The Adventure Kings Grand Tourer Mk2 Aluminium Rooftop Tent has been designed by Aussie campers, for Aussie campers.

When it comes to purchasing an aluminium rooftop tent, we encourage our customers to do their own research on competing brands to really see if buying elsewhere is worth all the extra coin. We all know aluminium rooftop tents are a hefty investment, but we reckon the first time you camp in one, you’ll wonder why you didn’t grab one sooner!

So let’s go through what you need to know when purchasing any aluminium rooftop tent and we’ll go through the questions you need to ask and the information that should be available without even having to ask.

Okay, so first up, jump online and read as many google reviews as possible. I’m talking the good, the bad and the ugly. Look for anything negative about the rooftop tent you’re looking at and when it comes time to speak to a sales rep, ask them if these issues have been resolved or are going to be resolved in the future. We make no secret of the fact that some of our customers had issues with our previous model grand tourer mk1 rooftop tent which have now been completely resolved thanks to valuable customer feedback. 

Some dealers and manufactures of rooftop tents can be slightly misleading when it comes to outlining the dimensions and overall weights of their rooftop tents. For example, most of our competitors weigh their alloy rooftop tents without the mattress, fitting kit or ladder inside of it to give their customers the impression that it is incredibly light weight. When in fact, it could easily be an extra 15kgs or more than advertised. We have weighed our mk2 grand tourer with the entire fitting kit, ladder, awning poles and mattress to ensure our customers know exactly what they are getting. This is a very key point when adding up your vehicle’s total overall weight, keeping it road legal and under GVM.

One thing to make sure is included in the purchase price is a high quality telescopic ladder. If you’re in a store checking out the aluminium rooftop tent, whip the boots off and get a feel for how the rungs feel on your feet. Some rooftop tent ladders have extremely narrow rungs which are not comfy on the feet and make it easy to loose balance when climbing in and out of the rooftop tent- especially after a few too many around the camp fire!

Next, check out the quality of the canvas used. This is another sneaky way that some manufacturers get away with making their pop up rooftop tents so lightweight- by skimping out on the GSM or Grams per Square Metre of the canvas used. Generally speaking, the higher the GSM, the better quality, stronger and water resistant the canvas is. Our Grand Tourer’s canvas is 320GSM which is waterproof and is still able to breathe. Compare that to some manufacture’s canvas which can be as low as 180GSM. While you might be saving a bit of weight, you really need to consider if it’s worth sacrificing much needed strength and water resistance while camping in all sorts of weather.

Make sure any external steel is made out of high quality stainless steel. Some manufacturers don’t even include a fitting kit with their rooftop tents and when they do, it’s sometimes made from lower grade stainless steel which you might find will start to rust after your first beach run. Even though typically speaking, stainless steel should not rust.

Now, double check the mattress is actually included in the purchase price of the rooftop tent. It’s crazy to us that some manufactures would sell a customer an alloy rooftop tent without including one. And while you’re at it, check the thickness of the mattress too and make sure it’s going to be comfy enough for you and your partner. We want you to feel as comfy as you would in your bed at home.

Another thing to keep in mind is where you want to be able to climb in and out of the pop up rooftop tent. What I mean by that is when it comes time to mount an optional accessory like a 270° awning, are you able to modify the position of the ladder to suite any side of the rooftop tent? Another thing to check which is relevant to this part is if the aluminium rooftop tent has shelter on all 3 sides. Some aluminium rooftop tents out there only have one awning or shelter directly out the back side, which is a pain in the neck if it starts to rain, but also renders the mesh on either side useless in a downpour.

The Kings Aluminium Rooftop Tent can be customized so that you can climb into any of 3 large entry points by moving the ladder rail wherever you want. Plus all 3 sides can be completely sheltered from the rain thanks to the included awning outrigger set. It also means you can be sheltered from the rain while taking off your boots to climb into bed and still take advantage of the midge proof mesh by opening the top half of the canvas doors to let the breeze flow though for an incredibly cozy nights sleep no matter what the weather is doing.

The next thing to consider- and this is a big one, is whether or not you can keep your bedding and sleeping gear inside of the rooftop tent even after it’s packed up. This plays a huge role in your set up and pack up time, because if you have to constantly take your gear out of the aluminium rooftop tent when it comes time to pack up and hit the road, you’re almost doubling the time needed. Not to mention the fact that you loose an insane amount of space inside your vehicle which will be taken up by pillows and sleeping bags. Our Grand Tourer Rooftop tent still has enough space inside to store 2 premium sleeping bags, 2 pillows and a pair of pj’s when its completely packed up. This makes setup so incredibly easy and again cuts your setup time in half so you can spend more time relaxing at camp and less time fighting with bed sheets, pillows and sleeping bags. 

Here at Adventure Kings, we are committed to upholding our famous Kings value for money which campers need and love. We are constantly pushing the envelope to ensure our products exceed our customer’s expectations by far and we’ve proven this time and time again. So before you pull out the cheque book to fork out thousands more for an aluminium rooftop tent, do your research and we reckon you won’t find better value for money elsewhere. And before you squeeze the trigger, head in to one of our company stores to see one of these incredible Adventure Kings Grand Tourer MK2 Aluminium rooftop tents in the flesh and you’ll see just how high the quality it is, at a fraction of the cost of some of our competitors.