WILL A TUFF-TREK ROOF TENT FIT MY VEHICLE?

We’re often asked the following question – “Will a TUFF-TREK Roof Tent fit my vehicle?”

The answer is generally YES .

TUFF-TREK Roof Tents will work with most vehicles, but there are a few factors to to think about, which we’ve listed below for you.

ROOF BARS/CROSS BARS or ROOF RACK

You will need a set of suitable Roof Bars (cross bars that run across your roof) or a Roof Rack to attach your roof tent to.

In 99% of case a Roof Rack is not needed and Roof Bars will be fine for a Soft Top Tent.

If you plan on using Roof Bars they need to run across your roof (Left to Right)
Ideally space them around 80-120cm apart
They also need to have a suitable LOAD RATING (recommend 75kg for soft top tents)
The distance between the two tent mounting rails (centre to centre) running full length of the tent is 81cm. Ensure there is enough room to fit the locking bolts/plates around your load bar foot pack.

Different manufacturers attach ROOF BARS in different ways. In general there are 4x different types of roof system to attach Roof Bars to:

RAISED SIDE RAILS – Cross Roof bar legs will fit onto these front to back rails
FIXED POINTS – OFTEN UNDER FLAPS – Cross Roof bar legs will fit into these fixing points
RAIN GUTTERS – old fashioned but simple! Cross Roof bar legs will clamp onto/around these gutters
NAKED/NORMAL – More difficult – some Roof Bars will fix around the edge of the roof where the door closes
FACTORY ROOF RACK – check load rating is sufficient

Most companies like HALFORDS will have a good range of roof bars and you can simply put in your REGISTRATION number to get the options that suit best!

VEHICLE ROOF/LOAD LIMITS

ROOF Load Limits are confusing! A common Vehicle Roof Limit or Roof Bar limit quoted might be just 75kg and tent and occupants will be much more than this – what do I do?

Don’t Panic!

Weight Limit figures quoted by manufactures of CARS and LOAD BARS are normally DYNAMIC LOAD RATINGS. This only refers to the maximum load WHEN THE VEHICLE IS MOVING, not when it’s stationary.

When moving, your vehicle is constantly accelerating, braking and turning, so DYNAMIC LOAD RATINGS are designed to avoid you putting too much weight on top and changing how the vehicle handles! It doesn’t mean the roof can only take that much weight when stopped!

Remember!

Most vehicles can take much larger STATIC loads than dynamic loads, with no risk of damage!

When stationary most vehicles will easily take the weight of a TUFF-TREK Roof Tents as well as 2-3 occupants.

How Does my TUFF-TREK Roof Tent Attach to the ROOF BARS/RACK?

Every TUFF-TREK Roof Tent ships with a full installation guide and comprehensive fixings kit to let you easily attach your tent to most racks or roof bars!

The tent will have a pair of HD aluminium rails. See picture below.

These bolt though the base of the tent and come with 4x pairs of aluminium sliders, drop bolts and stainless steel lock plates.

The sliders fit into the tent rails and will slide along to where the bars/slats are, then the drop bolts can be fixed around the bars using the lock plates and bolted tight! It’s kind of like an adjustable U-Bolt.

The distance between the two tent mounting rails (centre to centre) running full length of the tent is 81cm. Ensure there is enough room to fit the locking bolts/plates around your load bar foot pack.