ARB Simpson II rooftop tent

[roadkill]

the Sep 07 4WD&Sport Utility mag has a writeup on the ARB Simpson II rooftop tent. I belive I also saw a small blurb about this tent in another 4x4 mags new products listings and said it had an MSRP of @ $1500 IIRC. anyone have any first hand experiance with one or have seen it in person? from what I've read it looks to be a well made tent

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Mine is on the way

I have a ton of product literature on them... if there are any specifics, fire away and I will try answer them as best I can.

There is one thing I really like about them, even without having seen one... SPARE PARTS. Just as ARB does with their other products, they have a complete breakdown of spare and replacement parts available for these tents. Thats huge for a guy like me that uses and abuses things... I want spares readily available.

 

[roadkill]

do you have any dimensions (closed and open) and the weight?

 

[Nullifier]

Not sure on open and close specs but ARB told me that it wieghs 140lbs.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

do you have any dimensions (closed and open) and the weight?

Just a cut/paste from my info thusfar... I'll likely have a page on my site with pics & such by tomorrow, and hopefully my tent by the end of the week


ARB SIMPSON II ROOFTOP
TENT WITH EXTENSION:
Shown in the image right, the
ARB rooftop tent features a
clam-shell style hinge allowing
the base to achieve an open size
of 55” long by 94.5” wide for
maximum comfort.
Closed dimensions (as shown in
the image top right) are:
55”L x 47.25”W x 12”H
Ladder included.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Mine is here... hopefully I'll have time to get it unpacked in the next day or two...

 

[cshontz]

Mine is here... hopefully I'll have time to get it unpacked in the next day or two...

Grats, Kurt! Please post pics when you are able - I'm particularly interested to see the underside mounting accommodations.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Grats, Kurt! Please post pics when you are able - I'm particularly interested to see the underside mounting accommodations.

I can tell you that already...

It uses a 32" x 32" mounting pattern. The aluminum extruded bars that come with it can be mounted either way, thus allowing you to have the tent open off the side or off the back, or work with different roof racks, mounts, etc. They have a "hat" channel that has an infinite # of positions along the channel. We mounted a tent last week that had very similar mounting system, it worked really slick. We added a couple of extra bolts/fender washers per track, just to make sure it held tight.

I'll get some pics ASAP...

 

[cshontz]

It uses a 32" x 32" mounting pattern. The aluminum extruded bars that come with it can be mounted either way, thus allowing you to have the tent open off the side or off the back, or work with different roof racks, mounts, etc. They have a "hat" channel that has an infinite # of positions along the channel. We mounted a tent last week that had very similar mounting system, it worked really slick. We added a couple of extra bolts/fender washers per track, just to make sure it held tight.

Thanks, Kurt. Was wondering about that. I've read descriptions, and see pictures every now and then of various models, but I have yet to get down and dirty with one of these things yet.

I'm wondering for my Cherokee if I should equip it with two or three load bars for this particular tent. I'm excited to see your setup.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

...I'm wondering for my Cherokee if I should equip it with two or three load bars for this particular tent. I'm excited to see your setup.

2 seems to be plenty on the setups I've seen. I must be upfront, the ARB tent is very similar to some of the other tents on the market, in design and construction... the fact they have been proven to work sucsessfully with 2 load bars means alot. I don't know how the ARB tent fits into the hierarchy of tent history, but its very similar to the new Mombasa Expedition tent... I can't comment on quality differences as mine is still in a box, but I will surely look at it very closely.

According to Mel at RTT, its possible that the ARB tent is made by a "sister" company as the factory they have producing theirs. Its also possible they are made by completely different companies and just happen to share some parts. I'll reserve my opinion until I have a chance to look at it closely, but I know many of the spare parts will interchange. The ARB does have a different tent covering, possibly material too, the Simpson has an integral awning setup covering the ladder, while the Mombasa does not. The base tents might be very similar??

 

[Cruiser]

Well,, howd the tent look??

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Well,, howd the tent look??

Good... the structural components are very similar and or identical to the Mombasa parts, things like the ladder, bows, base, hardware, etc. The main difference lies in the fabric, and coloring... possibly the quality control of the final product as the ARB unit seemed to have less "inclusions" found with the Mombasa. The ARB unit also features the awning over the ladder, a feature I've already found plenty of uses for. I'll try and find a minute to grab some pics...

 

[Moody]

Narrowed my search/interest to the arb or the ezi awn. Pics of the arb would be great.

 

[Willman]

Good... the structural components are very similar and or identical to the Mombasa parts, things like the ladder, bows, base, hardware, etc. The main difference lies in the fabric, and coloring... possibly the quality control of the final product as the ARB unit seemed to have less "inclusions" found with the Mombasa. The ARB unit also features the awning over the ladder, a feature I've already found plenty of uses for. I'll try and find a minute to grab some pics...

Kurt........

love to see your pictures on where you mounted this bad boy and your findings on this tent!!!

Thanks!!!

:chowtime:

 

[kb7our]

Kurt........

love to see your pictures on where you mounted this bad boy and your findings on this tent!!!

Thanks!!!

:chowtime:

A few weeks later...what ever happened to Kurt's mounted pics? I've seen others but...how about it?