Best one yet. I’m doing something very similar. You addressed most of my concerns. I need to use a single lifting point so I can “spin” my tent to get it up inside the roof trusses. Once up I’ll lay 2 bars across the rafters and lower it onto them. I want to leave my crossbars attached like you did. Excellent video, thanks so much 👍😉
Impressive self, I was just checking out my garage yesterday for our new tent. This seems to be the best and the easiest option that I've seen so far. Thank you for showing us us.
Thanks Jerry. It was pretty easy to install and cheaper than the other options out there that I could find. I just need to find a better way to rig the tent to the hoist hook so that the tent balances itself. - Geoff
Thanks for the great video. Just installed same thing today for my tent. Winch price is now $120 at harbor freight. Still total cost for supplies was under $200 and only took about 2-3 hours to install thanks to the video.
Thanks for posting this! I installed a similar hoist in my garage yesterday and will be getting my FreeSpirit Evolution tent tomorrow. I also have the RhinoRack Backbone with quick release legs so your video is exactly what I needed! Thanks again. New Subscriber.
Thanks Brian! Nice! We love our Freespirit tent. It’s really nice and keeps everyone comfortable when we go on trips. The Backbone system is really nice too. The hardest part for me was balancing the tent while hoisting it up, but I’ve kind of figured it out now just by shortening the ratchet straps on the side that is sagging the lowest. It works pretty slick. Thanks for subscribing. - Geoff
I think so but I ended up putting two ratchet straps under it as an added safety measure. It just takes another couple minutes to secure it with the ratchet strap. My tent is 182 lbs and it would severely hurt someone if it fell on them. - Geoff
Brilliant. Will be using this method to get a rooftop tent and rack stowed away when not in use. Especially as a one-man job so you don't need to call a friend over to get a RTT on top of your car. Your back will also thank you.
@@Colorado4x4 If you don't mind answering, what's the distance gap between the roof of your garage and the top of the rooftop tent when it's stowed away? Looks like there's at least a foot or more of clearance that will have to be accounted for since the hoist and the hook can only go up so high before it's topped out.
@Syntax Error I wish I could go out and measure for you but we moved to a new house a couple of months ago and I haven’t installed the hoist here yet. The winch is maybe 8” tall and then the winch hook is 3” or 4” tall.
Of all the videos I just watched, yours seemed to be the most logical. One question, I also use the roof rack rails for a Thule Cargo carrier. That being said, what would you suggest if I'm gonna leave the rails on the car?
Thanks! Hmm. I would probably wrap two straps under it as a cradle and then connect them to the hoist hook. The problem is that the cradle straps are going to want to pull to the center directly under the hook, so you will have to secure them somehow to the cargo carrier. Unless if the cargo carrier has some sort of attachment points on it?
Great video! I followed it almost exactly. Only exception is I leave my roof rack on year round so I cuz down the 10’ SUPERSTRUT into 5’ sections and use eyebolt through that to hoist it in a similar fashion to your roof rack. Great tutorial 👍🏼
@@soniakirchharr5450 thanks! It was holding up great with no issues at all. I moved houses and haven’t reinstalled the lift because I just leave my tent on a trailer now. At this point, I might install it a little differently so that it would keep the tent level when winching but other than that, it was great! - Geoff
Cool hoist but the bow and antlers kept getting my attention! Wow...nice rack! Anyway, I did a similar RTT mount and love it. I often take a kayak out and need to have the RTT off. Cool video. Cheers!
Thanks John! I just couldn’t believe how much the manual hoisting systems cost. This winch is $100 and you can’t beat that with a stick! DIY is the way to go.
🔔🔔🔔UPDATE📣📣📣 My roof top tent has been hanging since this video. I timed myself and pulled it down today and attached to the Jeep. It took me 15 minutes from start to finish (pulling Jeep in garage, climbing up and removing ratchet straps, lowering tent, locking in roof rack rails, backing Jeep out of garage, done). Works like a charm! I did add the pulley to the winch (not shown in this video) as it slows the winch speed down and it can lift more with the pulley. I like the slower winch speed. - Geoff
www.lowes.com/pd/SmartStraps-4-Pack-1-in-x-10-ft-Ratchet-Tie-Down-300-lbs-Work-Capacity/3740749 I used these but I think any strap that is rated for the load will be fine. These are 300 lb load capacity and the tent weighs 182 lbs
Hey Derek! That’s awesome that you are in Castle Rock too! Maybe we can hit a trail sometime! I ended up just buying a little Offroad trailer project that I’m working on and will put the tent on there. The hoist works great. Biggest problem will be how to rig your tent so it’s balanced when hoisting. - Geoff
@@Colorado4x4 very nice! Yes def down to wheel whenever & appreciate that feedback on the balancing - that’s what I’m working on now prior to installing ratchets…needed a break haha.
