Bundutec Bundutop Roof Top Tent Review After 12-Months of Use
After a good 12-months of testing and using our Bundutec Bundutop roof top tent, we thought we would write a detailed review sharing everything you need to know about this South African made roof top tent.
Roof top tents are becoming more and more popular in Australia, after being the standard tent setup in Africa for decades. South Africa is where the roof top tent was born for obvious reasons. That is sleeping as far off the ground as possible, trying to keep you safe and sound from all sorts of animals that are likely to eat you. This is obviously not a problem in Australia and a swag or tent is all you really need, but for some, a roof top tent is seen as a great option in a touring 4WD setup. We have never liked the idea of having a roof top tent on top of our 4WD for many reasons, but as a tent setup on a trailer we think it is a fantastic idea.
As our regular readers know we can go into a lot of detail with some of our stories. We struggle to write a short post on something that costs a lot of money and needs a lot of discussion. This is not a post where we just copy and paste the advertising material from the manufacturer. Please give yourself a good 15-minutes to read through this, you might even need more…
Our Camper Trailer DOT373
When we decided on purchasing an off-road camper trailer, we really wanted to own one that was made here in Australia. At the time in 2018 when we were deciding on which way to go, there were only really two Australian made camper trailers that we liked, being the Drifta Off-road Tourers (DOTs) and Patriot camper trailers. We chose a DOT trailer as we were able to fully customise every aspect of the trailer setup to what we wanted. The design of the DOT with the ability to walk up the front of the trailer to get into a roof top tent was a big factor for us as we never liked the idea of climbing up a ladder, especially when we get older. At the time of ordering our DOT we decided not to have the Drifta made roof top tent fitted as the height of the hard top roof top tent when closed was too high and we would have had issues fitting the trailer into our shed especially if we added a solar panel. They were also quite heavy somewhere between 100-120kgs. As a result, we had the DOT manufactured by Drifta without a tent and we originally used our Oz Tent RV3 until we found the roof top tent setup that we felt would be the best for our setup and how we would use it.
What We Wanted in a Roof Top Tent
When trying to decide what roof top tent we wanted to fit on our camper trailer DOT373, there were a few features we wanted.
The first was a decent size mattress in width and thickness. As a minimum we wanted a mattress that was 100mm thick, anything less and we knew it would be uncomfortable. We also wanted something as close to a queen size mattress as possible. As we knew we would be spending many weeks sleeping inside our roof top tent, it needed to be a good comfortable mattress size. For Shayne, she wanted enough space for both of us and the dog (I just do what I am told).
Another important factor was weight. We did not want a roof top tent that weighed more than 90kgs to try and keep that high point weight to a minimum. Everyone knows you want to keep your weight as low down as possible. Many hard top roof top tents can weigh well over 90kgs which is too heavy in our opinion. Size of the roof top tent when closed was another important one for us. As we knew we would be mounting a solar panel on top of whatever roof top tent we went with, we wanted to minimise the height of the tent and our trailer as much as possible.
Having an integrated light, 12V ports, and fans were also important for us. With many roof top tents out there you need to fit lights and fans as well as run any 12V wiring from your vehicle or trailer into the tent. All of this comes at an additional cost as well as requiring you to run cables through your roof and tent which can lead to issues with water and dust ingress. Having a roof top tent prewired with everything you need does make installation that much easier with far less things to go wrong.
We also wanted an option to have an additional room or cover on the side of the roof top tent. For our camper trailer setup this is perfect for us as the right-hand side of the trailer is where we have our shower and the option for an additional room would give us a change room and additional privacy after a shower.
The final two things we wanted in a roof top tent was one that was quick and easy to setup as well as not being made in China. There are many roof top tents out there that require a bit of setup with poles over windows and additional supports. We wanted to be able to have our tent setup in a couple of minutes. We also did not want a roof top tent that was made in China, it had to be made somewhere were we knew the quality of the build and materials used would give us the confidence that it would last for a very long time, as well as handle the tough Australian conditions. We knew this would come at a price, but we did not want to be replacing our roof top tent after a couple of years due to issues.
Why We Chose the Bundutop Roof Top Tent
After looking at many different roof top tent options, we found that the Bundutec Bundutop roof top tent was by far the best tent option for our setup. The Bundutop comes in two main sizes, being the standard and king. The standard size Bundutop roof top tent is perfect for a normal size 4WD. The king size Bundutop roof top tent is slightly wider and will suit much larger 4WDs or a camper trailer.
