How to Install the Bundutec Bundusuite to Your Bundutop Roof Top Tent
How to Install the Bundutec Bundusuite to Your Bundutop Roof Top Tent
It is always great when a company comes out with a better product, one that is easier to set up and more practical to use. It is a little less great when they release it not long after you have already spent good money on the older version. That is exactly what happened to us with the Bundusuite.
We run a Bundutec Bundutop roof top tent on our camper trailer DOT373. You can read how we fitted the Bundutop to our camper trailer here, and our review of the Bundutop after more than 12 months of use here. When we bought the Bundutop, the Bundusuite did not exist, so we went with the Bunduannex and the very large one-piece canvas wall that came with it. That setup gave us a private, enclosed change room beside our Quick Pitch shower ensuite, and it kept us out of the weather. It worked well, but that one big piece of canvas was slow and a bit cumbersome to set up, and a real pain to pack away neatly, especially when it was wet. Folding a large, soaking wet wall back into its bag and then storing it inside our otherwise dry trailer was the part we never enjoyed.
When Bundutec released the Bundusuite, it looked a lot like the Quick Pitch ensuite we already loved, just much bigger and built to work with the Bunduannex. Anything that makes set up and pack up quicker is never a bad thing, so we eventually bit the bullet and bought one. This post walks you through the install, because the supplied instructions are about as basic as it gets, and there is almost nothing online showing how it is done. Hopefully it saves you the head scratching we went through.
Quick Guide: The Bundusuite Install at a Glance
Short on time? Here are the key points before you get into the detail.
- What it is: A large, quick-deploy ensuite-style tent that bolts to the side of your Bundutop and replaces the fiddly one-piece canvas wall.
- Why we fitted it: Far quicker set up and pack up, a big enclosed private space beside our shower, and nothing wet to store inside the trailer.
- Tools you will need: Drill, 6mm drill bit, pop rivet gun or drill attachment, the supplied sealed pop rivets, a 10mm socket or spanner, 4mm hex wrench, heat gun and heat shrink, clear silicone, and double-sided tape.
- Difficulty: The job itself is straightforward, but you are drilling into the side of an expensive tent, so care and careful measuring matter.
- Time: Not long once you have worked out the bracket placement. That planning is the part to take your time over; the actual drilling and riveting is quick. It took us a little under two hours with removing the old brackets plus spending a good 30 minutes working out where the new brackets should go. So with the help of this post, it should be quicker.
Key Tips
- Use double-sided tape to hold each bracket in place before you drill. It lets you nudge it dead level and commit only when you are happy.
- Do not skimp on the silicone. Run it around and into every hole as you go. It is easy to overlook, but it is what keeps dust and water out of your tent, so take the time to seal each one properly.
What the Bundusuite Is and How It Fits In
The Bundusuite mounts to the side of the Bundutop and is an extremely large ensuite-style tent that is quick to set up and pack away. It has a couple of gas struts that help it open and give the structure some support once it is up. The set up is genuinely simple. You unzip the bag, undo the hook and loop straps holding the rolled-up ensuite, unroll it down to the floor, grab a pair of straps, and pull it open. That is it. There are no separate side walls to hang.
That is the big difference from what we had before. At the time we bought our gear, the Bundusuite did not exist, so the only option was the very large one-piece wall that secured in place with hook and loop. Because it was a single piece, it was large and cumbersome to set up and pack away. The Bundusuite does the same job, just far faster and with a lot less mucking about.
There is a real practical upside to that speed too. The old wall was so cumbersome that we would never bother setting it up for a quick one-night camp; it simply was not worth the effort. The Bundusuite is so fast to deploy that we will happily put it up even for a single night, so we now get that extra privacy on short stops where we previously just went without.
It also works alongside the Bunduannex. There is hook and loop along the top of the ensuite that secures to the Bunduannex when that is set up, which fully encloses the suite and gives you good cover from the elements. For a quick one-night camp in fine weather, you can leave the Bunduannex off altogether and set up even quicker.
The One Frustrating Bit: The Missing Set-Up Height
Before we get into the install, here is the thing that nearly stopped us buying one. Bundutec is not great at providing detailed information or good imagery of their products on their website. The one specification we really wanted before committing was the set-up height of the Bundusuite, and the length of the ensuite. That information was impossible to find. Bundutec publishes the width and depth, but nothing on the height.
We asked Bundutec directly and never got a response. The request was eventually passed to a dealer, Ryan from Get Off Grid, who tried very hard to track it down for us, but it simply was not documented anywhere. The height matters, because most people fit the Bundusuite to a Bundutop mounted on a 4WD, where it sits higher than it does on our camper trailer. Get it wrong and you are up for having the suite modified and shortened, which is an absolute hassle. In the end we took the risk, and thankfully it fit our trailer perfectly. To save you the same worry, here are the measurements we took ourselves.
