After doing lots of research, I narrowed my choice for a roof top tent to the
Alu-Cab Gen 3-R and
Bush Company AX27 tents. They are both excellent products by well established companies. There are several reasons why I went with Alu-Cab:
Alu-Cab is more innovative
I was interested in as many wife-friendly features as I could get and the 3-R had the following benefits over the AX27: (1) heater/ac vent on both sides, (2) fold down table option (which I added), and (3) adjustable mattress back rest option (which I also added). The 3-R also has a solar panel input on top of the tent (and I knew I would be adding a solar panel). The new design of the frame of the tent is also more aerodynamic and, in my opinion, just looks cooler than the AX27. I am confident the AX27 is overall a stronger tent and that is a benefit of its boxy design.
Alu-Cab also is very much interested in supporting the Grenadier and has developed custom products for it - see
here. One of those key products that helped tip my decision towards Alu-Cab was their custom Grenadier load bar feet for the 3-R. This took all the guess work out for me regarding which and how many bars to pair with the tent (I very much wanted to go with load bars over a roof rack to save weight up top). With their system, I only needed two cross bars.
The 3-R is significantly lighter than the AX27
The 3-R is 76kg while the AX27 is 99kg. 23kg is significant when you take into consideration the static and dynamic roof load ratings of the Grenadier. Read all about that in this
thread. I also knew I was going to be adding an awning, and the Alu-Cab 270 degree Shadow Awning is 24kg compared to the Bush Company 27.8kg 270 XT MK2 and 33.5kg 270 XT Max MK2 (I freaking *love* this awning by the way!).
Alu-Cab has been very responsive to my inquiries
Jon Van Wagoner (
jonvw@ok4wd.com) is the lead guy for Alu-Cab United States Sales and Customer Support, and he is very prompt at returning e-mail inquires, at least in my experience.
I found a quality installer that offers sales and a good online seller
I went with
Asheville Vehicle Outfitters. Really nice folks - customer oriented, and they stand behind their work. They want you to be 100% satisfied. I was able to take advantage of a sale they were having and bought the 3-R for $3,899 instead of the list price of $4,399. They also have a location in Jacksonville, FL. It is also easy to order Alu-Cab products through
OK4WD.com (which I believe is the official Alu-Cab U.S. dealer). AVO orders the products they install through them.
That about sums it up. Now for some pics:
Obligatory front, sides, and rear pics (note that I had to add spacers to allow the Safari windows to fully open - more on that below - also note - this first pic was taken 10 days after I had the Racing Optics windshield protection film installed - happy with it so far!):
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Note - the work lights are a work in progress and I will post more about them in a light bar thread when finished. I just installed the rear light this evening, and it just begged to be placed there, since Alu-Cab helpfully pre-drilled some holes in the support bars:
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On the spacers - I found the perfect ones here at
Levelok. I ordered two sets of the 3/8" thick ones so that I could use two side by side on each spot where the cross bars met the Alu-Cab load bar feet. The spacers are aluminum and pre-drilled with 8mm holes, which is perfect since the Alu-Cab load bars use 8mm bolts. I primed and painted them black with Rust-Oleum spray paint. Here's a couple pics to show them.
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Here's a pic showing how the spacers added just enough height to fully pop open the Safari Windows:
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And, no, I will not be driving with the Safari windows open. Any bumps or corrugations can cause some tent flex with the front overhang, and it would be a very bad day if I hit a big enough bump that caused the front of the tent to bounce down and smash the windows. I will only be opening them when parked up for heat dissipation.
And here are pics of the solar panel (taken mid-install), my cobbled together MaxTrax mounting solution, and a closer pic of the load bar feet:
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Finally, a few notes about things I thought the AX27 did better than the 3-R. I mentioned it is likely the more robust, durable tent and I am pretty confident it is. I also like the large rain fly that is a defining feature of its design, and I must say, I do prefer the olive drab motif of the AX27 and awnings versus the grey and orange accents of the 3-R. The AX27 also has better/stronger side rails (Ezi-Slots) alongside to support things like an awning and hi-lift jack.
I'm sure someone will come along with more observations about why they went with the AX27 versus the 3-R.
