Re: One step closer to the Winnebago conversion :^)
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Finally got the Top Tent on the G today.
Looks good, Dave; although that snow on the ground doesn't look so inviting. It will be interesting to see how it affects your center of gravity and the aerodynamics/fuel consumption.
I look forward to seeing it in action next Fall, if not sooner.
Dutch just beat me to it (as usual!) I too was going to ask if you could report back the effect it has on your fuel consumption and if there's any increased aerodynamic drag noticed, top-speed wise.
Could you remind us who manufactured the kit? ISTR it came from Europe somewhere?
Well, if carrying it down from the garage to the place I can load it is any indication, it actually weighs a little LESS than that tank of a roof rack I had. Aerodynamically, well, I'd say you can't do much to hurt "the palace" in that regard.
I'll keep an eye on fuel consumption and let you know in a month or so. I've run it lots of ways in the past and always seem to get about 12, no matter what I do. The only exception to that was going flat out with two heafty buddies and all our gear in the car across Utah. Got about 11 on those tanks.
As far as COG goes, I won't be able to say much about trail riding because I don't do much gnarly stuff anyway. But on the road it handles fine through the 50 mph twisites coming down 285. I think having the 2-stripe white springs, Bilsteins, and sway bars in place really helps that situation.
No effect on gear selection or attainable speed on long uphills like coming out of Schaefer's crossing (2 mile 5%). My top speed unloaded with nothing on the roof is about 55 on that one, and it holds pretty steady from bottom to top, slowing maybe 3 mph along the way. That is IF I can start in the power band above 3500 RPM. A slug at the bottom will cripple me for the whole ride up. None of that seems to have changed with the tent.
I do want to add a little air deflector at the front. For road debris and bugs even more so than air. And some lights up there. I also would like to eventually slide it far enough forward to fit a Gerry can on edge at each side behind the tent. Of course, I have sufggestions to fit teh G-cans in front to perform the deflection duties and keep weight amidships as well. Not sure how it'll pan out. But it's still a work in progress.
It was all I could do this morning after coming out of the gym, not to wind it up and crawl in for a bit of a nap before work. [:D]
The unit is called TopTent. The paperwork used the name "Penthouse Roof Tents". Really just a bloke in his garage I think. I asked him last night how many Top Tents he has in circulation and if I'm the only one in the USA, just out of curiosity. We'll see what he says.
Unit number one is the one he built for himself and has been using for about 2 years. Took him 3 weeks to get mine together, so doing the math, he'd be a busy beaver if there's 50 in the world by now. I'd guess probably more like 20. He was delayed starting mine for a month and a half while he was travelling in Ethiopia.
He's out of South Africa, and strictly on a word of mouth basis as far as I can tell right now. I offered him some web space if he wants it, but my guess is he keeps plenty busy building for "friends". Again, we'll see.
Filled up the first full tank run under the tent today. I'll keep a little log here for a few tanks:
Date Miles Gallons MPG
12/3 249 20.3 12.3
Just for reference, here's 5 tanks from last march when it was nearly as cold as it is now (I don't keep my data back a year). Only difference was I was running the 255-85 tire then, a little taller, but it didn't effect mileage much, nor does the season.
Well, the awning's about done. I did the fabrication on the frame (crude but effective) and Cheryl did the real artwork in sewing the fabric. The final design was a collaborative effort!
I took the Hannibal design and tweaked it to my desires for better tensioning and wind resistance, and used Sunbrella for the fabric. It should live longer than me, and the "Toast" color ended up being aver near perfect match of the canvas on the TopTent.
There are brackets on the opposite side of the tent as well. The whole thing is symetrical and can be moved from one side to the other in about 5 minutes if desired. In addition to bolting to the tent feet, there are outriggers extending about 300mm under the tent in two places. It's pretty rock solid.
Only thing not finished in these pix is the lashing straps that hold the whole stowed mess in place as you go down the highway. But it'll hang pretty much as seen in the stowed picture.
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