Frontrunner Featherlite Roof Top Tent / Long Term User Review
Вставка
- Опубліковано 23 сер 2024
- Are you considering buying a traditional soft top Roof Top Tent? In this video I share my experiences with my Front Runner Featherlite 1.3 Roof Top Tent. I have owned this tent for almost four years and although I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore overlander with multiple long term expeditions under my belt, I have lived in the tent with my wife Megan for almost three months while traveling Northern Europe. We also camp in the RTT as a family almost all year round and as seasoned campers in general we have gained some good experience in this style of RTT and I thought I would share it in a video.
Overall I think this particular tent is a very good option for people like Megan and I who vehicle camp regularly or plan on traveling for long periods of time. Its also light weight enough to maintain a good center of gravity from the vehicle if you which to tackle technical tracks and trails where the vehicle will be off camber.
I cant see this specific tent being use for long term expeditions in remote locations. I think its reduction in weight has reduced its durability and fabric weight making it susceptible to excessive wear under harsh conditions.
Hopefully this video can be of use to someone and once again thanks for watching.
This video is NOT sponsored but please find the link below to the product in question - www.frontrunne...
/ @workshoptowilderness
Support me on Patreon - / workshoptowilderness
My Amazon Affiliate Store - www.amazon.com...
Follow me on Instagram - / workshopwildernessadve...
Follow me on Facebook - / workshop-wilderness-ad...
Jeep Spec:
1999 Jeep Cherokee XJ 2.5TD RHD.
35x12.50r15 BFG KM3's with 15x8 3.75" backspacing (-19 offset).
Lift Front - RC 4.5" Coils and N2 Shocks (2" Coil Spacer).
Front Shock Bar Pin Eliminator.
Dana 30 High Pinion with Artec Industries Lower Control Arm Mounts with modified upper mount and modified Track Bar mount.
Front RC Control Arm Drop Bracket.
Ruff Stuff Short Arm Single Himes.
RC Extended Sway Bar Links.
Dana 30 Rock Crusher Diff Cover.
Ruff Stuff One Ton OTK Steering.
6" Lift Drop Pitman Arm.
Ruff Stuff Front and Center Frame Stiffeners.
Rear DIY Frame Stiffener and Rear Frame Tie in Kit.
6" x 2" Box Rocker replacement with Tube Slider.
Modified Factory Bumper with Side Sliders.
Rear Tow Hitch Tire Carrier that bolts into Rear Frame Tie in Kit.
Modified upper Shock Crossmember for Rear Shocks
Rear Axle Chrysler 8.25 29 Spline with modified High Clearance Shock Mounts.
Rear Shocks 6.5" Trailmasters.
Rear Leaf Springs 4.5" Trailmasters with two RC Leaf Springs from a 4.5" kit.
Rear RC Shackle Relocation Bracket.
Stainless Steel Braided Brake Lines front and back.
Warrior 9500lb Winch.
Front Bumper - www.ebay.co.uk...
Are you considering buying a traditional soft top Roof Top Tent? In this video I share my experiences with my Front Runner Featherlite 1.3 Roof Top Tent. I have owned this tent for almost four years and although I wouldn't consider myself a hardcore overlander with multiple long term expeditions under my belt, I have lived in the tent with my wife Megan for almost three months while traveling Northern Europe. We also camp in the RTT as a family almost all year round and as seasoned campers in general we have gained some good experience in this style of RTT and I thought I would share it in a video.
Overall I think this particular tent is a very good option for people like Megan and I who vehicle camp regularly or plan on traveling for long periods of time. Its also light weight enough to maintain a good center of gravity from the vehicle if you which to tackle technical tracks and trails where the vehicle will be off camber.
I cant see this specific tent being use for long term expeditions in remote locations. I think its reduction in weight has reduced its durability and fabric weight making it susceptible to excessive wear under harsh conditions.
Hopefully this video can be of use to someone and once again thanks for watching.
After 4 years it is still the best video about this product! Many thx from germany!😁
Fantastic video, one of the best detailed overviews of a rooftop set-up I’ve seen. And an honest overview as well.
Thanks Mike!
Thanks again for watching and for commenting!
love your shows, i love your tenacity. i watch you get things done and it is inspiring . i need to get out and do something...!! tell megan and the baby we say hi.....
