47-55.1 Thinking about another r66 trip anybody ever mount a tent

[jocww]

Sooo I bought a rtt for my jeep.... but my buddy who went with me said I should build a bed rack and mount it on the 49. Anybody ever do one of these lol?

[_Ogre]

rtt=roof top tent

go for it! i'd mount it low, just to clear the bed sides. you'd still have the full bed for storage and be able to see out the back window. probably wouldn't need a ladder to get in it.

[nvrdone]

I say "do it". should be able to build a strong rack out of 2x2 square tube that fits in the stake pockets. As ogre says mount it just above the bed rails so you may be able to see out of the back window and not need a ladder. post pictures when you have it done.

[mr48chev]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Nvrdone nailed it. A rack out of light square tubing that sets the tent shell just at the top of the bed. Keep the weight a bit lower and make it easier to get in and out of the tent.
A consideration is the large cooler you plan to carry in the bed and anything else that will go in the bed under the frame holding the Rtt. Set that stuff in the bed to get your needed height clearance. You have to have it high enough to clear what you need to carry along with it but you don't need it up above the top of the cab unless you just flat want it that way. Down low also serves to keep prying eyes and hands out of the stuff in the back. A pad lock the right size in place of one of the tailgate chains with the chain hooked into it serves to keep anything in the back secure.

[mr48chev]

Thinking back to the 70's my wife and I used to pull the mattress off a spare room bed in our house and put it in the back of the 48 and then "make the bed" with pad, sheets and blankets lay our bags and other stuff in on top of it and snap the tonneau cover back on and head off to camp out rod runs or her family's family reunion in Mother Neff State park in Texas (we lived there then) and sleep in the bed of the truck. I hadn't then figured out that you can bend pieces of 1/2 inch pvc pipe to make bows to hold up a tarp as a tent over the bed. No good for driving down the road but great for a bit of privacy and cover while camping out in the back of the truck.

[vintovka]

Beats heck out of cold steel camper or a bare suburban floor!!!

[mr48chev]

I don't think that there is anything colder or more uncomfortable to sleep in than a steel canopy on the back of a 54 Chevy pickup. Step father #1 had a galvanized steel shell on the back of his 54 and I slept in it one time in the mountains and even with my sleeping bag I was cold.

We never slept in the back of the 57 Panel that I can remember but that was part of the idea when I bought it when I couldn't find a 55/57 Big window I could afford. That thing was a gas hog and I should have swapped the 327 out of it into my T bucket and stuck the 283 out of the T bucket in it.

[vintovka]

Old story. Was camping with the 54 in mountains when it had "sportsman" all steel canopy and boards across bed rails. Snowed late that night. Rolled over early morning to one unforgettable shock to the backside. Never again.