The Mombasa Car Top Tent
(my install and review)
I had been looking for a "Roof Top Tent" for quite some time and found someone liquidating the made in China Mombasa Car Top Tent for $225 on one of the online forums that i frequent.
This particular model usually retail for $900+, so i was a little skeptical of this "Too Good to be True" scam!
Long story short, they were getting rid of old stock and making room for a new and updated design and they really were $225! I figured what the hell so i jumped on it and ordered one immediately! For $400 shipped to my door, i figured i couldnt go wrong!
A friend of mine had bought one awhile back and he was quite happy with it and had recently spent 18 days in Baja in it with no problemos!
I knew they had a few small flaws, but was I was willing to deal with them for the price!
(Remember, i paid $400 not the $1000 they usually go for!)
First thing i noticed when i opened the box, was the partical board floor. I had read that these had been changed, but i guess i got one of the older styles! The floor was slightly damaged in 3 places. It appeared that the ladder pins had punctured it in 2 places and one of the rivets had pulled through it! I was bummed, but it wasnt the end of the world!
We determined that the one that i had bought was an older model then my buddies that i had intially checked out, and that his has the nice metal and plastic floors and mine is an older model with the less desired partical board! Although i am bummed, it is good to see that they realized the flaw and fixed it!!! If i need to replace my floor down the line, it doesnt look like that hard of a project!
The floor frame itself is square aluminum tubing with 3 braces in the middle, so the cheesy particle board can easily be removed from the frame and replaced with something more heavy duty!
The first mounting of the tent was easy and took less then 5 mins with 2 people.
It comes with brackets designed for Thule bars which is OK with me since i already had a set.
However, after mounting the tent to the Thule bars and doing a field test with it at the beach with the misses, it was definitely not sturdy enough for the 2 of us!
Here is a picture of the pin mounting system to the thule bars.
As the mounts come, they need to be modified with ubolts or something to limit the side to side movement (when offroading) of the tent on the bars.
Weird design, but its an easy fix! Also, with this simple pin system, the tent could possibly be stolen in minutes!
Below is a picture of the tent installed with the High Gutter Mounts
Thule #387 High Foot (8" off roof line)
Below is a picture of it installed with the Low Gutter Mounts
Thule #300Low Foot (5" off roof line), Better Fit!!!!
After trying to think of other options other then the Thule bars, I decided to go ahead and mount it to my African Outback rack!
The tent take up almost the entire rack, so storage space is no longer an option, but it is a MUCH sturdier platform! Also, mounting the tent to the rack actually lowers it about an inch lower then even the lowest Thule setup!
I drilled out the rivets of the stock mounting clamps of the tent, removed the clamps and measured up some 3/4"x3/4" aluminum tubing that i had.
I decided to mount (2) pieces parallel to the rack runner to prevent bowing (i sleep with my feet at the door). I also wanted to space it off of the rack an inch or so to allow air to get in between the floor and the rack so moisture isnt trapped in there destroying the partical board! The gap between the floor and the rack is also needed so that the cover can fit properly when not in use!
Making the mounting bars was very easy and straight forward!
I used (2) pieces 3ft long x 3/4" x 3/4" and mounted them as shown here with 5/16" Carriage Bolts
NOTE: i sleep with my feet at the door and this will prevent bowing in the middle, if i slept sideways, parallel to the rack, i would have mounted these sideways instead!
The carriage bolts are centered on the runners of the rack and secured with lock nuts and fender washers.
The bolts run directly through the tent floor, through the 3/4" square tube, and then through the rack itself. Its a very sturdy setup!
Here is a test fit and all is a go
Just enough space to neatly tuck the cover under between the rack and the floor
I am much happier with the sturdiness of the tent mounted to the rack instead of the Thule bars!
I will also probably add some 3/4" square tubing in the front and rear running sideways as well for a little more support!
As for the tent itself, the tent is very nicely made for the $. There are obviously some QC issues and there are a few stitching errors that have caused some pinholes in the material, but that will easily be fixed.