Large & Comfortable Mattress
We chose the Bundutop King as the mattress is close to a queen size mattress at approximately 2-metres long, 1.5-metres wide, and 10cms thick. The Standard Bundutop mattress is 20cms narrower. For us this is the perfect size bed for two people to have plenty of space and be extremely comfortable. When we are on the road for two to four weeks at a time, we have the best night’s sleep and do not miss our bed at home. Having a 10cm thick mattress is a minimum in our opinion, anything less and you will not be comfortable. Many roof top tents come with mattresses 5cm to 7cm thick which I believe is not big enough.
The mattress that comes with the Bundutop roof tent is quite firm. For us this was not a big issue at the start, as we do like a firmer mattress. We did end up adding a mattress topper to soften it up a bit as it did end up being a little too firm after a while. Having a thin mattress topper has made the mattress extremely comfortable. There is plenty of space inside the roof top tent when closed to have a thin mattress topper as well as two sheets and a good doona (duvet for non-Australians).
Bundutop Roof Top Tent is Lightweight
For a hard top roof tent, the two Bundutop options are lightweight in comparison to others. The Bundutop roof top tent is fully constructed out of aluminium and as a result the standard size only weighs 68kgs and the king size 78kgs. For us this was a massive benefit of the King Bundutop Roof Tent especially when you consider that this includes all the wiring and 12V accessories that come standard with the Bundutop.
Prewired with Light, Fans, Solar & 12V Output
A huge benefit of the Bundutop range is that they come prewired with an overhead LED light, two small fans, one 12V output, and solar anderson plugs to the roof. This makes installation of the Bundutop roof top tent extremely easy as there is no need to run any wiring inside the tent and install any 12V accessories. The LED light is in the centre of the roof and is turned on and off by pushing the light. This provides plenty of light inside the tent and there is no need to fit any other lighting. The Bundutop also comes with two computer fans fitted to the roof on each side of the tent. These are turned on with individual switches beside each fan and they provide a huge amount of additional airflow. We have camped in the Outback with night time temperatures above 30 degrees and found the two fans provided more than enough airflow to sleep comfortably. Even on a hot summer day at the beach, if you want to have an afternoon nap, the fans work a treat and keep you cool enough to have a good sleep.
The Bundutop comes with two red anderson plugs fitted to the external sides of the hard shell. These red anderson plugs allow you to easily connect the power cables from a solar panel fitted on the roof. There is no need to run cables from your solar panel through the roof of the roof top tent. This does make wiring in a solar panel that much easier and tidier. Cables from your DCDC or solar regulator will then need to be run to the second red anderson plug. We have written a post showing you how to install a solar panel on top of the Bundutop.
Bundutop is Setup with the Push of a Button
The Bundutop roof top tent is one of a kind when setting up. Not only does it look cool, but it is also extremely quick to setup with the push of a button. The Bundutop comes with a winch mounted on the inside of the roof which opens and closes the tent in 30 seconds. As the Bundutop comes prewired, all you need to do is connect an anderson plug to the grey anderson plug on the side of the tent and push the up button to setup, and the down button to close. The overall design is extremely clever with a bunch of ropes inside the tent that when opening automatically extend the top awnings on each side of the tent, and vice versa when closing.
The top side awnings are fantastic. Not only do they automatically setup when the tent is opened, they provide enough cover for when it is raining allowing you to keep the windows open for maximum airflow. There is no stuffing around with metal poles to extend cover over your windows like you need to do with many other hard top roof top tents. The awnings are also fantastic in the wind. They do not flap about making a racket like most clam shell roof top tent window coverings.
Windows All Around Maximises Airflow
One benefit of the Bundutop over most other roof top tents is that they open straight up with the internal winch providing you with four windows, one on each side. The common roof top tent design is a clam shell style design where you unlatch the tent on one end and push it open with help of a few gas struts. When open the roof is hinged on the one end and as a result, they only have three windows. Having four windows in the Bundutop roof top tent provides a maximum amount of airflow no matter the wind direction.
Another benefit of the Bundutop over clam shell style roof top tents is the same amount of headroom no matter where you are in the roof top tent. Although clam shell style roof top tents have far more headroom on the end that opens, they do have a tiny amount of space on the opposite end. When open the Bundutop sits just over 1-metre high which provides more than enough space when sitting up inside the tent.
