Placement of RTT

[4Play]

Good evening

I am a new subscriber, but an old visitor to this wonderfull forum. Great place to learn...

I have a question, and based on a quick search could not find older discussion regarding this.

Where do I place my RTT ?

Do I locate it on the Canopy or place it on the Cab ?
What are the pro's and cons especially with regards to stability ?

My thinking is to use the cab area for a normal roofrack, and then use a Canvas canopy for the RTT....
I have a lot of planning to do as I am trying to rig the vehicle for 2 purposes :
1) Overlanding with Trailer (Botswana Namibia Mozambique etc)
2) Overlanding without the trailer. (Namibia, especially the dunes, Van Zyl's pass and of course the fishing trips with my son)

I am the proud ownder of a 2007 V6 auto. GREAT vehicle ! I have owned 2 other Toyota 4x4 DC's before. a 2.7 and a KZ-TE until recently. I swopped to the V6 as I tow a Echo 4 Trailer. (With the V6 it is an ABSOLUTE dream to tow the trailer - Fuel consumption is not that bad compared to the KZ-TE. Example 6.88km/l KZ-TE and the V6 I got 6.53km/l :) )
I have already done a full OME suspension, and am planning on a Long Range Tank and Snorkel next.

Regards
4Play

[ThysdJ]

Hi Braam and welcome to the forum.

When fitting/packing a vehicle it is advisable to pack the heavier stuff as close to the middle of the vehicle between the 2 axles. Therefore it would make sense to fit the RTT on the roof of the vehicle and especially if you are going to add the weight of a trailer to the back as well.

If you are also fitting a roof-rack, then you should determine which of the roofrack (and contents) or the RTT would be the heaviest, and fit the heavier item on the roof and the lighter of the 2 items to the canopy.

m2cw

[CasKru]

Welcome to the forum. My personal opinion is you want to put the RTT as low down as possible. I would go for the roof carrier in front and the tent on the canopy if the canopy is sturdy enough. m2cw

[OOOOMS]

Hi Braam, welcome

The RTT on the cab's (roofrack) causes a lot of wind resistance, mainly due to the design. So I have the RTT on the canopy and the roofrack on the cab. The cab section I use for jerry can's, solar panel, watertank mainly,spade and high-lift.

Firstly, we have been through this whole exercise of travelling, with and without a trailer.

What I would look at if I were you, is kitting out the vehicle, rather than the trailer. This way, if you travel without the trailer, you avoid moving equipment from one to the other. And generally use the trailer as additional packing.

So if you go without the trailer all equipment ie recovery gear, spares, tools, including fridges are already packed and ready to go

[ThysdJ]

What I would look at if I were you, is kitting out the vehicle, rather than the trailer. This way, if you travel without the trailer, you avoid moving equipment from one to the other. And generally use the trailer as additional packing.

So if you go without the trailer all equipment ie recovery gear, spares, tools, including fridges are already packed and ready to go

I agree with Mark on this. Dis net daar met die oorpakkery dat iets agterbly wat moes saamgegaan het.

[4Play]

Thysdj / Oooooms...

That is exactly the plan. the vehilce is "always" kitted, we will only hook the trailer if we need to, ie long stays at particular sites.
We did a solo trip to Moremi in 2008 where we took the trailer as a base camp. We used the kitchen and sleeping facilities while in the camp, but could leave early every morning just using the vehicle, and very easily make lunch wherever we found ourselves to be. We used the vehicle's small kitchen for this purpose.

We would in very rare occasions take the RTT and the trailer on the same trip. The plan (so far) is for a canvas canopy with the RTT which is removeable until the next trip. With a Fredlin Hoist it is a simple matter of reversing the vehicle underneath, lowering the canopy and RTT and bolting it to the loadbay of the vehicle. Ready to leave in 15 minutes.

The canvas canopy is lighter than an Alu cab, defintely more cost efficient and still allows me to get into the loadbay from the sides. (Security can be ovecome by fitting mesh type doors with a locking mechanism)

Sooooo many ideas. Will have to bounce them of you guys and learn from your experience and ideas !

I am a strong supporter of take as little as possible, and part of the new vehicle kitting excercise is to cut down drastically on the "too nice to have's" we used to cart along. I used a spreadsheet with all equipment we used to take along and "guestimated" the weight of each item. Where I stored this item would then give me an idea of how much weight I am dragging with me in the vehicle and the trailer. So far I cut down on almost 200kg !!!

Our outdoor activities include, fishing trips, weekend camping, scuba diving and overlanding. The vehicle must be kitted to allow for all of the activities, and just swop out a few containes to be ready for the next activity. Difficult to "design" now, but the idea is to stick to the KISS rule as much as possible !

Regards
4Play

[ThysdJ]

Braam you are facing exciting times. kitting out a vehicle to suit your needs is really a lekker exercise. Enjoy it..

[OOOOMS]

Great Braam You are certainly on the right track!

Not sure if you have looked into this, but last year before leaving for Nam Kaokoland camping trip I fitted a 'stretchy cargo net' in the ceiling of my canopy. Best thing ever!!! Any loose items like jackets, pots / pans, wet towels, fold up loo and, and, and.....can be stored there! I also use it to hang up half wet towles to dry while travelling after the morning shower. Works like a charm :!:
Here is a pic from last year: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5997&hilit=cargo+net&start=780" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; in the thread!

[4Play]

Good morning...

Thank you for the contributions so far. I researhed more over the weekend on your forum and came accross more ideas wrt Canvas vs alu canopies vs Fibreglass canopies.

Some of you guys, created "supports" for RTT's within the normal fibreglass canopies. How would one go about doing this ?

Regards
Braam