Filler for roof vents when using a rooftop tent?

[Trinculo73]

Watching some of the R1T drivers on YouTube who have rooftop tents mounted over their beds, who have experimented with filling the roof vents to improve efficiency when driving with a rooftop tent. Since it looks like closing those gaps is really effective, I'm curious if anyone in the community has created fillers to pop in and out of those vents? Maybe something 3d printed?

Attached pic is a screenshot from Charge Overland

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[VSG]

I wouldn't call it "really" effective. My iKamper mounted in the default direction (thinner end forward) has at most a 5% effect on my range. That's been my experience from driving ~6,000 miles total with my tent. IIRC some people just use cheap paint protection film they pick up on Amazon. For me it's too much of a bother because you are *going* to lose some amount of range traveling with stuff mounted on your bed, and 5% loss is really minimal. You can lose that much if you just have crossbars (with nothing on them) mounted on your roof. Maybe covering up the vents can save a percent or two, but that's not enough for me to bother about.

 

[Trinculo73]

I wouldn't call it "really" effective. My iKamper mounted in the default direction (thinner end forward) has at most a 5% effect on my range. That's been my experience from driving ~6,000 miles total with my tent. IIRC some people just use cheap paint protection film they pick up on Amazon. For me it's too much of a bother because you are *going* to lose some amount of range traveling with stuff mounted on your bed, and 5% loss is really minimal. You can lose that much if you just have crossbars (with nothing on them) mounted on your roof. Maybe covering up the vents can save a percent or two, but that's not enough for me to bother about.

The two videos I watched cited more than a 5% loss from the RTT over their bed, and gaining a significant portion of that back by plugging the holes (one with painter's tape, the other with wrap vinyl), but I think I'd want to do my own testing before going crazy of course.

 

[VSG]

Those videos also mount the tent with the thick end forward, which (predictably) blocks the airflow out of the vents a lot more than with the thin end forward. So if you mount your tent the wrong way like they did, then yes you are probably losing more than 5% so there is more potential for savings. IIRC they never went back and tested the vent cover with the thin end of the tent forward, which is the iKamper recommended direction. Regardless, I haven't watched those videos in a few years, but IIRC they only tested for <100 miles? I could be misremembering. In contrast, I have traveled halfway across the country and back with my tent, so I think I have a pretty good measure of my efficiency under a wide variety of conditions with and without the tent on my bed. My efficiency drops from 2.20 mi/kWh normally to 2.10 mi/kWh with the tent mounted. iKamper Skycamp 3.0 on a 2022 R1T LE with 20" wheels and OEM tires.

 

[JacobAZ]

Those videos also mount the tent with the thick end forward, which (predictably) blocks the airflow out of the vents a lot more than with the thin end forward. So if you mount your tent the wrong way like they did, then yes you are probably losing more than 5% so there is more potential for savings. IIRC they never went back and tested the vent cover with the thin end of the tent forward, which is the iKamper recommended direction. Regardless, I haven't watched those videos in a few years, but IIRC they only tested for <100 miles? I could be misremembering. In contrast, I have traveled halfway across the country and back with my tent, so I think I have a pretty good measure of my efficiency under a wide variety of conditions with and without the tent on my bed. My efficiency drops from 2.20 mi/kWh normally to 2.10 mi/kWh with the tent mounted. iKamper Skycamp 3.0 on a 2022 R1T LE with 20" wheels and OEM tires.

I agree. My iKamper creates only a small drop in efficiency. I expect iKamper knows the best way to mount and they do recommend thin end to the front ... although they say you can mount it the other way if you wish. I did see a video a year or so ago where the person tried the iKamper both directions and there was minimal if any difference in efficiency.

 

[CADJockey]

I agree. My iKamper creates only a small drop in efficiency. I expect iKamper knows the best way to mount and they do recommend thin end to the front ... although they say you can mount it the other way if you wish. I did see a video a year or so ago where the person tried the iKamper both directions and there was minimal if any difference in efficiency.

I was just wondering if someone tested both ways and compared the difference. Thanks for posting that.

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