Tent on a Prinsu Pro Rack......I'm so confused.

[bgrif]

Hey everyone, I am completely lost on mounting my rootftop tent to the Prinsu Pro 2 rack. I'm putting an openroad peakroof using prinsu 1" tent feet.


Every RTT guide says to take some crossbars off, mount your tent to the crossbars and then put the tent and the crossbars back on the rack and screw them in. The problem is that you can not pull prinsu pro crossbars straight up and out of the track. There's that lip that overhangs the bars. Because of this lip we can't get the bars back into place with the tent on it. Pulling cross bars out requires that you move them sideways, you can't do that with 2 bars attached to a tent in a way where you can get them in.

The only other way I can think of to accomplish this is by putting the feet into the crossbars, lowering the tent on it, and then finding a way to get a wrench where the screws are. I think I can get to the front via the sunroof and maybe I can get to the back if I remove the very last crossbar. This is the only thing I can think of though.Otherwise I don't see how there's any room to do anything here.

I feel like there's something I'm completely missing in doing this. Maybe someone here knows.

Please help

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[mfoga]

I hate to say it there was a reason I didn't go with the pro rack and this is it. I did look at a lot of options though.

My best advice is use these mounts it's they work with the RTT.
https://prinsu.com/product/prinsu-tent-mounts/
The nut it used to attach the mount to the RTT rails would not fit with my Open road tent so unless they have made changes they won't work based on all my research and the very little information I could get from Prinsu. If you can get the piece that sides into the rails of the RTT that works with the bolt/nut that is needed to fit in the mount. I got a test 8mm nut and it would spin in the RTT bracket. If that works I would use a really long ratcheting box wrench with those mounts. Leave the mounts on tent and slide the bolt nut into mount and tighten.

I have the open road tent and I have i used the sherpa mounts. I used 8 mounts. Two in the front that are easily accessible from the moon roof, two on second to last bar which is use the long wrench to get to. The other 4 are one bar in the middle. That bar stays attached to the RTT. I would not trust using the front and back mounts the spread is too much.

 

[rocktheroad]

This is driving me crazy, and it is not just about Prinsu… It is about most of roof racks… I have Cali Raised roof rack, and I don't even have sunroof… They have their version of tent mounts, which I think is still too low.

https://caliraisedled.com/products/roof-rack-rtt-mounts

 

[mfoga]

Most the ones I have looked at for the roof tack the easiest option is to remove the bars. And not use those style mounts, they look to be incredibly poor design for anything by a truck bed. And even then it extremely limited space to get to bolts.

 

[Unlimited4R]

Hey everyone, I am completely lost on mounting my rootftop tent to the Prinsu Pro 2 rack. I'm putting an openroad peakroof using prinsu 1" tent feet.


Every RTT guide says to take some crossbars off, mount your tent to the crossbars and then put the tent and the crossbars back on the rack and screw them in. The problem is that you can not pull prinsu pro crossbars straight up and out of the track. There's that lip that overhangs the bars. Because of this lip we can't get the bars back into place with the tent on it. Pulling cross bars out requires that you move them sideways, you can't do that with 2 bars attached to a tent in a way where you can get them in.

The only other way I can think of to accomplish this is by putting the feet into the crossbars, lowering the tent on it, and then finding a way to get a wrench where the screws are. I think I can get to the front via the sunroof and maybe I can get to the back if I remove the very last crossbar. This is the only thing I can think of though.Otherwise I don't see how there's any room to do anything here.

I feel like there's something I'm completely missing in doing this. Maybe someone here knows.

Please help

I would echo what @mfoga is recommending. I have the same roof rack (Prinsu Pro) and the OpenRoad RTT. I have the Prinsu 1" feet mounted towards the corners because it's easiest to get them tightened when lowering the tent into place. I also have feet mounted on the cross bars in the middle of the tent area - they do not attach to the cross rails but sit aligned under them - so when I tighten the 4 corners, these sit as extra stability for the middle. When I lift the tent off, those 4 middle ones sit on the cross bars.

This was the best workaround I could leverage with the Prinsu Pro cross bars and that overhang.

 

[bgrif]

I would echo what @mfoga is recommending. I have the same roof rack (Prinsu Pro) and the OpenRoad RTT. I have the Prinsu 1" feet mounted towards the corners because it's easiest to get them tightened when lowering the tent into place. I also have feet mounted on the cross bars in the middle of the tent area - they do not attach to the cross rails but sit aligned under them - so when I tighten the 4 corners, these sit as extra stability for the middle. When I lift the tent off, those 4 middle ones sit on the cross bars.