Internal Storage Pockets
Inside the Bundutop roof top tent there are two storage pockets, one on each side in opposite corners. These storage pockets are not huge, but they do provide enough space to hold a bottle of water, your phone, keys, and a few other small items. We have seen a large amount of storage pockets attached to the roof of a few different clam shell roof top tents that provide far more storage. However, this was not a big thing for us as we do not need to store many items inside our tent.
The Bundutop Added Room
One great accessory or addon to the Bundutop is what Bundutec call the Added Room. This is an additional purchase but is well worth it in our opinion. The Added Room is mounted to the side of the Bundutop and is cleverly designed making it really easy to setup when erecting the roof top tent. The Added Room provides additional cover over the one side of the roof top tent and can be fully closed in with the included side wall. The side wall comes packed away in a ripstop canvas bag for easy storage. This works perfectly for our camper trailer DOT373 as we can have a fully enclosed room right beside our shower tent. This gives us a large private room where we can dry off and get changed after a nice hot shower.
As the Bundutop has been designed to go on top of a 4WD, the side wall for the Added Room is a little too long when setup on our camper trailer. As a result, we had an upholstery company on the Sunshine Coast shorten the side wall for a better fit for the trailer. If you are looking at having a similar setup to us with the camper trailer, we highly recommend you have the side wall adjusted for a better fit. This only cost us $80 to have done as no material was needed, just a cut and sew.
The Bundutop Tent & Screens
The Bundutop tent is made from South African made 300gsm ripstop canvas. You can choose the colour of canvas, either khaki or grey. The ripstop canvas is strong and we have not had any issues over the last 12 months. You would need a significant amount of force to tear or damage the canvas. The four windows have insect screens with a rubber coating, they are super strong. They need to be strong as you climb over the insect screens when getting in and out of the tent. The one issue we have with the insect screens is the size of gaps in the mesh. It is a lot larger than what you would usually find in insect screens on other tents, especially in Australia. The insect screens are perfect for keeping out most bugs, mosquitoes, and flies. However, when it comes to midges and other very small insects, you can find a few getting inside the tent. In most situations this is not an issue, however if you are camping somewhere where there are millions of midges you will get a few inside the tent, especially if the light is on for a long period of time.
Lockable Latches
The Bundutop includes four lockable and adjustable stainless-steel latches. There are two mounted on each side of the tent shell. These latches are adjustable ensuring the tent stays tightly closed around the rubber seal so that there will be no dust or water ingress. We lock two of the latches on opposite corners with padlocks that use the same key. This provides us with some security knowing that the tent cannot be opened easily. We then use carabiners on the other two latches to make sure they stay closed during those long drives on heavily corrugated roads.
Fully Insulated Roof
The roof of the Bundutop roof top tent has a foam backed roof lining which helps absorb moisture and avoid condensation, as well as providing insulation from the sun. The external roof of the Bundutop is raw aluminium sheeting which also helps to reflect heat from the sun keeping it cooler inside the tent.
South African Made
The Bundutop roof top tent is made in South Africa which is a big plus for us. Camping gear made in Australia, South Africa, Japan, and America are always far superior to the Chinese made gear many businesses are selling. You will pay a premium, but you will not regret it in the long run. The Bundutop King costs $6,990 and the Standard $5,990. They are not cheap roof top tents, but when comparing to other top-quality tents like the South Korean made iKamper ($5k) or Australian made Camp King Industries ($8k to $9k), they are reasonable considering they come prewired for solar and include a light and two fans.
Installation Requires a Drill
In typical South African fashion, Bundutec expect that you will have some ability with a drill. If you are considering purchasing a Bundutop roof top tent for your 4WD it is safe to say you are handy, so this will not be a problem. We have written a more detailed post on how to install the Bundutop, but in summary, the Bundutop does not come with any predetermined mounting points. In my opinion this is beneficial as it does give you greater flexibility with how you can mount the Bundutop to your 4WD or camper trailer. The base of the Bundutop has several square aluminium tubes that run the length of the tent shell. When bolting the roof top tent to your setup, you will need to drill through the aluminium tubing and use the supplied six M6 stainless steel bolts to secure the tent down. The fitting instructions provide you with enough information on how this should be done. It is easy but just takes a little time. You will need at least three people to lift the tent into place, four will make it even easier.
