Personal review of the Maggiolina roof top tent.

[mrchips]

Just got back from a trip to Utah and the North Rim, spent a week in my Maggiolina Airlander. I have the extra long version as I am 6'7", sleeps my wife and I comfortable. Cant say enough about the ease of setting it up and comfort, sealed from the dirt of dusty roads, wind and rain proof.

 

[fike]

I love my Maggiolina. I just got back from sleeping in Badlands, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Moab and it was cozy in rain and light snow. At Yellowstone some Buffalo come through the camp at night, and it was comforting to not be on the ground. I'd like it if they had some better connection points on the inside, like a place in the center of the ceiling to hang a small battery lantern. It would also be cool if they sold one with a battery and solar panels on it so that you could use it for charging stuff and lighting the interior.

no regrets. Maggiolina Air Top is awesome.

 

[M.Bas]

One thing you might want to consider when mounting a RTT to regular Thule bars is using more than 2 bars. The Thule bars can handle the weigth but are not really made to be carying 60+kg on a (semi)permanent basis and are prone to some serious bending with this amount of weigth.

 

[Mike S]

If The tent has a rigid bottom platform (non-flexing) and the standard Thule bars are properly secured, they work well when the tent is firmly fastened with clamps with nylock nuts.

We have fitted a couple of thousand tents, most of them to Thule bars, and never a bar or tent failure resulting from mounting problems.

 

[M.Bas]

The bottom of the Maggiolina's flexes and they don't have a flat bottom (at least my AirTop does/has), you should know.
The shop where I bought my AirTop showed me some pictures of cars with bent Thule bars because of a RTT. It might only be a potential issue with the small models though, since they put more weigth closer to the centre of the crossbars.

Anyway, the regular nonHD Thule bars, and most likely all others with just a rectangular cross bar, bent quite easily. Proof of that would be a simple trip to your nearest DIY store and look at peoples crossbars. Here in Scandinavia a lot of people have the bars mounted permanently so it's very easy to notice.

 

[Mike S]

The bottom platform of all our hardshell tents is a foam/fiberglas (or carbon fiber) sandwich that is over one inch thick. It is similar to the hull of a Boston Whaler boat. They are quite rigid. If the amounting surface is not flat, I have seen them deflect slightly + or - 1/4" at maximum, when the mounting nuts are torqued down.

Like I said, we have successfully used Thule standard cross bars to mount MANY of our tents. NO bending or damage has been reported in over ten years - since I started AutoHomeUSA. If you used a very long bar and a very narrow tent, it could happen I suppose, but never if the tent is correctly mounted.

If you are having a specific problem with your tent you dealer in Finland should advise you. If you like, send me an e-mail and I can possibly assist you.

 

[Rezarf <><]

Could someone post up a pic the mounting system? Thanks

 

[Lemsteraak]

Drew, you are right, there are some differences both inside and outside.

Universal Mounting System, link - http://www.autohome-official.com/en/products/roof-top-tents-characteristics/mounting

Big advance when it came out a zillion years ago, before that you needed a expedition basket to support your RTT.

Outside differences - While newer tents have adopted the mounting system's 'C" channels, they just bolt these channels to the base, an easy solution but not as strong. In a Maggiolina, the "C" channels are moulded flush into the base resulting in a completely flat surface. The importance of this is that the bars and base are integral as the base prevents the bars from bending and vice versa. When you tighten the "U" bolts, it becomes a unit. You might be able to replicate the system on other tents by adding filler pieces between the base and bars, supporting the bars and making a stronger system. On the older AutoHome tents you wanted to have the bars at least as wide as the tent to support the outer edges. While the newer tents don't need this, it is still a good idea.

