Rooftop Tent

Reader you may recall we have a clamshell rooftop tent on top of the camper trailer.  It's water resistant and with a 70mm thick foam mattress; is comfortable. I like it!  During my latest outback trip I noticed the lid carpet lining and insulation was starting to separate from the underside of the aluminium roof panel.  Also; in the lower right corner the canvas side had parted from the lid leaving a gap to the outside.  This wasn't likely to allow rain to enter but biting bugs probably could.

I visited the 4WDSupaCentre where I purchased the tent and asked if they had any repair instructions for these two faults.  I was informed they didn't do repairs.  However if I brought the tent to their premises they would inspect it.

Taking the trailer to their store was going to be a slight hassle, but as I like the tent it was worth the effort.  After inspecting the tent and tanking photos of the faults the sales rep looked on their computer system and informed me I'd purchased the tent 25 months ago and it had a 24 month warranty.  I just wanted to know how to repair it rather than making a warranty claim. 

The sales rep went to see the branch manager about the matter and returned to advise the manager had agreed to replace the tent for a full store credit on the original purchase price.  That surprised me!  Moreover the sales rep informed me their new version was better and I could use the store credit to purchase one. 

I accepted their offer and exchanged my old Mk2 rooftop tent for their new Mk3.  Someone was looking down on me because on that day the Mk3 tent was being sold at a heavily discounted price.  I didn't have to pay any additional charge on top of the store credit.  Instead my residual credit balance was $699.

New Mk3 Rooftop Tent

Unfortunately the mounting rails on the underside of the Mk3 tent are further apart than the Mk2.  This resulted in me having to seal the old series of mounting holes and drill a new set in the top of the camper trailer.

My plan was to insert 9mm rubber grommets into the 12 original holes.  Finding a supply of 9mm grommets was harder than finding rocking horse droppings.  In the end the holes would have to be enlarged to 10mm and I could purchase the blind rubber grommets from Clark Rubber at $1.75ea.  That seemed like highway robbery, but they were the cheapest seller; unless I wanted to order from China.

After inserting the rubber grommets I sealed each grommet and surrounding area with Sikaflex.  I know…Belt & Braces!  I don't want any leaks.

With the original holes sealed I carefully measured and drilled a new set of holes before giving all the bare metal and original holes a coat of primer and topcoat.

Of course none of this will be seen as the rooftop tent will be on top.

I've placed two lengths of 4x2 which will act as a cantilever for placing the tent on top of the trailer.

 

My brother-in-law has been co-oped into assisting with the future move of the tent onto the trailer.  As part of the planning process I checked clearances identifying the two trailer high level tail lights were going to be too high and would foul on the base of the new tent.  That resulted in me having to lower their height.  More work! 

My attention has now turned the the trailer solar power system.