You Must Have Aero Mesh Under the Mattress
Aero Mesh can be purchased from any Clark Rubber, it is not cheap. Expect to pay around $250 for enough of it. We cannot stress this enough, you will need to buy this and fit it under your mattress. Aero Mesh helps with any moisture build up under the mattress. If you do not use this, you will find that your mattress will get damp and you will have issues with mould. We made sure we fitted Aero Mesh straight away, we highly recommend you do the same in any roof top tent setup. We have not had any issues with moisture and condensation build up.
Issues with the Bundutop Roof Top Tent
Overall, we have not had many issues with the Bundutop roof top tent, we have been extremely happy with how it has worked for us and would highly recommend them to anyone interested in a high-quality roof top tent. We have however had a couple of issues which we have been able to resolve but you should be aware of, we will discuss them below in more detail.
Dust Ingress
We did have a minor issue with dust ingress in our Bundutop roof top tent after a solid 3 weeks of driving corrugated gravel roads in the outback. When we got back home, we found a fair bit of dust under the mattress and inside the 12V box which is inside the tent. From what we could see with the dust under the mattress, it came from where the external aluminium shell is sealed to the base of the roof top tent. We removed the mattress and aero mesh, then added a thick line of silicon around all the joins, bolts, and pop rivets. On our next big outback adventure, we had no dust ingress under the mattress so there must have been a bad seal when they joined the two pieces of the tent together.
With the dust inside the 12V box, we found that this was entering through the cables from the two anderson plugs for solar and power. Rubber grommets are used around the cables; however, the grommets did not provide a tight enough seal with the cables. Again, we just added a little silicon to any little gap, and this has fixed the dust ingress problem.
An important point to note is we have not had any issues with water ingress. Dust is extremely hard to keep out and it does seem to find its way into most things. As we have our Bundutop mounted on top of our camper trailer, it does take an absolute hammering from the dust from our 4WD. If we had the Bundutop mounted on top of our 4WD we might not have had the initial issue as it would not be constantly covered in a thick cloud of dust. Either way, adding a small amount of silicon to a few of the joins has completely fixed the issue.
Blowing Fuses
When running power to the Bundutop roof top tent you will need to install an in line 15Amp fuse to the cable. We have never had an issue with this fuse. The Bundutop does also have a separate 5Amp glass type fuse on the side of the tent beside the anderson plugs. We have blown about three of these fuses in the last 12-18 months when opening or closing the tent. We have not been able to determine what has caused the issue as there has not been any additional load on the roof of the tent. We have simply replaced this fuse and the tent continues to be operational. As we do not use glass type fuses anywhere else in our setup, we make sure we carry a good number of spares just in case it happens when we are in the middle of nowhere.
Be Careful When Closing in Windy Conditions
We had an issue when closing the Bundutop for the first time in extremely windy conditions. When you close the Bundutop roof top tent, you need to make sure that the windows are open, screens can be closed, to help let the air escape as the roof comes down. We were packing up early in the morning while camping on top of a high point in the middle of the outback and the wind was howling. We had the windows open as you should but what we found when closing the tent, was the wind was so strong that it pushed the canvas outwards one the opposite end to where I was standing. I was unaware until it would not close. When I walked around to the other side, I could see the tent sticking out in the wrong direction. I opened the tent back up and found that I had bent one of the small aluminium pieces that runs inside the canvas tent. This was easily bent back into place being it was a small piece of aluminium. But I needed Shayne to climb up onto the trailer and push the side in as we closed the tent. Now we know that if it is windy, we will pay close attention to all sides when closing the tent. Having the window closed on the side where the wind is coming from does help.
Added Room Needs to be Secured Down When Driving
The Added Room that is fitted to top side of the Bundutop shell can be easily blown over and sit on top of the roof. We found that anytime we went passed a strong cross wind, the Added Room would flip over and sit up on the roof. This also occurred anytime we passed a big truck. This is not a massive problem, but it did scuff up the raw aluminium roof. We have since solved this problem by using a big S biner clip through the zips of the Added Room bag and clipping the other side to one of the latches. This stops the Added Room bag flipping over as it is now secured to one of the latches.
Added Room Guy Ropes Need Replacing
We found the guy ropes that come attached the added room were not great. They constantly slipped when trying to tighten them. We chose to replace these with the orange Oz Tent guy ropes as we find these work really well. We use these guy ropes everywhere else in our setup. To make them easy to setup, we purchase several stainless steel carabiners and attach these to the end of the guy ropes. This makes it really easy to attach the guy ropes when you need to use them.
What Happens if the Tent Won’t Open?
