moonsandals

I've been looking into roof top tents and roof racks.
My XJ lives in our underground parking garage, so I've been looking at ways to keep a roof top tent low profile. I'm also concerned about making fuel economy worse so that is also driving me to keep anything on the roof as low profile as possible. I know the best thing would be to avoid a roof rack altogether if fuel economy is my concern, but I'm still keen on getting the tent out of the back cargo area to save cargo space.

Has anyone heard or seen much on the GoFast Camper roof top tent?
https://gofastcampers.com/products/gfc-rooftop-tent

What I can tell:

• Very thin. 6" thick when folded down.
• No need for a roof rack since the tent is self supporting (you can mount the tent directly to the gutter mounts) and the tent itself can be used as a roof rack (rails all around, you can mount on top of it). This allows it to sit lower, saves a bit of weight, saves a bit of cost.
• Exterior dimensions are 53"x96"

I've heard they may look into a smaller tent (6" to 12" shorter) to fit on smaller roofs. I don't see any hint of that on their website though, so not sure if it'll happen in the future or not.

Would the current size be too big? I'm not sure what the max size of roof rack or tent could fit on the XJ. I've heard of people installing 72" x 48" or even 87"x58" without any issues. 96" still seems like it will have too much overhang over the windshield. I'm assuming this will kill fuel economy. To me, the length is the only real concern with this. I can visualize a custom gutter mount to install it on the XJ and the width seems completely reasonable.
Thoughts?
An example of a 72" long roof rack is here:
https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f58/ho...rate-xj-90511/

Has anyone seen anything similar to this in thickness and design?

The Joey

Well for $3500. It sure isn't cheep. Don't forget shipping @ $500 min. You still need to get it mounted too. It looks like a solid product but at 96" long it will hang over the front about 17". I really do like it being only 6" thick. I think the 54" width would work but the 96" long won't. I really think that if you got to see, touch, climb in and out of one. You or I might pass on it. I personaly don't think entering off the back of the jeep is an option. It appears to be the best way to access the tent. Just doesn't look easy and I don't see the ladder working there.

moonsandals

Thanks for looking and replying. I pretty much agree with everything you say.

The profile is very tempting.
Mounting shouldn't be a big problem (just another thing to do after spending all that money). The cost of the tent is high, but given what I can get, my cheapest alternative is to buy a tent for half as much but then spend more on a rack to mount it.. so it's not nearly as bad as I'd initially think.. but still more expensive. Also Tepui tents are stocked locally at the same shop I got my suspension install done at as well as MEC (Canadian store similar to REI), whereas the GFC one would have to be shipped up to Canada or to down to Point Roberts at additional cost. So you made a good point about shipping costs.
I'm less concerned about entering in/out of the back but honestly after thinking about it more I'm more concerned about the fact it doesn't have any vestibules. I live in the PNW, so it's rainy, so having something cover the windows and doors to protect from rain (but still allow the mesh to be open and get airflow) is key. When we sleep in a tent backpacking we almost always keep the vestibules open for air flow, but almost always need at least one half extended to block the rain and wind.

Next similar style is is the Tepui Hybox, but it's not very slim, so I might as well go with something less expensive unless anyone knows of any comparable to the GFC in terms of thickness?

The Joey

Are ground tents out of the question? You could get a OZ TENT RV-4 and a low profile roof rack from Frontrunner. It gets the tent out of the back plus you have options to carry STUFF up there if needed. You can also be able to get into that UG parking. Not going to save any money going this way but quality gear. Just thinking outside the box.

moonsandals

Ground tents are definitely not out of the question. Honestly I'm not convinced I need a roof top tent, but am looking into it as hard as I can because I don't want to buy a tent or a roof rack that doesn't work with our system later... I have to buy these slowly over time so I need to be sure what I am planning on doing before I start buying stuff. I've actually got a few local options for roof racks, including a JCR roof rack (barely used) that is a tempting option. I just have to make a decision on which direction I want to go.

I must be living under a rock. I've never seen the OZ TENT before. Thanks for bringing it up. It looks pretty awesome; I really like the awning.