Inside differences - because the bars are an integral part of the system the base can be built lighter. Mike is correct that the base is a composite similar to a Boston Whaler but really it is more like an America's Cup catamaran where the fiberglass is bonded to an airex type foam core. Fiberglass is not very rigid if formed into a flat panel, but strong if made into compound curves or if made into a composite with a bonded core separating the glass panels. If you use carbon fiber bonded to a aired foam core, the rigidity is off the charts, and this is what they do for the Americas Cup boats.

So, bottom line, all you need are two crossbars. We would add a middle bar for heavy off road use. The middle bar would be set up slightly higher so when you crank down on the bolts the base would flex like a spring. Then when your vehicle flexes the tent flexes too so it is silent up there as it is stressed. This was for the vehicle, not the tent.

 

[Jeffrey Patrick]

Mike S, thank you for your product and answers on this forum. I own a 2000 Tacoma Ex-cab. What load rack system/brand would you recommend? I would like to have it set about cab height for aerodynamic reasons, still enabling me to store gear in the bed. I believe I saw a white Tacoma on your internet site with an Air-top mounted on a rack of some sort. Thanks!
Jeff

 

[enzo]

When I had my Tacoma I used a Thule Xsporter rack. They are height adjustable which is great.

 

[Jeffrey Patrick]

Thank you Enzo, I will look into Thule.

 

[Mike S]

I concur on the Thule XSporter rack. We recommend them to our customers who need the type of solution the OP inquired about.

If you go this route, be aware that you will need to order the 'WIDE' mounting clamps, as the standard mounting clamps do not fit over the XSporter cross bars.

 

[Jeffrey Patrick]

Thanks Mike!

 

[benichols]

Mounting details

Hi Mike,
I have a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (stock). The Thule 300 footer packs have a weight limit of 165lbs. What mounting system would you recommend for a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (4-door) in rugged terrain (i.e. Colorado mountains)? The Off Camber system looks interesting (http://offcamberfabrications.com/index.php?page=products&part=131894) but expensive. Before I get a roof rack I want to make sure it is sturdy enough and will work with your tents.
Thanks!
Brian

The bottom platform of all our hardshell tents is a foam/fiberglas (or carbon fiber) sandwich that is over one inch thick. It is similar to the hull of a Boston Whaler boat. They are quite rigid. If the amounting surface is not flat, I have seen them deflect slightly + or - 1/4" at maximum, when the mounting nuts are torqued down.

Like I said, we have successfully used Thule standard cross bars to mount MANY of our tents. NO bending or damage has been reported in over ten years - since I started AutoHomeUSA. If you used a very long bar and a very narrow tent, it could happen I suppose, but never if the tent is correctly mounted.

If you are having a specific problem with your tent you dealer in Finland should advise you. If you like, send me an e-mail and I can possibly assist you.

 

[Lemsteraak]

Probably Frenchie is in the best position to answer this question. He has a 4 door Unlimited and I suspect he is seriously off-camber, I think he has logged more time in a Maggiolina off road than anyone I know. I'll send him a PM and see if he is around.

The Maggiolina was pretty revolutionary because it didn't require a heavy rack or expedition basket. It will certainly work with a heavy duty rack but the idea is to keep things light and for the tent to flex with the vehicle so sport bars like Thule or Yakima actually work better. The designers tried to shave off as much weight as possible up high. That is the reason for going to the expense of carbon fiber tents, they are even lighter. On Frenchie's original Cherokee we used three sport bars so the tent was always stressed. The roof of an old Cherokee is slightly arced so the middle bar was up about 1/4 inch higher and with everything bolted down the tent would bend slightly and no squeaks or anything. When the chassis flexed, you might not be able to open the rear doors but the tent didn't make a noise.

There is something of an agreement here in the US that the maximum weight rating for racks is 165 pounds. The same bars may carry a 100 Kg rating in Europe. In general, you want the racks to tie into the roll structure of the vehicle so this is why rack feet are placed so wide on the roof, where there is something to tie into. Most all the North America spec Maggiolinas are somewhere between 110 - 135 pounds so you will be fine.