Off Roading with a RTT?

[Poseidon20]

I've done some searching but most of what I found were pro's vs. cons for RTT vs. ground tent. What I want to know is exactly how large are the impacts of a RTT while off-roading. We have a trip planned in a couple of weeks and can't decide if we take our RTT or a ground tent. The trail we will be doing is Potts Mountain trail in Virginia. I have a 2door with a 3inch lift and 35s. My main concern is COG and being tippy or really off camber. I have not done this trail before so I want to know if its "too extreme" for a RTT? Here is the RTT I have - https://a.co/d/33Yo3jl. Thanks and let me know if there are any questions.

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[Tr4ckD4ys]

Controversial opinion: RTTs are dead. The extra weight on top is not favorable for off-roading. There are more convenient ways to go overlanding.

 

[Hard Rock Jeep]

I have had zero issues off-roading with a 160# RTT, including on the Rubicon Trail. This weight on top of a 5-6,000# object has to be completely insignificant for CoG issues relative to all the other factors such as wheel placement, steering, interior added weight, lift, wheel and tire changes and speed. If you flip over, the RTT was most likely not the root cause of your problem.

 

[Poseidon20]

I have had zero issues off-roading with a 160# RTT, including on the Rubicon Trail. This weight on top of a 5-6,000# object has to be completely insignificant for CoG issues relative to all the other factors such as wheel placement, steering, interior added weight, lift, wheel and tire changes and speed. If you flip over, the RTT was most likely not the root cause of your problem.

Very good points. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[nU7OuxIx]

Haven't done any hardcore offroading with a RTT other than forest roads and sand dunes. Had a group at an offroad park with a few RTT's on and they did fine. Personally, I didn't like having mine up there because I couldn't fit it in the garage, increase wind noise, satellite radio going in and out, and extra drag. I've since moved it to a trailer and I love that setup, although I think it would be more difficult driving it on real offroad trails like the rubicon.

I think as long as you don't do any extreme offroading, the worst case is the RTT shell getting scratched up. While I'm no expert, the 160 to 200 lb load is spread across the majority of the roof area and not focused to one side of the jeep.

I'm not saying that it can't happen, but I would be interested to see any pictures or videos of jeeps flipping over with a RTT on. So far, I haven't heard any stories of it happening.

 

[Reinen]

You have to be very careful to stay under the Dynamic Load Limit (DLL) of your rack. The bouncing and side-to-side jostling will put a lot of stress on the rack. I've seen several racks fail just from off-road bouncing and not any sort of impact.

The RTT's impact will primarily be felt in high speed cornering, which the Jeep was never good at to begin with. It will only make a tiny impact to off-road stability.

But frankly, even with a RTT the Jeep is more stable than 99% of people's pucker factor. If you reach the point where you flip a Jeep because of the RTT, you should already know you're doing something stupid well before you roll over.

 

[Apples491]

Based on the pictures I found of Potts Mountain, I'd be more concerned about the added height. You're just going to need to keep an eye on what you're driving under.

 

[Aonarch]

For a two door I don't recommend it.

I've got a RTT on my F-150, that I legitimately cannot notice it's there.

I had that same RTT on my 2 door Bronco and it was very noticable.

 

[Hard Rock Jeep]

Yes, height can be an issue.

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