One question that crossed our mind with the Bundutop is what happens if the tent won’t open as something has failed. What we understand is that the most common reason the tent won’t open or close is a blown fuse. This has happened to us on a few occasions where the fuse has blown and replacing the fuse has solved the problem. There is also an override to open and close the tent. This can be seen in any of the photos by the two metal discs. By placing a positive connection to the top terminal, the tent will open and override everything. The bottom terminal will close the tent. If the winch stops working, then what do we do? Bundutec advise that in such a situation, you would unlatch the tent, manually open the one side by pulling it up, climb into the tent, and then push the tent up. You then manually lift the aluminium supports into place to keep the tent open. We hope we never have to do this, but at least we know we can still have a bed if we have a massive failure with the tent.
The Bundutop is a Fantastic Roof Top Tent
We have highlighted a few minor issues that we have experienced with our Bundutop roof top tent on our camper trailer however, we highly recommend this roof top tent setup. The Bundutop is a fantastic roof top tent, we are extremely happy that we took our time in deciding which roof top tent setup to go with on our camper trailer.
The design of the Bundutop is one of a kind with a ridiculously quick setup with the push of a button. Having four windows all around provides a fantastic amount of airflow which is great on hot days and nights. The small awnings that go all around the top of the tent provide more than enough cover to keep the windows slightly open on rainy days while still allowing airflow. Coming prewired with everything you need makes installation that much easier. There is ample space to keep your bedding inside the tent when packed up. However, we do not leave our pillows inside the tent as we feel there is just not enough space. We have heard that others keep their pillows inside the Bundutop, they just need to be placed carefully so that the aluminium pieces that lift the tent up and down are not impeded in any way. We are yet to try this.
Having the Added Room is perfect for how we use our camper trailer setup. It provides a massive amount of cover and plenty of privacy for us to use as a change room. With our solar panel mounted on the roof, we never have to worry about our fridge freezer draining too much out of our Enerdrive lithium battery. The mattress in the Bundutop King is large giving us an extremely comfortable bed. We never miss our bed at home which is a big plus when camping for long periods of time. The overall design and build quality are top notch as it is made in South Africa. Compared to other cheap roof top tents, the overall quality of the Bundutop is on another level. Yes, you will pay for the quality, but in the long run you will not be disappointed.
We did not receive anything to write this post. We did negotiate a 10% discount, but I am sure you could do the same. To see how we fitted the Bundutop roof top tent to our camper trailer DOT373, read our post here. To see how we fitted a solar panel to our Bundutop roof top tent, read our post here.
To find our more about the Bundutop roof top tent, take a look at the Bundutec website here.
For more gear reviews, read our gear stories here. To keep up to date on future posts, join the 4WD Adventurer Community. If you have any feedback or questions, please comment at the bottom of this story. Thanks for reading.
The thoughts of Peter.
03/04/2024 @ 9:23 PM
Re your inline glass fuse blowing…Bundutec advised me it needs to be a 20amp glass fuse. You mentioned you’re using a 5amp fuse which is presumably why they are blowing. See their comment here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZVayhLbC7Q&lc=UgwIhoaMLcC3giMVsfZ4AaABAg.A1S7CmhVpvrA1hAJdrKCLB
04/04/2024 @ 11:27 AM
G’day Ollie,
Appreciate the message. I will double check the fuse again to make sure that wasn’t a typo in my post. I do know I just replaced the first one that blew with the same amperage listed on the glass fuse. So if it was 5 Amps then someone at the factory must have thrown the wrong fuse in there and I will update to a 20Amp one. Thanks for letting me know and I will double check that this weekend when I take it out. Would make life a lot easier if they listed that in the manual, only mention of fuse amperage in the user manual is to ensure that the power running to the tent has an inline 15Amp fuse.
Cheers mate.
Peter
12/03/2023 @ 7:04 PM
hi guys i have a bundatop hard top on top of my toyota prado but when i opened it up the other dat it had a little bit of water in side abd im just asking if anyone has any ideas as the roof is dry as its just the floorthats getting wet and ive seen suggestions to use sillicon on the joins and rivets but if anyone else has any ideas i would greatly appreciate it
13/03/2023 @ 8:13 AM
G’day mate.
Are you using a condensation mesh under your mattress? Just checking to see if it isn’t a build up of condensation under the mattress as that can happen.
