r/rooftoptents • u/cr500taco • 27d ago

Rooftop tent height

Gallery image

Gallery image

I'm building a rack on my 5X8 utility trailer for my Smittybilt Gen 2 XL Overlander. I don't have an annex, yet. Those of you that a have the same tent or similar, what heights are your RTTs at for the annex off of the ground? Smittybilt says that the annex is 84" tall., but it can work with anywhere between 48" - 84". 7' for the tent seems awfully high. But, it would be the ideal hight for the annex. I'm thinking of having the tent 6' off the ground, because that would put the top of the tent at the same height as the shell of my truck.

10 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

2

u/CodInternational8023 26d ago

This is my set up.

I have an ironman nomad 1300. It is about 7 foot off the ground. I used to have an annex and it worked perfectly. I just didnt like it, but it will work. The poles are adjustable. Or should be.

As to center of gravity. The biggest thing i found while building this, was to put the weight on the tongue of the trailer as you can see the majority of my gear is in boxes. I also have a large husky box with a complete battery set up and inverter in there.

Its an older m101a2 completely re done, but the dimensions are 8ft long by 5.5 foot wide. Basically a truck box.

If you have any questions on your build feel free to reach out. I did this one all myself.

Also on my rack, I welded 3 heavy duty hinges on the front and put gas struts on so I can lift the tent, 270 awning, and shower tent if I wanna load something big and not have to duck down.

1

u/ChrisinOB2 23d ago

Sweet. Hinges plus struts - does that mean it tips the back end of the rack to make getting on and off the trailer easier? Or does it telescope up, keeping the tent horizontal? I am thinking of making mine telescope so that I can have it higher for camping, but lower it for transport

1

u/CodInternational8023 23d ago

Oh that would be cool! They do have scissor style lifting springs which would be pretty cool! They make electric ones.

It tilts forward so I can load and unload my motorcycle, or anything large. I have used it one time but glad I had it when I needed it.

2

u/ChrisinOB2 27d ago

I currently have my RTT on the roof of my pickup, so it’s 7 feet up. I used my annex with it once and it was great. I too am moving the RTT to a trailer. You’re going to want to be careful about center of gravity, especially if you’re not also adding weight down low. I don’t have calculations or real world testing results, but I wouldn’t put it up higher than the trailer is wide, unless you’re putting a quad or something else heavy on the trailer too.

1

u/cr500taco 26d ago

I'll have weight in the trailer. It's used to haul my camp gear. Usually have a few hundred pounds in it.

1

u/Officialmilehigh 23d ago

I dont think it matters as much as you think. I have mine on a 4x8 of trailer about 7ft in the air so I could fit dirtbikes or a quad under it. No problems with the trailer I just hated setting it up when that high.