Non-Rivian rooftop tents

[PoorPilot]

I received my truck less than a week ago and was told that the Yakima tent that I ordered was delayed indefinitely, so I’m trying to see what my options were. I reached out to Yakima and was told that the only tent they make that will fit the Rivian crossbars, is the one that is being sold by Rivian. I’ve seen several people on social media posting pictures with different tents, so I’m curious if someone on here has found a different option or not. I haven’t received my crossbars yet, so I can’t take a measurement when I reach out to different companies.
I’ve tried reaching out to those that I see on Instagram, but haven’t received a response, so I thought I’d try here.

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[zefram47]

I have a CVT tent...better build quality than the Yakima unit.

https://cascadiatents.com/

Edit: Mine is a Mt. Shasta. They used to sell the Summit Series upgrade that gave them thicker canvas and other goodies like built-in LED lighting, etc. I apparently missed that sizing may be an issue...I'll have to measure crossbar spread at some point on someone's truck to see if my smaller tent will actually work. That said, CVT offers plenty of 3 and 4 person models that would fit if the 2+ size doesn't.

 

[jjswan33]

I received my truck less than a week ago and was told that the Yakima tent that I ordered was delayed indefinitely, so I’m trying to see what my options were. I reached out to Yakima and was told that the only tent they make that will fit the Rivian crossbars, is the one that is being sold by Rivian. I’ve seen several people on social media posting pictures with different tents, so I’m curious if someone on here has found a different option or not. I haven’t received my crossbars yet, so I can’t take a measurement when I reach out to different companies.
I’ve tried reaching out to those that I see on Instagram, but haven’t received a response, so I thought I’d try here.

I don’t know a lot about roof top tents but I am very surprised that Yakima told you that. Is it the spread of the crossbars? Or what is the issue with fitment on the R1T.

I had thought most of them would be pretty universal rather than car specific.

Edit: @wicked2112 - may be able to provide useful information here.

 

[zefram47]

I don’t know a lot about roof top tents but I am very surprised that Yakima told you that. Is it the spread of the crossbars? Or what is the issue with fitment on the R1T.

I missed that part. It could be the spread, as I think that's the larger of the two sizes Yakima sells. I probably need to measure my tent and see if it'll work, since mine is one of the smaller CVT sizes, the Mt. Shasta.

 

[Dark-Fx]

I was looking at larger tents, but a lot of them won't fit over the bed with such a short bed.

 

[kneebuster]

I got the 2-3 person Crua Aer (AER Series – Crua Outdoors) but haven't collected it yet. I went with it because I got a killer deal on Kickstarter, their tents are highly regarded, it's lower profile when folded than the Yakima/Rivian, and it has an insulated insert for colder weather.

 

[PoorPilot]

I don’t know a lot about roof top tents but I am very surprised that Yakima told you that. Is it the spread of the crossbars? Or what is the issue with fitment on the R1T.

I had thought most of them would be pretty universal rather than car specific.

Edit: @wicked2112 - may be able to provide useful information here.

Yakima is telling me they don’t have clamps big enough to securely attach to the crossbars.

 

[Singletracker]

I received my truck less than a week ago and was told that the Yakima tent that I ordered was delayed indefinitely, so I’m trying to see what my options were. I reached out to Yakima and was told that the only tent they make that will fit the Rivian crossbars, is the one that is being sold by Rivian. I’ve seen several people on social media posting pictures with different tents, so I’m curious if someone on here has found a different option or not. I haven’t received my crossbars yet, so I can’t take a measurement when I reach out to different companies.
I’ve tried reaching out to those that I see on Instagram, but haven’t received a response, so I thought I’d try here.

PoorPilot - I have a number years of experience with RTT’s. Back in 2015 I purchased a folding type tent similar to the Rivian’s Yakima, to mount on my FJ. After doing a ton research, I came to the conlusion that most of these tent were/are virtually identical, all made overseas. While there may be some minor feature differences, the main difference between them was the price and the name printed on them. I think if you do some research you will see what I mean. My advice would be to not spend more than you need to and don’t think Yakima or CVT or whoever has a significantly superior product for their “base” model tents (one can spend more and get heavier duty versions). For the most part, they are identical in size and configuration. They’re probably all made in the same darn factory I ended up getting one from TuffStuff4x4.com. Construction appeared to be all but identical (same material, zippers, screens, etc.) to the more expensive brands. I got lots of use out of it. I held up perfectly and served me quite well. The only issue I had with it was, I hated the foam used in the bed. Last summer, I decided to upgrade it. I sold it and purchased a hardshell RTT.

I have mentioned, on this forum, the issues I saw with mounting RTT’s on the Rivian crossbars, especially the spacing of the mounting portals on the R1S, that I have preordered. My current hardshell has a longer footprint than the 54”(L)X48” (w) of a typical folding 3-person RTT. This is a problem. Clearly, it is a problem for Yakima offering any tent larger then the current offering from Rivian. One issue is, the spacing of the two front portals is only 36”, making support for longer footprint tents an issue. Unfortunately, from the front portal all the way back to the rear portal is about 63”, which is too long of a span. I suppose there could be some issues with clamping the tents to Rivian bars, as well. On my FJ, a roof rack was/is the best option for a RTT. I think the same will hold true for the R1S, but that’s a whole other issue.

 

[Bruins06]

I'm also contemplating if the Yakima is the best option.
I think the iKamper Skycamp 3.0 Rooftop Tent might be better, but wonder if it'll be an issue if it sticks out past the bed about 8".

 

[Bullitt]

The frontrunner RTT will fit. And I can’t recommend it enough! https://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/en/us/front-runner-roof-top-tent.html

 

[Joints4Sale]

I ordered a Roofnest Condor Overland. I like that it has an all Aluminum exterior.

https://roofnest.com/product/condor-overland/

 

[jjswan33]

Yakima is telling me they don’t have clamps big enough to securely attach to the crossbars.

Oh man thanks for that information. I had planned on buying one of the smaller Yakima tents. I guess I will have to look elsewhere.

 

[PoorPilot]

Thanks for all the responses. I decided to order a Yakima Skyrise HD directly from Yakima, so we’ll see if it fits or not. I wanted to surprise my son with it before a camping trip at the end of the month, but who knows if it will actually be delivered in time or not. I also ordered some additional crossbars from Rivian, in addition to the ones I ordered originally, as I’d like to add some more accessories as I need them.

 

[jfornelli]

I heard that the problem is the size of the bars being larger and the clamps don't fit them. I believe there are other ways of securing the tent to the bars, however.

 

[DB-EV]

Just saw this thread. I like Roofnest hard tops. 30 seconds to open 2 min to close (I have timed myself). They have a good guarantee.

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