I used ratchet straps to cradle the tent. And then attached a d ring to the winch hook. My was jankey going up and was tilting every which direction. But then I figured out that I could tighten a strap in a corner to get it more level. It takes some effort but now I have it mostly figured out. - Geoff
I just have to comment. When you test the winch the first time by using your own body weight had me laughing. It's exactly what I would have done except I would be icing my back for the next 3 weeks.
Love this set up… I’m going to do the same thing this weekend. Did you just use 2 green straps and run them through the eye of the winch? And the secure it to the ceiling with the ratchet straps?
It’s pretty sweet and cheap! Yep. I used the green ratchet straps and ran them under the tent and hooked onto the winch hook. Once I got it hoisted to the ceiling, I just ran two extra ratchet straps under it that are connected to the other d rings. Works pretty slick. Just a warning about when you first winch it up, it will probably not be balanced! That was the biggest pain for me because the tent isn’t balanced. Other than that it worked great. - Geoff
@@moodATM yea man you bet! I would just measure your tent height and then add the winch height. It sucks because the winch still hangs down a little bit because of the hook so that adds some height
If I mount my strut with three 3/8" lag bolts across three beams, will that be a high enough weight capacity to lift and hold the tent? I"m worried it will pull through the bolt teeth over time and fall out of the wood. I have the smaller FSR RTT so it weighs 151 lbs.
My tent weighs 183 lbs. Just look up some specs online, but mostly they say that a 3/8” lag bolt has a withdrawal capacity of about 300 pounds force per inch of lag bolt. So a 3” lag bolt can hold around 900 lbs force before being pulled out of a stud. Also it depends on your installation so make sure you are centered in the stud and drill the correct sized pilot hole for your lag bolt diameter. I ended up adding two ratchet straps as a belts and suspenders approach because I don’t want the tent falling on anyone! Hope this helps. - Geoff
I used ratchet straps that I ran under the tent. I had four of them and looped them around the ski rack crossbars (the crossbars were bolted to the bottom of the tent). Does your tent have any attachment points at the bottom corners? The ratchet straps allowed me to mostly level the tent when it was hanging. Honestly, the hardest part of getting it hoisted up was getting the tent level. I wish I could show you a picture but my tent is attached to my Offroad trailer now. We’re supposed to move into a new house in a couple of months and I might try to set up some sort of pulley system that has 4 lines, one for each corner. - Geoff
Something like this www.amazon.com/Anndason-M8-Stainless-C1arabiner-1523LB/dp/B074M471DL/ref=asc_df_B074M471DL/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198090729295&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=16109301598179968598&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028741&hvtargid=pla-360972834878&psc=1
Aaron, I don’t know. You can probably find the owners manual in PDF form online and see what it recommends. I wanted to add backup straps just because my tent would be hung for long term winter storage and it weighs about 180 lbs and people and kids were walking under it in the garage and I didn’t want it to fall and kill someone. - Geoff
No problem! Happy to help. You might be able to make it clear. I thought about another idea, you can put a small pulley in the ceiling and then mount the winch on the wall and pull it up that way. I thought about doing that for this tent so the controller would be on the wall, then the line would go up through two pulleys (one in the corner on the ceiling and one over the tent). I don’t know, I may try it that way when I move into my new house this fall. Let me know how it goes! - Geoff
Still great! No complaints at all. I’ve gotten better with rigging up the tent with ratchet straps. I’ve only used it a handful of times really but no issues at all! It works great! - Geoff
Hey David, so my Jeep has the Rhino Rack Backbone system installed (was there when I bought it). I doubt that the factory hard top with cross bars will be strong enough, but I guess it depends on how many people and how heavy the tent is. My tent is super heavy! And we have 2 adults and 2 kids in there when we go camping - Geoff
@@Colorado4x4 hey many thanks for quick reply. I am looking into the same, 2 kids and my lady. It seems that the rhino is a good solution but bloody expensive in Spain. Thanks a lot !!
You bet! The backbone system is expensive here! I can’t imagine what it would cost there. I will tell you that it seems like a good system. It was already installed in my Jeep when I bought it but I haven’t any issues with it at all. That tent I have weighs 182 pounds + me at 175 lbs plus 140 pound wife plus a 9 and a 7 year old and a 30 pound dog 🐶. 😂😂❤️
Roof top tents suck! too expensive, can't stand up, ladders, But Hey! You look tough in the carpool lane picking up kids! Get a ground top tent and be done with that trendy 🐂💩
Hahaha. Good points! There’s definitely positives and negatives to all of them. I own 3 ground tents and all of them are great! I will say that I sleep (my wife and kids too) way better in the roof top tent because of the mattress. I agree with looking like the Overlander with the roof top tent. You got to put those orange traction boards on there too to really look the part! The other great option we have is the outfitter wall tent with the wood stove and cots, but it takes so much space to haul it around. I did get a DIY trailer to drag behind the Jeep and I put the tent on that and it has been working out great. We just find a good camping spot in Moab and set up base camp and then go wheel!!!