We are not trying to pick on Bundutec here, we have been fairly consistent in all our gear related and other posts around what companies in the industry are like to deal with. Unfortunately, Bundutec are not on their own and the 4WD and camping industry is filled with companies that do not provide anywhere near enough product information as well as average customer support. It is unfortunate but since the industry took off post 2020, this is a fairly common issue. Maybe an economic downturn and slowdown in the industry may see some improvements as customers become more difficult to obtain, but we shall see. Until then, we will continue to call out the poor ones to deal with, and highlight the good ones, hopefully making your lives easier.
Bundusuite Dimensions (The Specs Bundutec Does Not Publish)
All measurements are in millimetres.
- Closed in the bag: 2200 W x 300 H x 210 D, closed and stowed in the bag on the side of the trailer.
- Closed bag projection out from the side of the Bundutop: approximately 210mm.
- Closed bag lowest point below the bottom of the Bundutop: approximately 190mm.
- Open and set up: 1900 H x 1200 D x 2050 W (H = fabric height).
- Internal access window: 2000 W x 670 H.
- Bottom of the Bundutop to the ground: 1830mm on our camper trailer DOT373.
- Height to the top of the installed brackets on the side of the Bundutop: 1945mm on our setup.
The number to keep in mind is the 1900mm set-up height. Because the suite hangs from the brackets down towards the floor, it helps to compare that figure against the height of your own mounting point. On our trailer the suite sits right on the ground on the side closest to the camper, so if anything it could stand to be a touch shorter. On a 4WD, where the Bundutop usually sits higher than our camper, the suite will sit just off the ground, which is actually what you want, so a higher mount is no problem at all. Measure from your Bundutop down to the ground and compare it to the 1900mm set-up height so you have a good idea of where yours will sit.
Worth Knowing: It Is Bulky When Closed
One thing to be aware of is that the Bundusuite is extremely bulky when it is closed in its bag, and for some people that may be a downside. Compared to a 270 degree awning, it is far bulkier. The rolled-up ensuite itself is about the same size as a rolled-up awning, but the bag is large, which is actually part of why packing it away and zipping it up is so easy. It just looks big, and that might not suit everyone. If this was going on my 4WD, I would probably think twice about fitting it, only because the overall size would look a bit odd to my eye. On our camper trailer it looks absolutely fine.
On a 4WD it would really come down to how high your Bundutop sits compared to the top of your doors. As listed above, the bottom of the closed bag hangs about 190mm below the bottom of the Bundutop, so double-check that is not going to clash with the height of your doors before you commit. On our camper trailer, the side canopy door is impacted by the bottom of the closed Bundusuite when it is opened, which is a slight annoyance, but not a massive issue for us. We are not in and out of that side very often, and once camp is set up and the Bundusuite is deployed, the door opens fine.
Tools and Materials
- Drill
- 6mm drill bit
- Pop rivet gun, or the drill pop rivet attachment we used
- The supplied sealed pop rivets
- 10mm socket or spanner for the supplied bolts
- 4mm hex wrench
- Heat gun and heat shrink
- Clear silicone to seal
- Double-sided tape
- Tape measure
Step-by-Step Bundusuite Install
Step 1: Open the Tent and Remove the Mattress
Before any drilling, open the Bundutop and take out the bedding and mattress. You do not want to be drilling into your mattress, and the drilling will leave aluminium shards behind that need cleaning up, so an empty tent makes it easy to vacuum the lot out afterwards. Here is a top tip for moving the mattress: grab a strap, fold the mattress in half inside the tent, and strap it. That makes it much easier to get in and out through the opening.
Step 2: Remove the Old Sail Track and Annex Fittings
We had previously pop riveted sail track to the sides of the Bundutop for the Bunduannex steel supports. The new Bundusuite bracket has provisions for these supports, so that old sail track is no longer needed and has to come off. Drill out the pop rivets holding it, remove the sail track, and clean up the silicone you used to seal those holes when you fitted them. We also removed the pop rivet where the annex shock cord attached, as that is no longer needed with the new bracket.
Step 3: Work Out the Bracket Placement
This is the part to take your time over. We worked on the assumption that the cutout in the bracket is there to clear the bottom pop rivet, and that the top of the bracket needs to sit just below the top pop rivet. We also wanted the straight edge beside the bottom cutout to sit on the side of the Bundutop for a bit of extra support, and it naturally sat there once the bottom pop rivet was inside the bottom cutout.
The measurements that worked for us: the top mounting hole closest to the side of the tent sits 20mm from the side of the tent, and the top of the bracket sits 25mm down from the top straight edge of the tent when it is open. It sat flush with the bottom of the top pop rivet. The instructions from South Africa are extremely basic, with one vague measurement and one photo, and the bracket has since changed design from what is printed, so do not expect them to hold your hand here.
