Should You Buy It? Kings Grand Tourer Rooftop Tent Review
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- Опубликовано: 25 июл 2020
- After several trips with the Kings Grand Tourer RTT on the car I thought it was time to punch in a review of it and my experiences with the tent along the road. Any questions? Just comment below and i'll answer them based on my experiences. Cheers all, enjoy!
Excellent review, helps with my decision making
Some good points thanks for your review I'm getting one because of value and small failings easy fixed .
Easy way to stop zips from clicking is the put heat shrink over the pull tags
That is genius.
I have the Same tent. Pretty similar Problems. I still agree that people should get it and through out time fix them their selves... Twice less cheaper the 5000 . People just need to accept that it won't be perfect, and Mod it up over time
Thanks for sharing, great fair and honest review, puts some perspective on the " should I, or shouldn't buy"
Good review, for the price you should expect problems. Thanks for your feed back.
Thanks for your honesty.
You confirmed all my suspicions on this product.
All those problems are simple factory fixes at very little cost to manufacture but major problems to consumer when in the middle of the desert. Would rather pay an extra $500 and have it right the first time.
Was going to get one but not now.
Thanks.
Anytime mate happy to help out 👍 its like that, I think if they went that little bit further in the manufacturing stage and didn't cut corners then it could be a pretty good tent. But unfortunately not.
Great review thanks for the pricings👏 thank you. You just save me alot of grief. I'm sure the company will do some upgrades and still look after you.
Hi Chris
I have the kings get mk3. Seriously can not complain about it for the price.
Have a look at my videos and set up
Cheers
Out There Touring
Great review mate. I was a bit of a test dummy for the original Kings kwiky roof top tent. As for the GT, I haven't had the problem with the roof lining falling out but as for moisture in the front I did a test and parked my car up for a month. After having dried it right out with a heater at 40 degrees for a day and a half. It's still got water inside but only at the very front.
Cheers matey 🤙yeah I had a few of the kwikes as well and they all cracked on me after a few months. It seems water creeps through the front and just seeps in on the mattress. Not exactly what you want pulling up to camp.
Thanks for the info!
Anytime mate 👍
Thanks legend! Ill wait for the mk3
Let's hope they get it right!
Good review mate, its nice to hear some honest feedback after some solid use on the road. Your complaints about the tent seem to be unanimous from all owners of the Kings Grand Tourer, as most reviews mention all the same faults and concerns. Myself being a full time uni student as well I certainly understand the cost aspect of the tent. My first RTT was the kings soft canvas version which I picked up second hand for cheap. It was great to get into the style of camping in a RTT as compared to the swag, but you do find the limits of the cheapest thing on the market very quickly, especially in the rain, on long camping trips, after corrugated roads, etc as you have. I found that I was more hesitant to go camping and 4WDing BECAUSE of the cheap Kings RTT and all the problems it would cause me, and as such I decided to stay away from the cheap and nasty products from then on.
I think you kind of concluded on the Cheap and nasty Vs Expensive and high quality argument at the end there too. If you can't depend on your own gear, cant trust it to hold together and perform under any circumstances you want to throw at it, then you shouldn't buy it. Sometimes cheaper gear is fine if you are willing to fix all the problems, deal with the fails that come with it, and be prepared to go through any warranty claims to fix things. But for me, I want to know that my gear will last and perform all the way there and back again, not fail half way through. That will kill the mood of any trip real quick.
For me, buy once and cry once. Yes the other brands are twice as expensive as the Kings, but you get a complete, dependable, and reliable product that doesn't need constant fixing, or to just put up with its failings. If you can't afford a brand new one, then keep sweeping the second hand market and jump on opportunities to find something for cheap. I managed to find a second hand Alu Cab Gen3 RTT for less than what you paid for the Kings RTT, and by god the quality is not even comparable.
Looking forward to seeing more of your videos mate, love the Troopy too.
Thanks for your thoughts and feedback mate, always appreciate it. You're spot on there however, there's the trend of cheap and nasty that will keep rearing its head, worst off they'll come when you're on a big trip away from the convenience of stores etc when it all comes apart. For the Grand tourer as it stands that's exactly what it is, too much going wrong in a short period of time. Although in saying that, with other cheaper products, I have had good experiences, so I guess it's just luck of the draw and down to personal preference. 🤔
I might have to scan the second hand market for a bit and see what comes up! Thanks again mate 👍
Ditch the mattress and go get yourself two camping single 100mm mattress's. You can get firm and soft ones from Clarke rubber.
