Leaking RTT !

Grabow

Adventurer
So, we're two weeks into an at least year long trip and it seems to be one disaster after another this week (tent leaking profusely, components on our 2013 jeep not working, and our transmission wouldn't shift out of first gear today for over 40 miles) So anyways, our RTT, basically a locally made Autohome Columbus style tent, isn't holding up to rain at all. To the point that we are trying to figure out a way to replace it all together. The overall quality of our tent is great, it's just that the material isn't at all waterproof. The question I have is can anybody testify to the waterproofness of Autohome tents? I really don't want to go through the trouble of sourcing one on the road, and spending the money that we don't really have, just to end up in the same boat that we're in now. I have tried to find someone on our route that stocks them so I can check them out but there doesn't seem to be anyone that actually stocks them. Any info or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian
 

Grabow

Adventurer
Columbus style. It's a tent made in Colorado by a company that does all kinds of other quality work and conversions on vehicles. I'm really not trying to smear anyones name because the owner of the company helped me out with other stuff on our jeep and is a really nice guy, I'm just trying to figure out if anyone can tell me with first hand experience if a Columbus will hold up to heavy rain.
 

elysium

Observer
I had an autohome maggiolina. The material for the "fabric" portion was...how best to describe it...a bit stiff. It was still a fabric (not plastic) material...just thicker. Also felt like it might have had some waterproof treatment on it (the autohome website says the fabric sheds water). I know you don't have an autohome RTT, but one option may be to look into Autohome's reflective hood that you can add on to their tent (see link below). Or you could try to spray some 3M anti-water treatment on the fabric of your current tent (or cut a tarp to add an additional material over your current tent fabric).

http://www.autohomeus.com/accessories/hoods.php
 

Dusty Grin

Observer
Gotcha. The reason I ask is because I once had a Chinese clam shell style tent that leaked like crazy on the tall back fabric section. Turns out the material had a "belly" in it and wasn't pulled tight enough by the struts. I wedged the support rod that was provided as tightly as possible to tighten that fabric in back so water didn't pool on the seam above the window. It worked, sort of. Turns out the panel was just cut a little long so it never went fully tight.

Just something to check into.
 

Grabow

Adventurer
Yeah, we sprayed the entire tent with waterproofing spray, we also used tent seam sealer on all of the seams before we headed out on our trip. I'll have to check out that cover that autohome makes, thanks for the link. I was thinking about maybe trying to get someone that makes custom boat covers and tarps to make a custom rain fly. I'd rather not be wasting more time and money just to end up with something sub par, but I also would rather not spend a large chunk of our travel money on another tent if I can avoid it.
 

Grabow

Adventurer
And, I feel like I should clarify. I shouldn't have called it "one disaster after another", we're still having a blast, but today has definitely been a little tense with the transmission stuff. Luckily the transmission is working properly at the moment, but it's not too promising considering we just started our trip.
 

Lemsteraak

Adventurer
AutoHome uses Airtex fabric on the Columbus which is hugely water repellant. A normal acrylic fabric will not work well and I don't think a treatment like 303's fabric guard will help much. You might want to look at Rustoleum's new never wet for fabrics. My concern is maintaining the breath ability of the fabric. The design of the Columbus makes fabric choice difficult. You get warm air rising and can condense on the cold fabric and fiberglass. The ceiling needs to be insulated and the fabric should breathe. GoreTex or GE's eVent fabric would be the closest to the Columbus' Airtex fabric.


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SeattleFJs

Observer
Columbus style. It's a tent made in Colorado by a company that does all kinds of other quality work and conversions on vehicles. I'm really not trying to smear anyones name because the owner of the company helped me out with other stuff on our jeep and is a really nice guy, I'm just trying to figure out if anyone can tell me with first hand experience if a Columbus will hold up to heavy rain.

Did this shop work on your transmission and/or provide your broken components by chance? ;)


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Grabow

Adventurer
Ha, no, no transmission work. And the other failing components are the electronic sway bar disconnect, which I had known to be problematic on these new jeeps, and the tire pressure monitoring system which I suppose I can do without, honestly it seemed a little bourgeois to me to begin with ;)
 

Martyn

Supporting Sponsor, Overland Certified OC0018
Sorry about your experience with your RTT. It's a serious concern, if the fabric a tent is constructed from isn't water resistant and breathable you have a big problem. I spent two years researching tent fabrics for our Habitat tent and in a nut shell this is what I found out.

Autohome designs and manufactures their own material, it is proprietary and excellent.

There are two mills left in the world that make and treat poly-cotton in house. They spin the cotton onto a polyester core, weave the fabric, and treat it in house. One mill is in Australia and one is in India. These are the best three RTT tent fabrics in the world.

Autohome uses their own fabric, Eezi Awn uses the fabric milled in India, and AT uses the fabric milled in Australia.

If you consider these three fabric to be rated 10 on a scale of 1-10 all the other tent fabrics I have seen, that are suitable for RTT's, fall into the 5 or below class.
 

SeattleFJs

Observer
Where does Howling Moon fall in there? They appear to use a pretty proven fabric as well. I learned quite a bit about the material James Baroud uses too, which from what I can tell is pretty unique and substantial. It is actually aluminum-impregnated and also proprietary.
 
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Lemsteraak

Adventurer
I think I know the tent you have. Designed by a doctor in St Louis. Good design but the fabric is OK for light camping. You can remove it and have a sailmaker or awning maker reproduce it in a poly cotton. It will be heavier. They should be able to bang it out and have you on your way quickly. Materials they use for sailboat dodgers will also work well. Have them put a vent flap up high (with mosquito net inside) to exhaust warm air in the summer and it will be more comfortable.


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kai38

Explorer
Where is it leaking at? Seam,window or tent body?
Try looking for NixWax products they worked great for me on a 12 yr old Columbus RTT
 

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