Step 4: Seal the Old Holes and Tape the Bracket in Place
Because we had old holes that were no longer going to be used, we ran silicone around all of them first so they would be sealed once the bracket went on. Rather than trying to hold the bracket and drill at the same time, we stuck two small pieces of double-sided tape to the back of the bracket, then added a ring of silicone around each mounting hole on the back as well.
The tape holds the bracket in place for drilling, and the silicone seals each hole against water and dust ingress. The real benefit of the tape is that it gives you a little movement before you commit, so you can measure across the top of the bracket and get it sitting dead level with the tent before a single hole is drilled.
Step 5: Drill and Pop Rivet the Bracket
Once you are happy with the placement, drill one hole at a time. Before placing each pop rivet, add a small amount of silicone into the hole to be extra safe, then secure the supplied sealed pop rivet with your rivet gun or drill attachment. Work through hole by hole, drilling then riveting, until the bracket is fully secured. We always go a bit over the top with silicone, because we never want any dramas with dust or water getting in. With the first bracket done, repeat the exact same process on the other side.
Step 6: Add Heat Shrink to the Bundusuite Bracket Tabs
This is a handy tip Ryan from Get Off Grid, who supplied ours, passed on. The brackets already mounted to the back of the Bundusuite have a small fold tab at the bottom that sits against the side of the Bundutop. Because it is metal, it is best to cover it so it does not vibrate and rub on the side of the tent. We cut a piece of heat shrink, slid it over the metal fold, and shrank it down with a heat gun.
Step 7: Mount the Bundusuite to the Brackets
With the heat shrink on, mount the Bundusuite to the brackets you fitted. Using the supplied bolts, washers, and lock nuts, secure the suite to the mounted brackets. One thing worth doing here is placing a washer between the Bundusuite bracket and the bracket on the Bundutop. I cannot remember for certain whether Bundutec supplied an extra washer for this, but if they did not, just grab a couple from the shed like I did. I would recommend it either way, because the Bundusuite pivots on this point when you lift it up to get access to the latches, the Anderson power plug, and the up and down buttons. The washer gives it a clean point to swing on.
Step 8: Set It Up for the First Time
Now for the moment of truth. Roll the suite down, grab the straps, and pull it open. For us, the set up was as easy as we had hoped, and the height was very close to perfect for the trailer, which was a relief after worrying about that missing specification. If we are being honest, it could probably be about 15 to 20mm shorter. The side closest to the trailer does sit right on the ground when it is set up, and because of the angle the bracket holds the suite at, the side furthest from the trailer sits just off the ground. In a perfect world you would want it sitting just off the ground all the way around, but it is not a real issue in practice. Each bottom corner can be pegged down, and for longer setups or windy days that is a must, both for stability and for easy opening and closing of the zip entry. If the Bunduannex is up, secure the hook and loop along the top of the suite to it to fully enclose everything.
One honest observation: there is a single zip entry in the left-hand corner. We would have preferred a second access point on the opposite corner for different setups, which is something we liked about the Quick Pitch ensuite with its zips on three corners. A right-hand opening would give us quicker access from the shower ensuite. It is not a big issue, and we could have it modified if we ever decide it is worth the hassle.
Was It Worth It?
The install was extremely easy once we worked out where the brackets needed to go, and that bracket placement is really the only fiddly part of the whole job. The instructions could be far more detailed, but you can get there. The biggest win for us is that everything mounts externally, with nothing having to be stored inside the trailer, which is brilliant when you are packing up wet. The size is the other standout. The suite is massive and gives you loads of space, and the large internal access window caters for any setup, so you can still get to your gear inside your 4WD or trailer.
We have not had enough time with it yet to give a proper review of how it performs and how well it is made over the long haul. Once we have put it through its paces, we will follow up with a detailed review and let you know about anything we run into. For now, this should give you everything you need to get one fitted.
A Note on Buying One
If you are after a Bundusuite, our advice is to deal with a dealer for the product rather than the Australian distributor. The distributor has changed their business model and tends to palm everyone off to a dealer, which takes ages, and their website carries such limited information that you have to look elsewhere to learn anything useful about their products anyway. That is a shame, because the products themselves are good. They just do not appear to want to deal with the general public, and seem to expect their dealers to hold all the relevant information. We got ours from Ryan at Get Off Grid on the Gold Coast, and he was great to deal with, sorting out delivery up to the Sunshine Coast for us and sharing a few helpful install tips which we shared in this post. Find a good local dealer like that and you will likely have a far better run.
Have you fitted a Bundusuite, or are you weighing one up for your own setup? I would love to hear how you went, or what is holding you back. Drop a comment below and let me know.
The thoughts of Peter.
