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Here's how the simple Home Depot T-brackets will be used to attach the RTT to the crossbars.

And how they slide right into the slot on the RTT.

I like this super clean method better than the straight metal bar under the crossbars with long bolts up to the RTT slot. A "+" shaped bracket wold be best, but the common T-brackets work fine.

 

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Recruited my nephew and a neighbor to lift the RTT onto the SC and bolted it down lengthwise opening to the side.

Two fork mounted bikes fit on either side with the RTT in this position, but it would be best to trim the rear crossbar shorter so the bike rear tires sit on the top of the bed edge.

Opened the tent up, inspected everything (found one cracked plastic nut cap) and installed the sheets & bedding inside.

Going to take it for a test camp night in the front yard tonight.

Nighty-night...

 

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Went to bed at 8pm (gets dark at 5pm here now) and woke up at 4am (8 hours of sleep is more than enough). Slept well in about 45* lows. Mattress is very firm, but more comfortable than my RoofNest Condor was. Think I'm going to like this one.

Decided to rotate the tent so it opens to the rear to see how it fits and looks that way.

Doesn't go past the rear bumper this way at 48" (half the foldout).

The 56" wide doesn't hang over the outer bed edge, even though it looks like it does in this photo. Very nice clean fit with this orientation.

I like the look much better mounted this way, but fork mounted bikes with the rear wheels on the top bed edge is out. I might be able to move the fork mounts inward and strap the rear wheels to the RTT cover straps to keep them in place.

 

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The surgeon gave me the okay after 8 weeks to bike ride again, so I'm off to the beach for a short ride on my belt-drive single speed today.

Rear wheel straped to the RTT cover strap.

 

[Nagrom]

orange belt drive single speed with disc brakes and townie bars is certified funk.

 

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orange belt drive single speed with disc brakes and townie bars is certified funk.

That's a Soma Wolverine Gates belt-drive single speed with Fouriers Trailhead bars and Shimano XT wheelset rolling on 29x2 Schwalbe Big Ben tires. It's my go to pavement pounder. Light, agile and super responsive with Tange steel-is-real feel. Super sweet ride.

 

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Spring 2024 is shaping up nicely. Booked my opening trout season reservations in the Eastern Sierra's for April 2024. That will be my first "official" trip, although I may do an overnight at one of the local SoCal beach locations before that to prep my camping supply needs and get back into the swing of grabbing and going on a whim.

Now that the RTT is usable, I'm going to get back to my original plan and reason for this post by throwing some more ideas out there for making the RTT removable at the campsite. My first idea is to simply ad 4 Folding Stablizer Jacks to the crossbars with a square or "X" shaped additional support structure.

The fronts can be locked/bolted in the proper down position and rest on the 4X8 pads on each side of the bed. This will eliminate the need for the DeeZee crossbar towers in the front (can reinstall the pop-up tie points in the front bed pockets). The rear will use the supports I made for the crossbar to rest on when on the truck and the stabilizers folded up and a flat top with a bolt hole can be added to the top of each support I made for locking it in place. Just unscrew the large rubberized wingnut (that came with the DeeZee Cab Rack Tie Downs and drop the rear legs, then lift out and set on the ground. A 4 Folding Stablizer Jack Kit can be had for about $60. A couple of tiedowns can be installed in the front down to the front bed tie point rings to keep it from bouncing around in the front. The rear is securely bolted in place.

Does this idea seem doable?

 

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Needed a work platform for working on my ranch house. When I started researching what was out there I came across this Franklin 40"Lx12"Wx20"H aluminum Work Platform at Habor Tool & Freight for a cool $49.99. Picked it up, plus a pair of RV Leveling Ramps w/Tire Chucks that I wanted to have around when needed.

Guess what came to mind when I found it?

This can easily be trimmed to ~16.75" height, be bolted directly to the RTT mounting rails and sit on the 4X8 plywood steps on each side of the bed at the proper hieght; replacing the front DeeZee crossbar and pocket riser completely. No need to design and weld anything!

Two of these could be used lengthwise "AS IS" to set a RTT in a Santa Cruz or pretty much any truckbed for a C-Note. Just lift in and lift out.

It's only 11lbs!

 

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Shortened the legs 3-3/8" and rounded the ends of the feet to match curve on the 4x8 plywood shelves in the bed.

And wallah! Bolted directly to the RTT mounting rails.