Appreciate you watching and the comment. Meg says hi and Max is just starting at me lol. Thanks again
Seeing you and your family warmed my heart, congratulations :D
Best XJ in Europe ! Keep going the great work and amazing quality videos, you're an inspiration
I'm chuckling to myself watching this thinking almost every point you raise both pro and con we can relate to! Overall though as you know we've had a camper, roof tent, exped trailer but I still enjoyed my time in the roof tent most i think. Brilliant idea with the mattress, never thought of doing that. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next.
My in-laws did a number of trips with the entire family of 4 in a Range Rover with 2 RTT's in the early 80's. One tent opened to the rear and the other to the side. And while it was tight, they even managed 6 weeks in Iceland with jackets, wet weather gear, etc. I inherited my father-in-law's love for Range Rovers, and we inherited both RTT's. We also travelled quite a bit with our 2 daughters in various Range Rovers throughout the years, first also in a RR Classic, then a P38, then (and still) a L322 RR (3rd Gen). The first trip with our younger daughter was when she was only little more than a year old, and we actually fastened the tent flap so that she and her sister (3 at the time) could not open it from the inside lest they fall out :-p .
The tents were Italian-made Air Camping tents in the 130cm width. The front tent hung over the top of the windshield by about 20cm on the RR Classic IIRC. I don't know the length of the roof of the Cherokee, but I imagine it is shorter as the entire vehicle appears smaller than the RRC, but I could be wrong. I always thought that if I had to do it on my own, I'd have mounted the tents so that one opened to the rear and one to the front as the tents are only 110cm long folded. I could probably have gotten by with no overhang even on the small RRC (on the later RR's it made nearly no difference as they became larger with each new generation), but I would have had to add a bull-bar to mount the front ladder to and the holes for the mounts had all already been drilled by my father-in-law. You might be able to mount 2 RTTs on the Cherokee like this.
Of course, the big drawback is the weight on the roof. According to the Autohome website, the Air-Camping tents weigh 54kg now, and I imagine our tents are even heavier as the newer tents use a lot of aluminum whereas ours used steel for the poles, hinges, and ladder. We were probably pushing 120kg on the roof with bedding... It is interesting, though, that the design and construction of these tents has not changed at all in over 40 years (aside from the aluminum). www.autohome-official.com/en/products/maggiolina-air-camping/
There are wider traditional RTTs today - even the Air Camping tent is available in a 180cm width (bottom of the page in the link above). Other manufacturers go even wider. I have seen pics that look almost as if 2 standard RTTs had been mounted side-by-side. I would definitely consider something like this if I were in your shoes. You'd be keeping the weight in roughly the same category as with 1 tent (the large Air-Camping tent weighs 11kg more than the small) and you'd have no problems with the fit. But I would also definitely want a tent that allows the bedding to remain inside. 4 people in a Cherokee will be tight, even if 2 of the 4 are still small... :-p
I am a fan of the Autohome tents. They are quite heavily built and do not have many of the disadvantages that you mention with your RTT: I have never heard the poles creak (and we have been i some very heavy winds), there are no awnings with spring poles, and the cover comes of completely. Aside from the weight, the only bigger disadvantage is that there is no rain fly, and we actually have a very thin sheet of plastic (painters drop cloth) that we spread over the bedding if we have to fold the tent when it's very wet. We have now moved up to a larger Overzone tent in the 160cm width (as you grow older you need more space :-)). www.autohome-official.com/en/products/overzone/
Our daughters have grown up and have not started their own journeys yet (both are attending Uni), both have expressed interest in taking one of the Air-Camping tents. These will then be in the 3rd generation with only minor repairs.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do. It was nice finding you again. I followed your old channel while you were traveling through Europe.
Thank you for that indepth look into your setup! Lots of pearls of experience that I value a lot, thanks for sharing them!
For a similar tent thats more robust and family friendly, you may look into the Eezi Awn Jazz. Available in 160 and 180 cm wide versions afik.
Thanks for the info on the tent, I will have a look and watch some videos. We still haven't decided on one so any info is always massively appreciated. Thanks for watching and Merry Christmas.
love your jeep man!!!!! cant wait to see your new tent.....
Thanks, great and helpful video!
Thanks for watching
Thank you for all this information on your experience with the tent, continue your travels they are very interesting and always in beautiful places.
Congratulations also for all the work you have done on the Cherokee, it is really very beautiful a real face of backpacker cut for adventure. I myself have a Jeep Grand Cherokee WG.
