Tent Camping Idea

[NewTrac17]

Planning a trip to Moab this summer and going with a group of friends. We are all going to seep in tents, but I was thinking about trying to get my tent of the ground.

My biggest issue is how to get the tent above the tonneau cover, so I can leave it on. Any ideas? I know a few guys did manage to mount a roof rack system to the tie down points on their sport trac on mysportrac.com. How much weight could the bed tie down supports hold? http://www.mysporttrac.com/shared/msgboard9e.asp?BOARDNAME=MSG&VIEW=1184527

Found this tacoma with what I want to try and do:

 

[RecoilSensitive]

very interested in seeing this happen

 

[JohnnyO]

Thing with bolting something up to the bed hooks is that I don't know if they could handle the weight of one or two people sleeping on them. Also you wouldn't have easy access to the bed when the tent is up. I think hooking something up to the roof rack with plywood and U-bolts would spread the weight out better and you could still open the tonneau.

 

[NewTrac17]

Thing with bolting something up to the bed hooks is that I don't know if they could handle the weight of one or two people sleeping on them. Also you wouldn't have easy access to the bed when the tent is up. I think hooking something up to the roof rack with plywood and U-bolts would spread the weight out better and you could still open the tonneau.

I was wondering if anyone has tested the bed hooks to see how much weight they could hold, but haven't found any answers so far. Most likely only me in the tent, so not as much weight. It would be hard to get anything out of the far side of the bed with the tent up, but I can put the tailgate down and crawl in to get something.

My first concern is how high I will be off the ground if I am on the top of my truck in case I fell off. Should I be concerned about lightning? lol Are you thinking about running the tent off the side of roof or towards the back of the truck?

Here's a pic of gutter style rails attached to the bed hooks (used for bikes though) :

 

[NewTrac17]

In the owner's guide, it says: "Each tiedown hook can secure loads of up to 350kg (770lbs) inside the pickup box. "

Hmmmm.....now if only they stated how much weight I can put on each tiedown hook. I could run three cross bars across the bed to help with weight distribution and maybe when parked put some sort of extra support on the tonneau cover or bed to help support the weight.

 

[OffTrac]

I went through the bed tent issue and just didn't find a solution that I liked. Not to discourage because it obviously is a value to many people, but here's the obstacles I couldn't overcome just to get the tent off the ground.

Bed access. Huge issue. I'll be taking the tonneau off for the summer for this reason.

Staying multiple days on trails? Set up every evening instead of being able to return to camp and the only work left is starting a fire. Tear down every morning instead of just getting dressed, eat a banana and leave.

You know that guy that takes forever getting ready in the morning? You become that guy because you have to tear your tent down before leaving camp.

Is setting up a tent on a truck really as simple as setting one up on the ground?

Just wanted to add the considerations I used that made me decide this wasn't for me. These may not be considerations for others and some may be easy to overcome for others.

 

[NewTrac17]

I want to leave my tonneau cover on and not have to take stuff out of my bed in order to set up a truck bed tent. Since it is a very short bed, I don't think it I need to be able to fold the tonneau cover up in order to access stuff.

Looking at the tacoma set-up, it looks like it is as easy as unfold the wood platform then insert the poles in the tent and your tent is set up.

Everyday I would have to tear it down, but I think it would be 10 minutes or less. Don't want to be the guy everyone is waiting on. lol

Thanks for the input!!!

 

[JohnnyO]

I want to leave my tonneau cover on and not have to take stuff out of my bed in order to set up a truck bed tent. Since it is a very short bed, I don't think it I need to be able to fold the tonneau cover up in order to access stuff.

That's the other thing. Any tent that is the size of the bed ain't gonna fit JohnnyO. Be getting woke up in the night by a bear licking my feet, which would be a bad thing.

 

[01STrunner]

Be getting woke up in the night by a bear licking my feet, which would be a bad thing.

Hahahahahaha.

I agree. I've slept on a twin air mattress in the bed with the tailgate down and my feet still hung off the end. Keep in mind the bed is just barely over 50" long.

As for the hooks, I'm sure if you used all 6 there is plenty of support. They've gotten caught on a tree and stopped my whole truck, granted I was crawling on a rock so was barely moving, but there was no damage done.

 

[NewTrac17]

Hahahahahaha.

I agree. I've slept on a twin air mattress in the bed with the tailgate down and my feet still hung off the end. Keep in mind the bed is just barely over 50" long.

As for the hooks, I'm sure if you used all 6 there is plenty of support. They've gotten caught on a tree and stopped my whole truck, granted I was crawling on a rock so was barely moving, but there was no damage done.

Don't want the bears licking your feet! Hahahahaha The platform would have to be slightly bigger than the bed when unfolded.

Dang!!! I can't believe that a single bed hook could stop your whole truck without snapping.

Been looking at buying two of these sets:http://www.prolineracks.com/proline-gmr165-rain-gutter-racks.html I will have an extra cross bar, but oh well.

Now I just wonder how they would fit the bed hooks, even after I shave them to fit. Here is how one guy did it:http://www.mysporttrac.com/MySportTrac/projects/BikeRack2/BikeRack2.htm

A pic:

 

[Beecoach]

Just another idea
http://www.jumpingjacktrailers.com/index.php

 

[NewTrac17]

Just another idea
http://www.jumpingjacktrailers.com/index.php

Neat concept.........but $6,390 is just a little out of my budget. I don't even want to spend over $100 on my current idea.

 

[bert269]

Where can I buy these "tie down clamps"

I was wondering if anyone has tested the bed hooks to see how much weight they could hold, but haven't found any answers so far. Most likely only me in the tent, so not as much weight. It would be hard to get anything out of the far side of the bed with the tent up, but I can put the tailgate down and crawl in to get something.

My first concern is how high I will be off the ground if I am on the top of my truck in case I fell off. Should I be concerned about lightning? lol Are you thinking about running the tent off the side of roof or towards the back of the truck?

Here's a pic of gutter style rails attached to the bed hooks (used for bikes though) :

Please, please......I need these soon to help me with my move my bike from WA to NM - can anyone put me in the right direction, PLEASE?