Mama Said There Would Be Days Like This!

 

Mama said there would be days like this.  There would be days like this my Momma said.  I am not sure there would be a more fitting statement that rings true right now in this life for me.  For starters…

I drove 3 hours to Artemis Overland in Springfield, Missouri last Saturday in order to install a couple Howling Moon Rooftop Tents and Awnings on my FJ Cruiser and Trailer.  It started out well as the first tent went on the trailer perfectly without a hitch.  The awning however, was a large 270-degree awning that was much heavier than my previous.  My brackets were not large enough to fit the lining of the bolt pattern on the awning.   Once we finally figured out how to get the brackets to work, we moved on to the FJ.  We finished the trailer and the next project was in line and waiting.

We removed the extremely heavy FreeSpirit tent from the top of the FJ.  The previous awning had already been removed before arrival.  We unwrapped the tent that Aaron had set out for me, and sat it on top of the FJ, thinking all would be done soon.  Have I ever been so mistaken, incorrect, misput and shot down in a blaze of glory.  Once again, as previously seen with the FreeSpirit tent just removed, the slots for the tent rails to sit in on the Rhino-Rack Platform did not line up.  As before, the opening in the platform was about 8 inches off from where the rails were installed on the tent.  Once again, as with the previous FSR tent, we had to disassemble the tent, drill new holes and install the rails in the correctly spaced increments in order to get it to fit.  We did it.  We were on our way to success.  Again, not the case.

We confidently took our new Howling Moon tent (that we already had to rebuild) and placed it on top of the FJ.  With amazing disgust and detriment, we noticed immediately that the rails were not long enough to attach to the front and back of the platform.  The platform sits so low on top of the FJ that we could not reach the center slat to attach the tent and the tent was too short to reach the front slat and then attach to the back.  It was about 8 inches too short.  Here we go again with the 8 inches.  We thought and racked our brain as to what to do.  We really did not have many options.  Therefore, Ryno and I opened up another larger tent looking for longer mountain rails.  We finally found some.  We switched out the mounting rails and attached them to the tent.  After this, it mounted perfectly without a hitch.

The awning on the FJ was not really a big deal.  Again, the slats on the Howling Moon awning would not line up with the holes on my current Rhino-Rack brackets so we changed the brackets out with the Howling Moon brackets and BOOM!  We were done!  We were worn out.  The 20 minute break we took to eat our Panda Express was not sufficient enough to regain our strength, but we held our motivation to finish.

I said all that to say this.  Buying different items from different manufacturers could cause you some issues.  Do not give up.  You can put your mind to it and with the help of some amazing friends (as I did) you can make it work and make it work well!  In the end, you will have exactly what you want. 

I really wish these companies would get together and just make all their measurements the same.  But I get it.  If you buy a Howling Moon awning, they want you to use their brackets.  If you buy a Rhino-Rack awning, they want you to use their brackets.  They are all good quality products and all work very well, just sometimes not so well with each other.  Even so, with a little hard work and engineering, you can make them work and in the end you will have a truly custom rig that has your personality, style and blood, sweat and tears all over it!

Yeah, Mama said there would be days like this. But there is no satisfaction like putting in the work and seeing it all come together in the end.  It'll be ok Mama.  I got a great rig!