it in pictures, perhaps it is a lot sturdier than it looks. I am quite sure it won't just fall over, but I also suspect it will sway some, and we in our family are quite susceptable to motion sickness. I am sure people like you who are used to boating will find it much less of a problem.

Alex, I am sure the laddre can be configured to handle about half the weight of the overhanging portion, but not more than that. If you want to add extra legs, closer to the hinge points, you can perhaps carry more of the weight, but I am also sure it is unnecessary.

For me the major benefit and reason for moving to RTT is the speed of erection and vice versa, and adding extra legs will impact this negatively. You are however welcome to drop by and have a look, the tent is on the car at the moment?

Well I will be the guini pig on this one, R1,500 is also not that bad to spend on something for piece of mind even if not required in the end.

Was also thinking that being able to leave this behind to make sure your camp spot is still there might be an added advantage.
Ian also gave me such a good deal on a rooftop tent that the spider frame was basically an added extra

The frame also does not take up additional space so if not required both tents can stay on the roof, so dont really have anything to lose except maybe 15kg.......

Dirk,


Eezi awn have a large family RTT. It is one of the best RTT's , although you will not have space for anything else.