Are you going on a long road trip or camping outdoor in your SUV/Jeep? An adventurous trip can become a nightmare in no time if any change in weather conditions, and finding a perfect camping site will become troublesome.
With the necessity of searching for a proper place to sleep, a good night’s rest, and protection from endangering situations, the rooftop tents come in handy where you can enjoy the most comfortable and effortless camping experience than sleeping at the back of your jeep or in the tent on the ground.
Best Smittybilt Overlander Tent Review
A rooftop tent can quickly turn any vehicle within minutes into a luxurious home on wheels filled with joy and happiness. Avoid the hassle of setting up the tent and focus more on your adventure.
Rooftop tents are small in size, provides comfort like home, and compact to take anywhere on your journey.
Choosing Best Smittybilt Overlander Roof Top Tents
There are several outdoor rooftop tents available on the market with different capacities and characteristics. Our comprehensive and unbiased Smittybilt Roof Top Tent Review will help you choose the best rooftop tent for your road trip.
Weight: Rooftop tents look big and weigh more; carrying the weight more than your vehicle may add up your gas cost and creates fuel inefficiency in the long run. Always consider checking your vehicle’s roof weight capacity before buying the best Smittybilt rooftop tent.
For example, The Jeep Wrangler hardtop will safely support a dynamic roof weight of up 150lbs(68 Kgs).
Capacity: Rooftop tents come in varying capacity, from accommodating one person to a maximum of 6. You have to make sure your tent can fit all the campers on your rooftop for apparent reasons.
Price: Best rooftop models come at a high price, providing the luxury, comfort, and livability you need. Plan accordingly and choose the best tent that comes under the budget and serving all the functionalities required.
Smittybilt Overlander Roof Top Tent – 2783
The Smittybilt Overlander is a top-grade, exceptionally equipped rooftop tent loved and recommended by many campers. It is an ideal entry-level rooftop tent that fits all two and four-door Jeep Wranglers with a hardtop roof. Designed with so many extra features and covering all the smallest details a camper would need. Let us jump into our review of this great tent.
| Model | Overlander – 2783 |
| Capacity | 2 Adults and a Kid |
| Tent Weight | 116.5 Lbs/53 Kgs |
| Material | Heavy-Duty Polyester |
| Tent Open Size | 95″W x 56″L x 51″H |
| Tent Closed Size | 47″W x 56″L x 11″H |
| $$$ | Check Price |
What vehicles work with the Smittybilt Overlander Roof Top Tent? Smittybilt Overlander XL Roof Tent is designed to fit All 1987-2020 Jeep Wrangler YJ, TJ, JK, and JL Models.
Fabric: The fabric of the Smittybilt Overlander tent is a 600d heavy-duty polyurethane, which is very strong, waterproof, and can withstand any weather. The seams inside the tent are all taped up nicely to prevent any leaks from outside.
How Long do the Smittybilt Overlander Covers Last? They are very durable and have good stability, can last for years if proper care is taken.
Design: A look from the inside shows four windows with two side windows and two ceiling windows. The side windows are pretty large, suitable for big people(like the great Khali😊), and even for your dog to easily enter and exit the tent. An aluminum tent frame poles with steel hinges to hold your tent very firm and tight. Very tightly woven CE-approved mosquito net for better ventilation and protection.
Base: The floor base of the Smittybilt 2783 Overlander Tent is a 2.5cm aluminum/polyurethane sandwich base with a 660lbs/300kg load capacity.
It is very sturdy, and you have the rails at the bottom for mounting to your roof rack. You can install the annex using the zipper on the sides of the base.
Which Roof Rack for Smittybilt Tent? Smittybilt Overlander Roof Tents are a universal fit product that can be mounted effortlessly on any aftermarket or stock roof rack system.
Sleeping Area: Contains the mattress and the removable cover. The mattress bed is 2″ thick fire-retardant high-density foam. The detachable mattress is very comfortable when sleeping on your back; side sleepers will feel the bottom. For extra comfort, you can add a full-size mattress topper on top of the provided mattress.
You can also find two little storage pouches and pockets throughout the tent to keep in a mobile phone, keys, or a wallet inside the tent.
Interior Lighting: Interior LED strips that come with the tent attached to a velcro strip illuminate the whole tent. You can power it up using a 12V cigarette lighter power adapter, or you can use a USB battery pack.
Rain Fly: On top of the tent, you have a waterproof 420D flysheet, which is sturdy, lightweight, and removable.
Sun Roof: There are two sunroofs with mesh mosquito netting on the top, a cool feature where you can open to gaze at the star at nights and help in air ventilation.
Ladder: The Smittybilt Overlander tent comes with an 18″ extra-wide aluminum ladder, one of the widest ladders in the market for a roof top tent. It is very sturdy and a sliding ladder, which can entends to 6.5′ (2m) for tall vehicles.
Shoe Storage Bag: You have an external shoe storage bag to take off your muddy, dirty shoes before entering the tent. You can hang the shoe bag on the D-ring lock provided at the end of the tent.
Pros
- Ease of Setup
- Lightweight
- Nice Construction
- Easily Accommodate 2
- Lots of Head Room
- Star Viewing Windows
- Very Strong Ladder
- USB LED Light Strip
- Taped/Glued Seams
- Flaps and Mesh Screens for Airflow & Bugs
- Reasonable Price
Cons
- Velcro Straps Worn-Out Easily
- Expensive Replacement Parts
Buyers Feedback & Review:
Smittybilt Overlander Tent Review: Customers liked the tent’s quality, and many find the tent extremely easy to set up and take down. Led light provided with the tent seemed to be a very useful and a great source of lighting inside the tent.
