Suburban original roof "rack" and roof tent

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Captain Ron

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2020
Posts
25
Reaction score
33
Location
Tucson
First Name
Ron
Truck Year
1988
Truck Model
R30
Engine Size
454
I think if you reinforced all the mounting points with stainless bolts to the interior of the roof you would be fine. Rubber grommets on the outside and large fender washers on the inside. Not the most elegant of solutions but it should be extremely strong.

I think ALL of the aftermarket roof tents are insanely priced. I made my own platform for my Mercedes SUV with plywood, ski rack clamps and a standard North Face 2 person tent. It takes about 10 minutes to set it up securely and less than 5 to take it down.
 

Attachments

  • roof tent1.jpg
    roof tent1.jpg
    193.5 KB · Views: 35
  • roof tent2.jpg
    roof tent2.jpg
    184.3 KB · Views: 35

YakkoWarner

Full Access Member
Joined
May 29, 2024
Posts
643
Reaction score
1,049
Location
Central Texas
First Name
Wolf
Truck Year
1989
Truck Model
R2500 Suburban
Engine Size
454
I've never had good luck with roof racks - they always seem to leak. I am missing some floors out of a first year Jeep XJ because of that. My burb doesn't have any holes in the roof and I'm glad I found it that way, I'd be afraid to put my fat you-know-what up there anyway for fear of deforming the roof.

I do a lot of tent camping, but its longer term setup (I work at a festival where I am out there every weekend for a 14 week stretch), and always in the exact same spot so I tend to go a little overboard - to the point where I'm not exactly joking when I say live better there than I do at home. I have a level wooden platform that it all gets set up on, and I can fit a full size bed frame in there (along with custom wooden chairs, a coffee table with antique lamps, candle chandelier, gas heater with outside tanks and a personal bar). Setup time is a full day in and out though so I won't even bring it out for less than a 2 week event. For weekends I'm short enough to just sleep on the back seat of the burb and call it done.
 

RetroC10Sport

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2010
Posts
17,250
Reaction score
2,702
Location
Green Bastard Parts Unknown
First Name
Jay
Truck Year
2001
Truck Model
pontiac aztek
Engine Size
3.4
Could go à La Aztek with the tent.
You must be registered for see images attach

Where’s Jay @RetroC10Sport to extol the virtues of the Aztek.
I've had the thing for 9 years and still haven't actually used the tent for more than car shows.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
48,401
Posts
1,066,555
Members
42,778
Latest member
Skippy
Top