Camping with my xB and new RTT
 

I just got this roof top tent a few weeks ago and thought I'd share some photos of it. I took my son for his 18th. birthday to the Florida Keys to go scuba diving and we slept in this Maggiolina for 9 days. I have it mounted to a Yakima rack and don't even know its there when we're driving. It weighs 150 pounds so doesn't exceed the load rating for the 1st. generation xB's. It has a fiberglass top and bottom and uses a crank that goes into a hole in the side to lower and raise it. It uses a wormscrew crossbar mechanism in the front and back which keeps it very tight and stable even in high winds. It comes with a foam mattress in the base and a ladder which stores in the tent. I have an awning that goes over the opening too but didn't use it on this trip because we were blessed with no rain. After leaving the Keys we camped in the mountains of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park where it was in the 50's at night. With the tent windows and doors closed up it stayed fairly warm inside. The base and ceiling are insulated. I got the largest size of this model which is a little larger than a queen sized bed. They're made in Italy and this year is their 50th. year making these. Its aerodynamic shape cuts down on wind drag and as long as we weren't exceeding the speed limit it didn't affect our gas mileage. The Keys were extremely hot and humid so I'm looking into getting a portable air conditioner for the next time. They make one to cool dog houses that should work fine. I got the idea from people who camp in the teardrop trailers. Hope you like the photos.




[imghttps://i35.tinypic.com/2iuciua.jpg

[/imghttps://i37.tinypic.com/11ry9ao.jpg

[imghttps://i33.tinypic.com/34h7xnm.jpg

[/imghttps://i33.tinypic.com/2r5byg2.jpg

[imghttps://i36.tinypic.com/2v1vx49.jpg

[/imghttps://i35.tinypic.com/2itsqci.jpg

Did you sleep on top of the xB, or did you take it down?

Yes, we slept in it on the roof. It stays on the rack the entire trip. You crank it up when you get to your overnight site and crank it down when you're ready to leave. It goes up in about a minute but it takes a little longer to crank down as you have to make sure all the fabric sides are tucked in properly. You only remove it from the rack when you're done using it and want to store it.

thats around mile marker 70 right?

It's Long Key State Park and yes, I believe it was around mile marker 70.

long key is great i have a buddy who has a place on mile marker 66

good fishing around there

that thing is freakin awesome. that amazing that the roof rack and roof of our cars can take that much weight.

hehe looks good.. but gooood lord!!!! sleeping up there for a few times in the hot, humid fl nights.. wow...

dude that is bad ___ LOL!!!

Re: Camping with my xB and new RTT
 

What is the max load rating for the xB roof?
(i.e. Tent + Bars + People + Gear)

Thank you.

Thanks, I got a lot of stares and questions from people when I cranked it up. Before that I think everyone just thought it was a rack mounted cargo box. I had one woman at the Balsam Mountain Campground that went up my ladder to take a look inside while she was asking if it was O.K. to look! I had a little clip on fan when we were in the Keys and we had a nice sea breeze most nights but one night everything was perfectly calm, beautiful full moon over the ocean but we just laid there and sweat. I also got devoured by no-see-ums even thought I covered myself in insect repellent. I've still got the bite marks all over my ankles and lower legs. Like I said, next time I'll bring a portable A/C. I brought a microwave on this trip it and it made food preparation really easy.

Max load while moving is 165 pounds. Static load is much higher.

Very cool.

Nice info cool thanks man it is nice to know that info loll.

thats amazing

I thought roof racks were usually limited to 75 lbs or so?

no dents?

Thank you!

What size (S/M/L) did you get the Grand Tour in?

I found this link:
http://www.autohomeus.com/rooftop/ma...aGrandTour.php

way cool

https://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c...ms/2iuciua.jpg
crappy paint job but you get the pic

If you look on the Yakima site it has you go by the manufacturer's roof load limit which is 165 pounds for this vehicle. Apparently the racks are well above these limits but you are limited by the vehicle specs. 165 pounds is actually really good compared to other vehicles.
This is the large size grand tour.
I'm going to keep it the original white color as it reflects heat better. It also keeps the car cooler as it is shaded by the RTT.
No dents.

very cool...snd ummmm odd

I'm impressed...

I am stealing this photo from Cody (Crxgames) but your camper top, reminds me of his...

https://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2958/img0109ek9.jpg

Of course, his is on a 76 VW Westy :D

nice !!just dont roll over with the door open :rofl: :rofl:

Thats great I love it... i want to see one in person where did you get it?

We zipped the screens down at night so you'd have a hard time rolling out, but if you did it would sure wake you up or maybe put you back to sleep depending on how you landed.
I used to have a 2000 VW Eurovan camper with the pop top but it cost me dearly anytime something needed fixed on it so I sold it. I came up with this roof top tent idea after looking around on the net for trailers, camper vans, etc.
I don't know where you can see one in person, the only importer of them in this country is auto home usa. There are distributors of them but they're mostly on the west coast or you can buy them direct from auto home. The Italian site has other options like a vestibule that go with these. They're actually coming out with a carbon fiber rather than fiberglass version of this one later this year! Will be about 20% lighter in weight I believe but will be dark in color so will probably cook you if you're in the sun.

whaa?? never seen anything like this before.
pretty cool

SAAWEET!

That's awesome. I know I love the one on my bus above. Never even thought of doing it to an xb :).

i'd like to ride in the camper with it open while someone drives.

LO you are crazy it will be like the box no wind resist at all you will get blod of lol!!!

It would be cool to be up there while someone drove down the road until you blew off and the cars behind you squished you!

Where do you get one of those pop up on top of the xb it is kool lol

im sorry if i read something wrong

but the max weight is only 165 lbs?

sooooo basicaly onny one person have chill in there ?

sorry if i got is all wrong..im sure you're getting tired of explaining it .


very cool tho.

im asking this cuz id like to look into getting one soo me and the lady can take a lil trip like you did.

Do an internet search for maggiolina grand tour or you can get one from autohome usa. The weight limit while the xB is in motion is 165 pounds, the static weight limit is much higher so you are only limited to how tightly you can pack the people in there. It's a littler larger than a queen sized bed. It's exact dimensions when open are: 63" wide X 84-3/4" long X 38" high. It's 14" high when closed. Its exact weight is 154 pounds.

tk for the info that is bad ___ LOL!!!!

Price is a little out of my range but it's an excellent idea!

IF you don't mind me asking, what is the total weight of you and your son? Want to get an idea if its close to me and my wifes weight. Also I see the Schnauzer poking around the corner in that one picture, whats his/her name :)

Between the two of us it's about 430 lbs. Our miniature schnauzer is named Tootsie. She didn't go on the trip with us, she was just doing a final inspection in the photo you're talking about. The ladder has a weight limit of 800 pounds! Remember that the weight is not on the roof it's on the structural parts of the xB's side walls.

Is the Rack its on the screw in rack or just the one that "pinches on the gutters?

impressive....

It's a Yakima rack, the one that was an option when you bought the first generation xB. It attaches to the gutters so is removable.