Fit guide
Will a roof tent fit my car?
Most fit problems come down to weight limits. Check these four things before you order. This is a guide, not engineering advice: always follow your vehicle handbook and your roof bar maker's instructions.
Tell our assistant who is sleeping, your car and its roof load, or add a photo of the handbook page, and get a preliminary answer straight away. Send it to us and we confirm before you pay.
1. Dynamic load: what the roof carries while you drive
Every car has a maximum weight the roof may carry on the move. It is in the handbook or on the maker's website, and it varies a lot between models. The tent and the roof bars both count towards it. Our Mini weighs 43 kg, the Mid 50 kg and the Max 54 kg, plus 5 kg for the detachable ladder, so with roof bars you may need 70 kg or more of rating for the Max. Use the fit checker for the sum.
2. Static load: what it carries when you sleep
Parked, the roof also carries the people inside. The limit that applies is usually higher than the dynamic one, but not always stated, and some cars do not publish it. Ask the maker of your car or your roof bars if the handbook is silent.
3. The roof bars have their own limit
The lowest of the car's roof limit and the bars' rating sets your real limit. Check the bars are rated for the tent, are fitted to the car's mounting points, and have the right spacing for the tent's mounting rails.
4. Height and handling
Closed, the tent is 12.3 cm thick, so it adds about that much to your height on top of your roof bars. Check car park barriers and your garage. A roof load raises the centre of gravity, so drive more gently in crosswinds and on corners.
Two heights the maker measured in its fitting videos below: a Jeep Wrangler JK went from 181 cm to 198 cm with the tent on the maker's brackets, and a Land Rover Defender 90 measured 217 cm with the tent on its roof rack (215 cm with the maker's low brackets). Measure your own car once the tent is on.
Watch it fitted
The maker's own fitting videos, in English. The maker uses a workshop hoist. At home, fix the brackets to the roof rails first, then four people lift the tent on and bolt it to the brackets.
English voice-overs are our translation of the maker's narration, read by a computer voice.
Car by car
Before you order, check
- Your car's dynamic roof load limit, from the handbook.
- The rating and weight of your roof bars.
- Tent weight plus bars is under the dynamic limit.
- Your height clearance at home and where you park.
Not sure? Send us your car and bars and we will tell you what we think before you pay anything.