This was the best workaround I could leverage with the Prinsu Pro cross bars and that overhang.

Thanks for the input. Any tips for getting it on the first time? Like did you mount the feed to the cross bars and then slide the tent in, followed by tightening the three bolts that go onto the tent side?

Any info is super helpful!

 

[mfoga]

I had the advantage of a lift system that hold the tent in place.

I used the longest bolts possible in the RTT rails so I had plenty of room to align the feet. I was able to get the feet in place, then I remove the center bar mounted it to the the tent. I lower the tent enough to start the rear nuts by hand (front are easy with moonroof) then lower it down to thread and tighten the bolt for rail then use a very long ratcheting box end for the back to feet and tighten the front. Takes about 15-20 at this point.

I know you cant remove the bar but if you are not using the bolts for middle bar/s so that makes it a lil easier but the deign of the feet you are using may make the box end wrench tedious as it will limit movement.

 

[Unlimited4R]

@mfoga Same setup! I have a lift system in place. And placing the outer feet as far out to the "corners" of the tent (on the rail system) is how I positioned mine. I spent an ungodly amount of time researching longer ratchet wrenches as well.

Getting the base feet on the rails beforehand was really just about measuring to ensure alignment. The tent pulley system helped with alignment.

 

[bgrif]

Success! Thank you everyone so much for the guidance and help! I did the same setup as everyone else with the two support feet in the middle.

 

[bgrif]

Have to put in a destination pic to this thread.

 

[Trose_808]

Success! Thank you everyone so much for the guidance and help! I did the same setup as everyone else with the two support feet in the middle.

i literally spent 5 hours wasting time trying to install the Sterling RTT on my 4Runner with no success due to the same issue you were having. But in addition, I have the Kammok awning mounted on my Prinsu Pro Rack which added another obstacle. Because the side mount bracket that was purchase separately from the Kammok awning doesn’t even work with the RTT since the side mount brackets sit about 1 1/2 above the beam making it impossible for the RTT to sit aligned with the bolt inserts. Does anyone know how to make this work?

 

[bgrif]

i literally spent 5 hours wasting time trying to install the Sterling RTT on my 4Runner with no success due to the same issue you were having. But in addition, I have the Kammok awning mounted on my Prinsu Pro Rack which added another obstacle. Because the side mount bracket that was purchase separately from the Kammok awning doesn’t even work with the RTT since the side mount brackets sit about 1 1/2 above the beam making it impossible for the RTT to sit aligned with the bolt inserts. Does anyone know how to make this work?

Do you have a picture of the brackets?

My RTT sits offset to center because my prinsu quickmount had the same issue. I looked at the Sterling lite RTT install, and honestly this looks like the exact same tent as the openroad. You might just have to have it not go over the awning brackets and sit offset to center.

 

[rocktheroad]

i literally spent 5 hours wasting time trying to install the Sterling RTT on my 4Runner with no success due to the same issue you were having. But in addition, I have the Kammok awning mounted on my Prinsu Pro Rack which added another obstacle. Because the side mount bracket that was purchase separately from the Kammok awning doesn’t even work with the RTT since the side mount brackets sit about 1 1/2 above the beam making it impossible for the RTT to sit aligned with the bolt inserts. Does anyone know how to make this work?

I’m slowly starting to give up on the idea of buying a roof rack after seeing what you’re going through.

I don’t have a sunroof, so my only access would be from the rear after removing the valance. From what I’ve seen, most people take the crossbars off, mount them to the bottom of the RTT, and then reinstall everything together.

The Cali Raised rack makes that process especially challenging, though, since I have nine crossbars and most of them are effectively fixed in place:

#1 Can’t move it - the front LED bar is attached.
#2 Can’t move it - side lights are attached.
# 3-4. Can’t move them - the roof rack sits on them.
# 5-6. These seem like the only possible options, but they’re already in the middle of the roof rack.
#7 Can’t move it - side lights are attached.
#8 Can’t move it - the roof rack sits on it.
#9 It’s accessible, but there doesn’t seem to be much point in moving it. I also don’t think the RTT extends that far back anyway.

So I’m trying to figure out whether there’s a practical way to install the RTT without having to dismantle half the rack and lighting setup every time.

I am planning to get Kammok awning, so if that makes thing even more complex, I am going to revert to plan to sleep in trunk, and get my stuff on roof…

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