Apologies for not uploading our latest blog posts sooner. It's been a bit manic recently with Roof Tents being shown, sold and fitted almost every day at the minute. Here's a short post about our recent fitment of a TentBox Hard Shell to a Dacia Duster. 

Unlike the fold over style roof tents there is no prep needed for a TentBox Hard Shell. You can lift them straight out of the box, pull the protective film off and then lift straight on to your vehicle. You will find the fitting kit inside the bag with the ladder which is inside the tent so depending on your situation it may be easier to open the tent at ground level to remove the fitting kit first before placing the tent on the top of the vehicle. 

If you follow our Instagram page ( @trekoverland ) you may have seen a recent helpful tips video regarding fitting roof tents. Almost all, if not all, roof tents are mounted using a mounting channel underneath the tent which moulded slide brackets run along (so the bolt doesn't spin) with a bolt through and you then bracket around your roof bars/roof rack and tighten with a nut. At this point some tents can be a small nightmare to fit as when you tighten the nut on the bolts, the bolts rise out of the moulded slide bracket and just spin making it near to impossible to actually tighten the nut up and secure your tent safely. I shall show the post below from our Instagram page on a simple yet smart way on how to stop this problem. The idea is, once you have placed your bolt through the slide bracket, put a flange nut on the bolt first. Tighten almost all the way up allowing a little movement for the bolt but not enough that it can rise out of the moulding. This will allow you to slide the bracket along the mounting channel easily. Once the slide brackets are in place tighten the flange nuts up so that the bolt head is as low as possible in the moulded slide brackets. You can then use the tent mounting brackets and fasten up easily with nylocs, making your job of fitting a roof tent a lot simpler. 

View this post on Instagram

🔝 TIP: When using this type of mounting slider/channel when fitting a #rooftent help stop the head of the bolt rising out of the slider by fastening a nut on the under side ensuring the head of the bolt does not rise up meaning the nut can not be tightened! .. .. 🌐 www.trekoverland.com .. 📧 info@trekoverland.com .. 📲 +44(0)1751 430 693 .. 🌍 Worldwide Shipping Available .. .. .. #4x4 #4x4parts #4x4equipment #4x4accessories #4x4camping #landrover #landroveraccessories #landroverequipment #offroad #offroading #offroadaccessories #offroadequipment #offroadparts #expeditionequipment #uk #Yorkshire #jointheambush #rooftents #roofracks #awnings #camping #4wd #landroverdefender #alloyandgrit #onelifeliveit

A post shared by Trek Overland - Land Rover (@trekoverland) on Apr 10, 2019 at 2:06pm PDT

Back to the Dacia Duster... 

The customer purchased some cross rails off Amazon to fit the factory fit roof bars which we fitted and then lifted the TentBox on the roof. Another handy tip is to have a piece of wood wrapped in either a blanket or bubble wrap and place it under the tent once it is lifted so that you can slide the brackets in easier without having to struggle to hold the tent with one arm and slide the brackets with the other. Ensure it is safely wrapped in something soft as to not damage the car.

The major problem we found when fitting the TentBox to this Dacia Duster was due to their very chunky factory fit roof rails, its very hard to slide your arms under the tent to tighten the bolts. We managed but we do warn you that it is quite a squeeze and to take your time if fitting a tent to any vehicle. 

Please see the images below of the fitment. If you have any questions or would like a similar job doing please email us at info@trekoverland.com or call +44(0)1751 430 693.