DIY Roof Rails for Hard Shell Rooftop Tent

Hard shell rooftop tents, like mine from Area BFE and the guys at Spirit of 1876, have a number of advantages over soft-shell tents. High on that list of benefits is that you can attach roof rails across the top of tent tent, allowing you to attach additional gear and equipment to your rig.

Although I don’t plan on carrying a lot of gear on the roof of my tent —partially because it’s not the easiest place to reach — I do want the benefits of being able to toss some odds and ends up there. One thing I really want to carry on top of the tent are my ARB Tred Pro recovery boards; carrying a recovery board in the car is fine and dandy until you get it caked in mud trying to extract yourself from trouble. We also may occasionally put a gear bag, fishing equipment, etc on top of the tent, so having the rails is handy for those situations as well.

The problem with roof rail systems is that they can be kinda pricey, and you hate investing hard earned cash into something that you might not use all that often anyway. So when I got my rooftop tent, I set about to engineer a DIY roof rail system.

I can attest that this works on an Area BFE tent, but I’d assume it works on other brands like Roofnest and CVT. However, until someone tests it and reports back, buy at your own risk…. save receipts just in case things don’t fit the same.

I have seen lots of people make DIY roof rail systems, some of which are far cheaper than this system, using parts from their hardware store. Most of those cheaper systems require welding or some more complex fabrication, and i’m not about that business. So this is a system that requires only basic tools (a drill, hacksaw, and wrenches!), costs half of what roof rail systems are normally sold for, and looks very professional when finished.

Finished cross bar kit attached to the top of my tent

Parts:

• Rhino Rack Part #31114 - Multi-Purpose Shove and Conduit Holder Bracket (Two Pairs)
  I got mine from Amazon, and they were cheaper there than they are directly from Rhino Rack. They include the T shaped nuts that will slide into the track on the side of the tent.

• Front Runner Outfitters - Universal Track Non Drilled 1800mm
  I also ordered these on Amazon. Again, they were cheaper there than from Front Runner directly. Kit includes to cross bars and the rubber protective padding for underneath.

• 4x Track Nuts
  I happened to already have these on hand, and you can buy them from a bunch of different places. If you don’t have any or don’t know where to source them, you can also buy these at a hardware store and cut the springs off to make something similar.

• 4x Stainless Steel Flat Head Bolts
  What size you get depends a little on the track nuts you use; just make sure the screw size you get screws into the track nut. I recommend stainless steel for weather resistance.

• 4x Rubber Washers (optional)
  I placed rubber washers between the brackets and the tent body for some added protection. It’s not mandatory, but the washers cost about $0.70 at your local hardware store.

• Black Rustoleum Spray Paint
  You’ll cut the bars down to length, so use this to cover the cut ends

This is what you will build — a Front Runner cross bar attached to a bracket made by Rhino Rack. The finished product is quite solid and I would feel comfortable attaching gear to it and driving down the highway.

Steps:

Start by mounting the Rhino Rack brackets to the side of the tent. The bracket kit will include two sizes of T nut — the smaller size should slide right into the track on the side of the tent. They also include washers and lock nuts. Test fit to make sure you have enough space to slide your track nut underneath the bracket and between the side of the tent.

Test fitting the Rhino Rack brackets on the side of the tent.

With all four brackets mounted, measure and line them up equally across the width of the tent. Then place the Front Runner cross bars on top of the brackets. Line up one end so that it’s flush with the bracket on one side. Then go to the other side and measure how much overhang you have on the cross bar.

Checking the overhang from the Front Runner cross bars. You will cut them down to length, so take your time lining everything up and measure twice.

You are going to want to cut the cross bar flush with the brackets, so measure carefully. The saying goes to measure twice, cut once!

Once you know the correct length, take a hack saw and carefully cut the cross bar down to length. I suggest angling the cut so that it matches the opposite side’s finish.

Repeat for the second cross bar.

With both crossbars cut, it’s now time to measure the placement of the track nut and drill the hole in the cross bar to accept mount to the nut. You should be able to line up the pieces loosely and measure how far in to drill.

Cross bar cut down to size and the hole drilled to accept the bolt. Notice that we counter sunk the hole so the bolt will sit flat.

Using eye protection and the appropriate drill bit, drill four holes in the ends of the cross bars to accept the bolts. I recommend counter sinking the holes so that the bolt sits flush in the cross bar.

With everything drilled and cut, spray paint the bare metal on the cross bars to give it a protective finish. Allow to dry overnight.

Once dry, cut the rubber strip material provided by Front Runner to length and attach to the bottom of the cross bars. I used a little Gorilla Glue to make sure the rubber wouldn’t come off.

A good view of the finished product. You can see here how the track nut sits below the bracket, holding the cross bar into place.

Now it’s time to finish by assembling all of the components. Use the track nut and bolt to attach the cross bars to the brackets. Take care not to over tighten the bolt — a snug fit will suffice.

Finished roof rails on my tent!

Bonus Points: Recovery Board Mounts

With everything attached, I then returned to the hardware store and played around in the hardware aisle until I built a system to hold my recovery boards. I used some 5/16” bolts, washers, nuts, and knobs to mount my ARB Tred Pro recovery boards. I will still engineer this a little more so that I have a way to lock the recovery boards to the rack, but for now, this suffices to hold them into place. Again, I used stainless steel hardware to ensure a weather resistant product.

To make the cross bar mounts, I went to the hardware store and played trial-and-error in the bolts section. Pro tip: take one of the pieces of cut off crossbar with you to the store so you can test fit everything more easily.

My ARB Tred Pro’s mounted to the cross bars