The big thing for me on this tent is the windows! There are 3 very large ones on the sides and 2 small ones on the top. The netting is fairly course mesh and could let some really tiny bugs in, but again, i am not worried about it for the price!
Most of the more expensive models windows arent even close to this big! I prefer sleeping in open air as much as possible and this will be a very nice feature for me for sure!
One of the other weaknesses of the tent is this white rope/cord that holds the tension on the tent to keep it taught. One of mine completely broke the first time i used it, very cheesy material.
I immediately replaced the 2 cords with some nice super heavy duty climbing cordelette, adjusted the tension and it works awesome!
Old weak setup:
New Heavy Duty Setup
The outer cover (when the tent is folded up) is made of a nice PVC material and seems durable very water proof!
However, its mounting system with the bungee type cords is a pain in the ass to deal with.
I redid it to make it much easier to secure by replacing the "knots" with eyelets on each end and added a simple key chain thingamcbob.
This allows you to pull it snug and easily clip it into place!
The other clips attach to the corners and provide a decent amount of tension to keep the cover on.
Overall, i am happy with the cover! It doesnt seem to make much noise on the freeway either!
One of the weakest and lamest parts of this setup is the ladder, but if you have researched this tent at all, you have probably read that 1000 times, so i wont bore you with those details!
All Packed Up and Ready To Go
Well, for $400 i am very happy with this purchase and dont mind putting some work into it to make it "Right"!
Here is my two cents about the tent
Pros:
Price
Size (very spacious) important for me!
Windows (much bigger then most of the more expensive tents), this is VERY important for me!
Good Mattress, Even better with a Thermarest under it! :)
Simple setup and take down
Nice Waterproof Cover
Cons:
Size, takes up almost my whole roof, i gladly accept this in exchange for having the bigger sleep area! :)
The ladder is of bad quality, a pain to setup and pieces of it are easily lost, but serves the pupose (setup takes a bit). (Hopefully there will be an update available soon!)
Rainfly (barely covers anything and has a very cheesy mounting system), one of my mounting snaps came damaged and is not useable
Partical Board Floor
Giant gaping hole at the hinge point, needs a lot more velcro to securely close it up!
Nothing covering the gap between the 2 floorsides when its folded out. Leaves about a 1/4" gap the entire length of the tent, wide open for bugs and/or a cold draft to enter
Doesnt have the cool bungee cords inside that tuck the tent in for you when you pack it up. The more expensive tents have this very cool feature!
What i am going to change/modify:
Rainfly (looking into having a custom one made that will cover more of the tent)
Replace floor with aluminum sheet and having it welded for rigidity!
Covering the 1/4" "draft/bug gap" on the floor with rubber
Desiging some soft of velcro setup for the hole at the hinge point to keep it closed and making it closeable from the inside!
Ladder, still looking into options!
Overall, i am very pleased with it for the price!
As it sits, i would have been very unhappy if i paid full price ($900) and had to change/modify all these little things. Since i got it for less then 1/2 price, i dont mind modifying/customizing it to my liking!
In fact, i prefer it this way, then its 100% what i want!
Supposedly they are revamping the new tents to solve some of the issues that i mention.
I spoke with Mel, the owner of Car Top Tent and he says the new units will be out in mid Febuary!
I am interested to see what they have changed and if the new parts will be interchangable to allow us to "Upgrade" the older style tents!!
If they change the floor materials, ladder, gaping hole at the hinge and the rainfly, they would be an excellent value at full price!
This is a tent designed for the average car camper and will serve that purpose just fine.
I camp in a lot of different conditions which is why i will have to modify the tent a little bit.
For the average car camper, this is a great setup!
Links to RTT's
http://www.mywaytents.co.za (my favorite and the biggest windows)
http://www.sleeoffroad.com/products/products_tents.htm
http://www.hannibalusa.com/tents.htm