Good luck to both of you and your son.
Thanks for the great comment 👍 and for watching
I've been watching your films for a while now and first of all, welcome to Sweden. We are building a Land Rover hybrid that is going to be our camping vehicle and just recently bought a roof top tent. First planes was to sleep inside the car but nah, tent is better. You guys are a huge inspiration. Thank you!
Nice video with good points. All those swarming mosquitoes gave me chills... Having fun with my recently acquired ARB.
Best review ever. Truth told. Thank you!
Thanks for watching
Congrats on your new addition to your family.
With all the organization you've done, I'm sure you invested time into a new Rooftop tent, look at the iKamper 2.0. Room for 4 adults.
Great info helped me alot about making our choice thanks mike
Best review of this tent by far.
A very informative and thorough overview. Thanks!
Great review of having a roof top tent. Thank you.
Even though i have this tent myself and pretty much know most of the points you made i still enjoyed watching the whole thing. Very informative and funny to listen to with sentence such a slapping a brick on your roof!😆
Great looking Jeep by the way! Excited to see whats next for sleeping arrangements 🙂
Its a great tent to be fair. Can't argue with how low profile and light it is. Thanks for watching!
In Maine we call them no seeums or bits of hell.
The expedition trailers look like a good, though expensive, option. It takes weight off of your vehicle suspension, provides many options for gear deployment. And allows your vehicle the freedom to roam more adventerous terrain after camp is set up. The price is pretty prohibitive, but you do get a solid base on which to work to modify as needs change.
Yeah I love those expedition trailers. They look fantastic. I think making one is my only option, or buying something close and making it into an expedition trailer. Thanks for watching
Great Review
I see a lot of these nowadays in the Midwest always thought wind could destroy it- I’ve gone thru 2 of those awful ‘insta’ tents wind bended the bar
Your attention to detail is amazing and admirable. Very informative video. Thanks! By the way, do you have any experience with Decathlon's MH500 ?
Edit after finishing the video: You are pretty good at talking, don't be unfair to yourself!
great story telling. Would u consider getting a trailer to mount ur tent and carry your gear? or maybe removing the rear seats and setting up your sleeping platform there
I think a trailer would be really useful. The family is expanding and we would love for the kids to have some Wilderness vacation time as they grow up. Im looking into trailers at the moment and I may have to build one given the price. Thanks for watching!
@@WorkshoptoWilderness yeah... absolutely build one. Thats why we watch you... because u make everything a little better than how they left the manufacturer. You'd lose soo much cool points if you bought one.
Hi Mike. Glad you did a roof top video. I'm thinking about buying one. Or as I've got a oztent 270 awning, I might get the RV 4 tent which then zips onto the awning.
They are nice but what you already have is probably much better. I took the tent off last week and its kind of nice to drop the weight up top. I will miss sleeping in it though, was very comfortable. Thanks for watching
@@WorkshoptoWilderness Do you know what your set up is gonna be? #topsecret 🤣
Good video mate.
Great review, saved me from a regrettable purchase. Have you seen the skycamp tents? Expensive but look very good quality and great design.
I haven't seen the skycamp tents, I will take a look online. Glad the video could help with a decision. These tents are not cheap so better to get the right one first.
thanks for the
Sorry just seen your next video 😂
For the pooling problem, you could've just put 2 magnets together on it. They'd stay together and should be heavy enough to let the water roll off
Great idea 💡
Is okay my dude, i'm 6'4"
Have you put any thought into a single axle expedition type trailer? small, lightwieght, you might even be able to use the tent on it...great review, thanks for sharing
Really helpful. Thanks for the review. Would you recommend buying it if you had to do it all over again ?
I would certainly recommend it. I actually still use it now as I didn't find an alternative I liked. My wife and son sleep in the roof tent and I sleep in the awning room or hammock. It works pretty well. Its only 43kg so the pros are the weight. If you have a small rig and want a roof tent that isnt very tall or heavy its a great option.
I got Alu Cab tent and got rid of my 23Zero tent which took too long to setup
You end up the video talking about the future setup and this is what i really want to know about. Your statement about adding weight on the roof is all good but you can also buy a bigger tent, heavier, but then replace the roof rack with roof bars. We have very good nights in the eezi awn serie 3 sleeping with my wife and our two sons who are 8 and 10 years old. Of course it's a big rtt and i can't add any bag or box on the roof but at least i keep all the advantages you mention. So... What will you replace it with ? Turning the arb deluxe room into your bedroom ?