Works perfectly, but I will probably trim the legs another 1/2" to get it where I want it (didn't want to cut too much off the first cut). The front crossbar is now removed and pocket pop-up tie points reinstalled there.

A pair of these (or similar) folding and extendable stabilizer legs will now be designed into the rear crossbar setup, that will be folded up while in the SC bed and extended down when the RTT is out of the bed on the ground.

I'm half way to an RTT that can quickly and easily be removed for storage or at a campsite for use above the ground.

 

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This easily removable overbed RTT setup is finally coming to the finish line.

Trimmed the sides off the "T" slide-on for the crossbar, so that I can drop a matching Thule EVO Pro bar onto the rear mounts from the top.

The remaining raised piece sits into the crossbar bottom slot holding everything in place and a M8-1.25 T-bolt holds it tight with the large round hand-nut inside the upper rectangular opening. One of these large handnuts on each side is all that needs to be removed to lift the entire RTT off to be set on the ground with 6 legs for support.

The folding support legs are mounted to an aluminum plate that sits on top of the crossbar. The RTT rails will sit on top of that (just a scrape rail section mounted in the photo). Multiple bolts and T-bolts hold it all in place securely.

The rear legs fold up out of the way under the RTT, giving full bed access with the tent installed.

Waiting on a final pair of M8-1.25x27mm T-bolts for the top of the Thule EVO Pro crossbar to finish it off.

NOTE: Switching to my other Thule EVO Pro crossbar in back that matches the one on the cab frees up my entire DeeZee bed pocket crossbar setup of anyone interested in it. I will be listing those for sale HERE soon.

 

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The M8-1.25x27mm T-bolts arrived! Couldn't wait to get out in the garage and install the rear crossbar with folddown legs onto the RTT.

Entire structue installed with rear Thule EVO Pro matching crossbar in place with all legs folded up.

And here it is with all 6 legs folded down.

Unfortunately I can't test fit the new removeable setup today. Southern California is getting hit with an Atmospheric River storm once again. That will have to wait until this crazy wheather passes.

 

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Oh sunny days!

All the leg lengths match and the tent has excellent support. Should be able to open it up and use it on the ground this way with a pair of folding step stools under the section that folds over.

I picked up a pair of these in 16" for my setup. They come in 18" too and many others heights.

All installed and ready to go. Sits level with the bed floor and the pair of hand nuts inside the angle brackets hold it securely in place. All the weight is on the 4x8 bed shelves and custom brackets bolted to the large heavy duty rear bed side tiedown location bolts.

I'm very happy with the way this turned out. It is much more difficult to lift than I had hoped though. I'm guessing the whole structure and tent is about 150-160lbs(?). It really requires two strong adults to lift and place. I doubt I will ever be removing it at a camp site unless I'm staying in the same place for a week or more.

The legs structure will be nice for storage at my ranch house up off the ground that doesn't have a garage yet. Plus it can be used there if needed for guests or yard camping for the grandkids.

 

[PK 62]

the grandkids will not need an invite - they just know

 

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Camping out in the driveway is like rock crawling on a gravel road.

Giving her another test campout using my leveling ramps and the RTT mounted opening to the rear.

Much better fit closed and open in the rear opening position. All the awning tensioners work in this position, even the ones pointed at the cab.

Have a long trip from Orange County CA to Scotts Mills OR planed for April for a family funeral. Heading up HWY-5 quickly to get there, then driving over to the coast and taking a liesurely drive back down HWY-101 and HWY-1 along the coast. Haven't done that for many years. Always an enjoyable trip.

Hopefully that will prep me for opening trout season in the Eastern Sierra's at the end of April into early May. This old dog has to relearn the camping routine...

 

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All great ideas don't, always work out. It turns out that the front of the RTT has to be held down too when the tent is opened, otherwise the front floor wants to lift when the tent is placed on the ground. You could stake and tie it down and use the RTT on the ground, but I won't be doing that myself. At least the stand structure works great in the truck bed and for storing it off the ground folded up when not in use.

 

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Took my first camping trip with the RTT on the SC. Everything worked out beatifully. I did a short post with pictures HERE. Hopefully many more camping trips will be had in the future. The SC got excellent mileage, averaging about 25ish for the entire trip. Fastest I had the cruze set to was 72mph. The SC seems to be checking all the boxes for me, and then some!

 

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Couldn't leave well enough alone after using the RTT and then needing to remove it to use my truck bed when I got home, so I designed and installed yet another over bed RTT setup HERE.