In relation to silicon. If you take a look at our other post about fitting the Bundutop, you’ll see we siliconed all around the bottom where there are joins and over the rivets. We had issues with dust ingress so did this. Haven’t had a problem with moisture. But we do use condensation mesh under our mattress as well.
Hope that helps.
Cheers
Peter
26/07/2022 @ 2:49 PM
Great article Peter thanks.
We have just installed a standard in place of our fiberglass clam and notice the weight difference already. One question is how do you prevent ferals lowering the top while you are asleep. I have a 60 amp isolator but if you disconnect the power you have no light or fans. We often park in small towns and truck stops and have heard the usual stories of camp areas being targeted at night.
Cheers
Stu
26/07/2022 @ 2:58 PM
G’day Stu,
Thanks for reading and the feedback mate, much appreciated.
Congrats on the new Bundutop, I am sure you will love it. In response to your question, this is something I have not really considered. I suppose it is probably due to where we usually camp, well out of the way of these sorts, and usually fairly remote. I suppose the only option in such a situation would be an isolator but as you highlighted that would make the fans and light useless. One option would be to cut into the positive wire to the winch inside the tent and fit another isolator of some sort, allowing you to isolate this within the tent. But again, this would make the fans useless if you want them on when sleeping. Would be good if there was a way to disable the up and down buttons from the inside, which might be possible if you get access to the wiring behind the 12V port inside the tent. Maybe take a look in there and see if you can connect some sort of an isolator to the wiring of those buttons.
Thanks again for reading mate.
Cheers,
Peter
01/09/2022 @ 9:17 PM
Hi Peter, thank you very much for the great review, and Im glad you enjoy the Bundutop and Annex!
It was really a blast reading your trip review and insights. We always try to better our products and meet our customer requirements where possible. May we use your photos of the trailer on our website?
Regards
DJ-Bundutec SA
02/09/2022 @ 8:14 AM
G’day DJ,
Thanks for reading and your feedback mate, much appreciated.
I am happy for you to refer people on to our website to see our photos and review of the Bundutop, but I would prefer not to have our photos used elsewhere.
Cheers,
Peter
24/10/2022 @ 6:39 PM
Fabulous article well reviewed, we are in the process of purchasing the same having just returned from a three week trip and 5500km around lower Namibia and the Richtersveld swag tents and sleeping on the roof under the stars on my Toyota 79 cruiser single cab,
Now we want to kit it out completely.
03/11/2022 @ 1:54 PM
G’day Ian,
Many thanks for the feedback mate, much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed our post.
Sounds like an awesome trip. Have not had the opportunity to see Namibia yet. Done plenty of trips around Zim and Bots as we grew up there and still travel over to see mates. Hoping to see Namibia and Bots in the next couple of years. Enjoy kitting out the 79, always a fun task especially once you have travelled alot with it so you know exactly how you want it setup for the way you use it.
Cheers,
Peter
05/07/2022 @ 9:13 AM
Can I just say, brilliant article.
I was very impressed with your setup, and the instant outdoor shower setup is exactly what I’ve been thinking. It’s handy to see somebody else doing it successfully.
Did you need to get the brack custom built? From what I can make out, it looks like a hinged reinforced bracket, with the change room connected by a vertical spacing bracket. I assume that was for head height and to sit flush with the tent?
Brilliant job!
05/07/2022 @ 11:01 AM
G’day Chris,
Thanks so much for your feedback mate, greatly appreciated.
That shower ensuite swing arm bracket is fantastic. It actually came with our Australian Drifta made trailer. It is a great design for our trailer setup and one of the reasons we chose this particular trailer. How it ended up sitting with the Bundutop was one of the reasons we chose the Bunudtop roof top tent, as it worked really well the setup of the trailer.
The bracket is basically two steel tubes, one horizontal and the other diagonal to act as a brace. These two tubes are then welded onto two heavy duty hinges. There is a large steel plate that has the other hinges welded to. The plate is then bolted onto the steel frame of the trailer. When open there is a small piece of round steel that we store in the trailer that holds the swing arm in place.
We have written a review on our Joolca hot water system and shower. There are a few pictures in the article that show the swing arm. Might be worth taking a look at it here – https://4wdadventurer.com/gear/joolca-hottap-review-after-2-years/
If you are based in Australia, I do know that the guys at Exceed Campers in Brisbane make custom brackets similar for different setups. Might be worth chatting to them if you are after one – https://exceedcampers.com.au/. But would be pretty easy to fabricate yourself if you have a welder.