Funnily enough the video I'm making next kind of touches on this. We have thought about a heavier RTT but my issue is the weather here. I have to take it off every year due to the issues with the cold and mould. Despite it being once a year it is actually irritating to have to do this. In winter its just very impractical for me to have something permanently bolted to the roof that's too heavy to take off alone.
The solution i'm going for is to use my 2500x2500 awning room as a day room. So we have the table, alubox, etc in there and we can cook, max can play etc.
For a bedroom I am thinking of a Oz tent RV5 setup at the back of the vehicle as the bedroom. I would like to run with the just the awning room but the foot fall in the day will make it a mess plus going in and out means lots of mosquitos etc.. I want the bedroom to be only used for sleeping. I can also run a duct to the awning room and bedroom for the diesel heater to help keep them warm. The Oz tent roles up pretty narrow and can sit on the rack along side a canoe. Its also light and very fast to deploy. I'm still not 100% sure what I will do but the RTT is up for sale and next week I will camp out a night in the Awning room and see how it goes with the diesel heater.
Thanks for watching.
@@WorkshoptoWilderness Hey Mike, it's an honor to read from you. Honestly i was so into the video that i jumped on my keyboard and now, reading my first message i find it rude, not even saying hello or anything, so, sorry about that and thank you for your reply. I think there is no perfect solution. Now you have Max and consider having another child, we're in the same league : looking at "only couples" rigs as huge as they don't have to prepare all that extra stuff we must think of, and they can even build a cool interior to sleep inside... i also considered the OZ tent and, i even if i finally did not get one, i like them a lot. Unfortunately, while i was in the process of buying one, an offroad trip in the spanish Pyrenees made me forget about that option : the tent itself is easy and quick to unfold and build, but the mattress solutions would always be an issue. I thought going for the foam style mattresses would take a lot of room in the rig and having the second seat row, it would not be possible. Only thing left would be those inflatable mattresses, which i had. I've spent some money to buy some, upgrade them with thicker ones, try to protect them but i always, always ended up the same way : leaking some air and you wake up at 4AM on the cold ground... Or being punctured. Thats's what happened in the mountains, the first day of our 8 nights Pyrenees moutains. We had a military tarp under the tent, a tent with a strong fabric for the floor, then another layer of plaids and the inflatable mattresses with a plasti-ish coating under. Still, we prepared our camp, they had slow leaks from punctures and we slept the 7 next nights on the ground, no matter all the repairs i tried, with the repair kit, glue, ductape. A nightmare. If only with my wife, something we can deal with, but i was sad for the kids. And even if there is only a small and slow leak, it would at some point remind you the ground has some stones or rocks or things killing your night. I thought the only other option would be camp bed but once again, having 4 of them would not be possible for us (or maybe some good ones taking not much space exist but might be too expensive for me, idk...). Anyway, we went with one of the biggest rtt and even if i hate it sometimes, it still allows us to make camp at night with less issues than a ground tent. i hope your solution works great for your family and your environment and climate, the diesel heater warming up both the tent and the arb room is also a great add-on. Can't wait to see your video about it! You guys take care and keep on with the awesomeness of your content. Cheers from France.
@@e2gstuff ah honestly dont worry, I didn't take it as rude at all. Im wracking my brain every day on this. We honestly dont know what to get or what to do. I guess I could put the old roof tent back on and two sleep up there and one in the awning room but up here it's sunny all night in the summer. The awning room material is very thin.
The problem i have with going back to a roof tent again is that it will have to be big and heavy and its always attached to the jeep which limits what I can do with it. I also have to take it off every winter due to condensation and mould. Its not practical really with kids either as they can unzip it and fall out.
I looked at the oz tent but it gets terrible reviews on its plastic hinges and durability. Most reviews that are not on UA-cam are 2 or 3 starts with most complaining about its lack of water proofing and how winds seem to total destroy the hinges on it. Its a great concept but flawed in durability like a lot of designs.
I honestly have no idea what to do. Meg has reinforced the awning room but originally this was always meant to just be a day room for kids to play, eat food, escape the mosquitos etc.. we need a bedroom or a totally new system that replaces everything.
As always excellently narrated video and very useful information.
By the way cracking anorak, is that a Swedish make?