Plenty of room for two people. Comfortable with ample space at the top even for someone of 6’2″ tall. The roof window at the top is perfect for star gazing at night and having a pleasant, restful sleep.
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Smittybilt Overlander XL Roof Top Tent – 2883
| Model | Overlander – 2883 |
| Capacity | 3 Adults and a Kid |
| Tent Weight | 168 Lbs/76 Kgs |
| Material | Heavy-Duty Polyester |
| Tent Open Size | 122″W x 76″L x 51″H |
| Tent Closed Size | 47″W x 76″L x 11″H |
| $$$ | Check Price |
What vehicles work with the Smittybilt Overlander XL Roof Top Tent? XL Tent is best suited for trailers because of the oversized dimensions. Ensure your vehicle load capacity before mounting on the jeep or truck.
Accommodating Tent Dimensions: The Smittybilt 2883 XL Overlander Tent, when assembled, has 122 inches wide, 76 inches in length, and 52 inches in height. It has a large capacity to accommodate 3 to 4 adults.
It comes with a nice and comfy 60mm high-density foam mattress with a removable cover—the mattress size with 92.5 inches wide and 74.8 inches in length.
How Thick of a Mattress Topper Can You Use in a Smittybilt Tent? You can use any mattress that is comfortable for you. We recommend roof top tent mattress from 23 Zero, which is explicitly made for Roof top tents. They come in 3 inches thick, designed to fit inside your tent.
More Load Capacity: The Smittybilt Overlander XL Roof Top Tent 2883 weigh 168 pounds/76 Kgs. It has a load capacity of up to 770lbs (350Kgs). This load capacity makes the perfect overland tent even for a big family with two adults and three kids.
Before your trip, make sure to determine your vehicle’s recommended load limit in static and dynamic. A top-heavy load can drastically have a lasting impact on your vehicle’s suspension as long as it can hold all your campers.
The pros and cons are the same as Overlander 2783; the significant positive note is a larger size, more capacity, and a spacious mini-home.😊
Reasonable Pricing: Smittybilt is the brand best known for bringing innovative outfits for trucks and jeeps. The Smittybilt Overlander XL Tent satisfies the avid traveler’s needs with outstanding quality and offers the highest value for the dollar in the market.
Which is Better, Tepui, or Smittybilt Tent? If you don’t want to spend $2000+ and still need a large rooftop tent, then the Smittybuilt Overlander XL is a great choice.
Buyers Feedback & Review:
Smittybilt Overlander XL Tent Review: Customers find it as the best value tent for the price. Impressed with the ease of installation, construction, and design of the tent. Some travelers use it throughout the fall and winter season and still find it very durable and stand strong amidst the rain, high winds, and snow.
XL Tent is best suited for trailers because of the oversized dimensions. Overall it’s an exceptional roof top tent for serious traveling adventurer who likes extra space, privacy, shelter against unfavorable weather conditions, and finally, a long-lasting and trustworthy roof top tent.
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Smittybilt Overlander/XL Roof Top Tent Installation and Securing
How to Mount/Install a Smittybilt Overlander/XL Roof Top Tent?
Smittybilt Overlander RTT is a universal fit product, designed to install easily on your aftermarket or stock roof rack system.
Before you mount your tent, determine which way you want to have a rooftop tent open, whether on the back or the side of your vehicle.
Follow the below steps on how to put up a Smittybilt roof top tent.
Preferred Openings: For SUV, it is preferable to have the opening on the backside and for the Jeeps preferable to have the opening on the sideways.
Once you have correctly mounted the roof top tent to your roof rack, and to install it;
Removing Cover: First, remove the tent’s cover by unfastening the velcro strap on each side.
Remove Ladder Strap: Now take the high ground to unfasten the ladder strap and pull the ladder until it clicks. Use a folding step stool, which is lightweight, sturdy, and compact to carry.
Bring Ladder Down: Hold the ladder and use the leverage to bring it down to the ground at an angle to support the tent’s weight. If your ladder is straight up, you have to use an extendable ladder to create some angel.
Install Rainfly: At the top, place the rainfly poles inside the tent’s side pocket and use the straps to hold them.
Install Window Cover: Now install the window cover rods at the base. To hold the window flaps, slide the given rods to the metal frame of the tent’s base through a grommet hole until it locks in its place. Use the hook on the end of the rod to connect it with the rainfly shade cover. Do the same on all four sides, and you are done.
How to Store a Smittybilt Overlander/XL Roof Top Tent?
To store and secure your roof top tent, repeat all the above steps in reverse order.
Before you pack the tent, ensure you don’t leave any valuable inside.
Removing the Rods: Unhook the rod from the rain fly cover and pull the rods from all the sides.
Push the Ladder: Grab the ladder and carefully push against the tent as it folds. You can secure the tent with your pillows and sleeping bags on top of the foam mattress with no actual difference in the folded dimension.
Tent Securing: You have to press down the tent and strap it down with the velcro inside the ring closures on both sides of the closed tent to hold it tight.
Then put on the PVC tent cover on top of it, a large waterproof, very thick cover. The cover is very nice and tight by attaching to the velcro straps.
Once the tent cover is in place, grab the straps and fasten them together.
Conclusion
If you have never got a good night’s rest when sleeping in a tent on the ground, you should get yourself a rooftop tent where you can enjoy sleeping like a baby on a warm and excellent comfortable mattress and be off the ground. From our Smittybilt roof top tent review, I hope we helped to choose the best rooftop tent for you.
Let us know which rooftop tent do you use and what do you like in it? Share feedback and review in the comments section.
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