Hope that helps and if you have any more questions let me know. Happy to help.
Cheers mate.
Peter
21/06/2022 @ 3:44 PM
Hi Peter
Thanks for your review and tips on the Bundutec King
We are just about to take delivery of ours so your tips will be handy
When l showed my wife the article she asked if l wrote it as her name is Shayne and we also will be taking our dog.
Hope we enjoy the roof top as we have not had one before
Until 2 years ago we traveled Aus for 13 years in 4WD and off road van so we won’t have quite the comforts
Enjoy your travels mate
Best wishes
Rob & Shayne
22/06/2022 @ 6:39 PM
G’day Rob
Thanks for the message and the read mate. Much appreciated.
Glad you found it helpful. We do love the Bundutop. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as we have. If you ever have any questions once you get it, please let us know. Always happy to help if we can. It will be a big change from the van but, you went with the right RTT in my opinion.
Very jealous of the 13 years of travel. Hopefully we can do a tenth of that sometime soon 😁.
Cheers
Peter
27/04/2022 @ 10:13 PM
tl;dr: Great tent.. do the right thing by it…
I’ve had mine for close to 3 years now, and still love it (sleeping in it while I isolate from the with, who has Covid).
I had a *small* water leak, in heavy rain, parked on a particular lean. I ran a small additional bead of silicone around the top sheet of aluminium, job done. For those of you reading this with a view to purchase, please note that I didn’t latch properly one day, and had the tent blow open on 3 sides (4th was still latched) at 100kph, which bent one of the aluminium rods mentioned here. Again, relatively easy to rectify.
I don’t have that small glass fuse on mine, which is interesting…. perhaps a new variation
I’ve had one small electrical issue, which was my fault, not the tent’s… but being an electrical unit, I do recommend you have the gear on hand to diagnose and rectify/bypass.
I also learnt the hard way that it’s much easier to remove pillows when closing….
27/04/2022 @ 10:21 PM
oh, and I fitted it with 2x200w flexible solar panels, mounted to some twin-wall Perspex (similar to core flute), which can slide into aluminium channels that are glued on. This solution is very light-weight, and I can then remove the panels if we’re setting up in the shade.
28/04/2022 @ 8:29 AM
Great idea mate. Good to have options with moving the solar panel if needed.
28/04/2022 @ 8:28 AM
G’day mate,
Thanks for reading and sharing your experience with the Bundutop.
Good to know with the leak you had from the roof, I will run a bit of silicone around the top sheet to be safe. Also interesting to hear that you did not experience much damage with the tent blowing open at 100kph! The latches are one thing that I double check before driving off after packing up. They must have added the glass fuse on newer models. I am pretty sure you have turnbuckles inside the tent as well, that allow you to adjust the internal ropes. In our version these do not exist. So they have definitely made some changes over the last few years.
Agree with your comments around having the right 12V gear to diagnose any potential issues. Thankfully all has been good with the electrical so far other than fuse issues.
Cheers,
Peter
05/04/2022 @ 12:06 AM
How high are the rails that come on the bottom of the tent?
I want to put a standard tent on a trailer frame and need to ensure I can get the trailer into a 2100mm garage.
Thanks guys
James.
05/04/2022 @ 9:40 AM
G’day James,
Thanks for reading mate.
The rails are actually recessed under the hard shell of the Bundutop. So the total height of the tent closed is as per the tent dimensions closed, which I believe is 300mm. The rails themselves I believe are approximately 20-25mm in height. If you look closely at the photos you should see how the rails sit, so the bottom of the rails are flush with the bottom of the hard shell if that makes sense. If that doesn’t answer your question let me know.
Cheers,
Peter
26/05/2022 @ 11:19 PM
Hi there,
Could you big please send pics on your stairup to the tent…for my big dog Benjamin, a cross St Bernard and me who also have issues with the ladder.
Many thanks.
Chris from Cape Town.
30/05/2022 @ 8:47 AM
G’day Chris,
Thanks for the message mate. Hopefully we will get back to Africa in the next couple of years, haven’t had a trip back since Covid and my mates in Zim are keen to do another trip. Fingers crossed and we can get back to the bush!
I will send you a couple of pictures to your email, sorry I can’t attach images in these comments. Just so you know, even with our dog, he weighs about 20kgs, it can be a bit difficult getting him out. Getting him in is easy, but trying to get him out can be a bit more challenging. Let me know if you have any questions.
Cheers,
Peter