You should try a hardtop tent so u can see the difference between the two
I would like to for sure!
Bonjour et merci pour votre vidéo.
Quel est la référence / marque de votre matelas gonflable ?
Merci
What roof rack is that? I have tried watching multiple videos trying to find out the manufacturer. Thank you for your time and videos.
Homan
Pacific Northwest (oregon usa)
Its a Frontrunner slimline 2 aluminium rack made for the XJ. Its a good rack at 32kg and it can take well over 300kg provided the drip rail mouldings are good.
@@WorkshoptoWilderness thank you
i started making my own rooftop tent .... might have given up on it lol
The inflatable matras that you mentioned, what is the size and name of it?
Its an Exped Megamat Duo 10 Sleeping Pad - 197 x 132 cm
Very comfortable!
Thanks for sharing Mike. I hope Meg and Max are well. Have you considered the Gazelle T4?
I've not heard of that but I'm going to check it out right now. Put it on my note pad of possibilities! Thanks for watching
Arent these RTT's sort of old technology? I understand a budget, but surely now a hardtop clamshell is the way ahead, like an IKamper.
I guess they are really. The price is the reason why most choose them I think. I mean if an Ikamper was the same price I would take that over this one.
How much do you want for the tent
Do you know the roof load rating of the 99 XJ? After seeing some recent videos of other Overlanders and their troubles with Rhino Racks, I am wondering what the load rating is for our XJs and how you've been liking the Front Runner (aside from the minor adjustments you showed us in previous videos)
You mean from Ronny and others having trouble. I watched those too. It really depends on where you mount the rack. The OEM roof rails are 136kg between the both of them but they are mounted to about 1mm sheet metal across the roof. Aftermarket rails like the Frontrunner Slimline 2 are clamped to the drip rail which has no official load rating but is roughly three sheets of joining metal and ultimately much stronger.
The rack itself is 32kg and its rated for on road use to 300kg, offroad is 150kg.
I would quite happily run 150kg plus on the rack offroad use with no concern. Its more about the load distribution in this case.
The rhino rack looked terrible when I saw it. Pop rivits through 0.8mm steel......nice.
@@WorkshoptoWilderness thank you very much for your reply. I have taken my stock cross rails off and plan on either making my own rack with rain gutter mounts or purchasing the Front Runner rack. I’m a 30yo female that has no experience working on vehicles before my 2000 XJ. Your videos have been an inspiration to me. Thanks for your content!
@@camillanolen5341 Glad the videos can help out! The yare great fun to work on and fortunately really easy to mod. I think the front runner rack is one of the best and highest in load capacity. The drip rails on the XJ are pretty tough also especially with several mounts each side. The more mounts the better. Some use four each side as you can carry a lot of weight with this.
Hey Mike, I have a 01 Cherokee. Looking to find a RTT for it. What is your setup with roof rack? I have the factory bars but I dont think they would handle a tent. Thanks, Aaron
Hey, the factory bars will not handle a tent and when your in it the weight is too much. I use a Frontrunner Slimline II roof rack which mounts to the drip rail. This can hold a lot of weight and the rack itself is about 32kg of aluminium. You can get single bars that will hold the tent, they may not distribute the load as well and the full size rack but you can go this way also.
@@WorkshoptoWilderness thank you sir. I will look into that.
@@WorkshoptoWilderness Checked out the rack. Looks perfect for my Jeep! Thanks again Mike really appreciate the info.
No worries, it's a great rack just a bit expensive. But I guess you get what you pay for
@@WorkshoptoWilderness I always say that. Cheap gear doesn’t last very long.
Time for a pintle hitch and a small hard shell camper with a good set of AT's?
AT's I may go back to at some stage but they are terrible in the deep snow in the winter and I get stuck constantly. Even with chains on. The muds are epic for traction in these conditions.
@@WorkshoptoWilderness I was referring to putting AT tires on a camper trailer. Muds sound great on the Jeep in your climate!
@@FarmerRick4070 ah I understand what you mean now! Yes thats a perfect solution 👌 I think some AT's on a camp trailer would be great 👍
Hello,
Let us know if you need a new tent. I think we can make something good.
You Find our info in our bio.
/ OutdoorDays
What kind of anorak is that? Looks nice.
Its a Ridgline Monsoon Ellie 2. They are really good 👍
@@WorkshoptoWilderness thanks!