Want to know How to install a Roof Top Tent on a Truck Bed? We did it, and it was easy!
We used to have so much fun camping on top of our Xterra in a Tepui Roof Top Tent. When we upgraded to a larger trailer, it meant getting a larger vehicle and that meant selling our beloved Xterra for a Ram 1500. Now we had a real problem. How to install the roof top tent on a Ram 1500 truck. This is the story of our journey through how to put a roof top tent on a truck.
Overland rooftop tent
Who doesn't love the idea of a quick and easy rooftop tent on a truck? You just drive into the wilderness, pick a perfect spot, open your tent, and bam, you are sleeping under the starts. When you overland in a rooftop tent there's no stakes to beat into the hard ground. There's no finding a super level spot. You don't even have to look and see if there's rocks or not. You just get to camp.
Tepui Tent Review
The best rooftop tents on the market at the time we purchased was a Tepui Rooftop Tent. We purchased the Baja Series. It's a fantastic roof top tent. The craftmanship of the tepui rooftop tent is very high and we haven't had any issues in years of heavy use.
The cover of the Tepui Tent has been out in the hot desert sun for two years with no cracks or noticeable breakdown. The zippers are all intact. The mesh of the windows is perfect. We have found this is the best rooftop tent for our Ram 1500. We just needed to know how to install a roof top tent on a truck bed because the Tepui Roof top tent is awesome.
Ordering Our Tepui Roof Top Tent
We did have one issue when ordering our Tepui Rooftop Tent. We weren't anywhere near their home office. It made shipping the tent expensive. The Tepui Rooftop Tent Website says that the rooftop tents will fit any vehicle. We didn't find that as accurate. Initially we ordered a 4 person Tepui Baja edition rooftop tent. It did not fit our Xterra. The rooftop tent was much too large for the Xterra. The 4 person rooftop tent exceeded the dynamic load of the Xterra without modifications to the the roof rack from the factory.
Since Tepui's website says their tents will fit most vehicles, we were surprised when it didn't work on our Xterra. We had also emailed Tepui ahead of time and they told us the rooftop tent would fit on an Xterra.
It took an incredible amount of cajoling to get Tepui to send us a three person rooftop tent without a shipping fee. They were not happy to assist, and I can understand the cost was high, but Tepui said the 4 person tent would fit on an Xterra. In the end, Tepui did the right thing and sent us the new 3 person rooftop tent at no additional charge and we love our Tepui Tent.
How to Install a Rooftop Tent on a Truck Bed
Below is the rack we used to install a rooftop tent on the back of our truck, a Ram 1500. It's sturdy, holds the tent and other items you might want like a jerry can. It does need to be treated so it won't rust and you will want to do that right away. I detail in the video exactly what you need to do to make sure your rooftop tent rack stands the test of time on the bed of your truck.
Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions about the tent or the rack. We really enjoy this set up. It allows us to overland in a rooftop tent on the back of our truck. That's exactly how to install a roof top tent on a truck bed.
