UJOR 4x4 MTB camper for family of 3

[SteelheadJones]

How has the RTT worked out? I spied clues on the pic of your tires on page 2. Is it a CVT Mt Hood? If so, what size did you get? If not, do you have a link to it?

[motovan_mn]

Originally Posted by E-350

Sweet! Nice to see an Alta here! A friend has one and is now driving it back in Germany :-)

Awesome! Not too often you see them in the wild. I worked there for several years so I'm always excited to hear about people still enjoying their bikes.

Originally Posted by Twoxentrix

I like the progress!
You've come to the realization your LIST will never dwindle in size - correct???

Yes, please don't remind me

Originally Posted by SteelheadJones

How has the RTT worked out? I spied clues on the pic of your tires on page 2. Is it a CVT Mt Hood? If so, what size did you get? If not, do you have a link to it?

Correct, it is a CVT Mt Hood! I opted for the largest size they offer (60"x85" exterior footprint). It was the largest clamshell RTT I could find at the time. If GoFastCampers offered one in this size, I probably would've paid the premium since I appreciate their made-in-USA business model. I believe the interior dimensions on our CVT are slightly wider than a "full size" mattress. The UJOR rack is exactly 60" wide, so the tent fits perfectly up there. However it is offset ever so slightly to the driver side to make room for the CVT awning I have mounted on the rack.

The tent itself is great, it's the first RTT we've purchased and I have no complaints about the quality or functionality. The mattress is firm but comfortable and I appreciate the extra width of the large size we went with. It also came with an anti-condensation mat under the mattress, which was a nice surprise.

Setup is a breeze, but tear down is a bit more difficult considering the height of the vehicle. You have to walk around and make sure none of the fabric is poking out before you latch the tent shut, which means finding all sorts of ways to climb up on the tires, side steps, etc. I also had to extend the telescoping ladder with a couple lengths of aluminum tubing, since the ladder in stock form was too short. No photos of this mod, but I took the rubber feet off the bottom, purchased some aluminum tubing that had the right O.D. to slip right into the existing aluminum legs, then drilled a hole through both tubes and fixed everything in place with a bolt.

Eventually I'll scoot the tent all the way forward on the rack and mount a ladder to the rear driver side of the van. Then you can climb up the ladder, onto a platform on the roof rack, then into the RTT through the "main" entrance. Currently we climb up the ladder into the side entrance.

I will say that their website is pretty terrible, disorganized, and doesn't provide much useful info. But their customer service was super helpful in answering all my questions and getting my order sorted out.

A couple photos to give you an idea of the fitment (excuse the dirty roof):

[SteelheadJones]

I wondered how you were climbing up there. I was picturing a scramble up the bumper, spare and Pelican case. Thanks for the pics and info. They help a lot.

[motovan_mn]

Latest update to the gas splashback/fillup issue is here. Spoiler: it's still not fixed.

Took the van to a parking lot to quickly and easily test out the flex and break over limits in a relatively safe environment.

[Nathandeuel]

We had a similar issue with our 2015 Chevy. I tried various things but what seems to have finally fixed it? We replaced the whole dang fuel tank. I do not want to say how much it costs, as I am still traumatized. We finally bit the bullet because we started throwing evap codes. I could deal with pumping gas being a nightmare but a check engine light was a bridge too far.

[h.grenade]

Rad looking van! The bronze methods look great. I really like the idea of a rooftop tent, it wasn't going to work for us, but I really thought about it.

You mentioned getting 15 mpg o n your way home. Curious what you get now with the extra 1000+ lbs?

When I was looking a kept finding V10s but I really wanted the v8 because I heard that the SMBs get about 9mpg. Granted they are around 10k lbs. I passed on a couple of really nice low milage quigleys and quadvans to get the v8. Not sure that it was the right call but its done now haha

Nice Alta btw! My KTM has supermoto wheels from an Alta.

[motovan_mn]

Originally Posted by h.grenade

Rad looking van! The bronze methods look great. I really like the idea of a rooftop tent, it wasn't going to work for us, but I really thought about it.

You mentioned getting 15 mpg o n your way home. Curious what you get now with the extra 1000+ lbs?

When I was looking a kept finding V10s but I really wanted the v8 because I heard that the SMBs get about 9mpg. Granted they are around 10k lbs. I passed on a couple of really nice low milage quigleys and quadvans to get the v8. Not sure that it was the right call but its done now haha

Nice Alta btw! My KTM has supermoto wheels from an Alta.

The van currently gets right around 10 mpg on mostly highway trips keeping it around 70 mph. If I'm driving around town, it sits around 7 mpg

Always cool to hear from people familiar with the Altas. I used to work there and am still bummed we went under. Luckily I have two in the garage

[h.grenade]

Ouch! The V8 is definitely more economical but you cant go anywhere fast. It even has trouble up some steep grades when its empty haha

I have heard some stories about the Alta buyout and shutdown and the whole thing is pretty shitty. It was such an innovative company. You are lucky to have two of them!

[motovan_mn]

Got around to installing one of the two 2nd row captain's chairs I had in my garage. Really digging how much extra space there is with only 3 seats in the van Might make this the default layout for when we are travelling with our bikes/motos and know we won't need to seat more people. Otherwise, I'll be keeping the 3rd row bench seat and the passenger-side captain's chair in the garage as a "just-in-case."

Had some questions about using generic or alternate Ford seat belt receivers in this thread.




Also managed to sneak in another quick overnighter at a local state park. I don't think it stopped snowing the entire time we were out.

[h.grenade]

The seat looks great! Were you able to mount it on the factory bolt locations? I tried to find something similar for a "jump" seat but found that I would have to drill through the floor and reinforce it because of the position that I wanted the seat in.

Snow camping looks fun.