Cut the zips off the awning, the attachment they sell is useless.
The carpet will fall off the roof, even though the new one has bars to retain the foam panels. Use some self tapping pan head screws to hold the carpet up around the edges.
Order some new gas struts online, the ones they replace thw faulty ones with are BS.
There are a few keys locations for rain to leak in. The holes for the hinges are not well sealed, pull out the mattress and seal around the bolts with silicone. They also do leak fro. The roof, so dab silicone on the rivets on the top too.
The front seal will fall off, the double soded tape they used is crap. Clarke rubber sell good D profile automotive stripping to replace it. Pull the hinges off, remove the old strip and clean the area with acetone before applying the new strip.
Use a set of multi grips to compress the sides of the over centre latches on the rear, or just swap them out for quality units as you suggested.
Hope there's something there that helps you mate. Had my MK2 for 1 year now and love it. Only Kings piece of gear I own...
Thankyou very much for your review, massive help! I am very close to making the purchase. Was this the MKII Version that was released with everything fixed up? Thanks again mate!
No dramas mate happy to help. I'm not entirely sure if this one falls under the mkII category, but it's not the original one they started selling as it has a few of the improvements on it, such as the roof lining and extra rubber seal.
@@makingtracks4x468 What's the condensation issue? I'm guessing the aluminium shell is the issue with condensation?
I feel like you are judging the MKII based on your experiences with the first version. Like most people, I would love to be able to spend 5k on a better brand but truth is, they have their faults too. You don't generally hear about it though because people aren't game enough to spend double the money for something that is not twice as good and then go on You Tube and complain about it. My theory was I could spend the $2.5k and then throw in a few more bucks on things like clips and glue to make it a much better unit. Good channel by the way.
Yeah I see where you're coming from there mate. The only reason why I'm saying that about the mkII is because after I returned the 2nd one, I was told about the changes they made to make it all better for the third one they put on. Now that was all before they started re-marketing it as the mkII and when they did bring it out, all their changes and improvements were the same.
For example the double rubber water proof lining didn't change, and that was already starting to peel off after 3 months.
The latches on the rear also didn't change, and after a couple trips they literally rattled off.
And the gas struts also started to become pretty weak. So it seemed although they've gone and renamed it, a lot is still the same.
I agree with you with that spending money to keep it going especially when it is as cheap as it is, but these issues kept popping up when I was on bigger trips somewhere remote.
One big thing was also that all these issues came up within a four month period. So I couldn't imagine what it would be like 1 or 2 years down the track. But each to their own and like I said It just depends entirely on whether or not you're willing to work with it.
Thanks for your feedback mate, always appreciate it 🤙
@@makingtracks4x468 I see your point. Guess we'll just have to wait and find out. Hopefully in a couple of so years, I'm financially ready for an upgrade. Appreciate your time in responding mate. Keep up the good work. 🙏 💕 😎
@@NasTimeAdventures anytime mate happy to talk about it all👍 fingers crossed it eventually all comes together with the RTT
with the latches on the back there is a hole to put a lock or a pin through it to stop it from coming off.. i did 6.5k km through simpson and out back QLD & NSW and have had no issues with mine.. no dust, water or condensation over the 5 weeks
@@kaoz9060 Cheers for that. 🙏 💕 😎
Should update the title to include the model of the tent mk2
Since they have released the mk3
Thanks for the review. Didn’t watch any more after you mentioned the roof sag regarding the glue. I’ll give this tent a miss. Cheers . I did give you a thumbs up for the info in the video.
You should of kept listening because he said they have fixed that problem. But there were a few more.
Hi Kman,
I have the mk3.
It’s awesome. I’ve taken it to VIC high country and some billy goat track and just returned from Fraser Island.
Have a look at my videos, I’ll also do some product reviews soon
Cheers
Out There Touring
@@ottouring Cheers for this. I ended up buying a Dune 1400 soft roof top tent. It seems ok. Have not used it yet however will on the weekend. Will see how it goes. I have subscribed to your channel.
Kalgans pool at the start 👌
How good is it 🙌👌👌
Great review mate I can understand people saying it’s half the price of a good brand but it’s still a hell of a lot of money for a lot of people I have bought a fair bit of there gear and it’s about the same there’s always something that goes wrong or breaks apart from the swag I bought even though I would vote it the worst mattress I’ve ever attempted to sleep on my poor hips in the morning I couldn’t walk for ten minutes and my mate was the same in his it’s a hard one because there built cheap and affordable for most people but there quality control sucks I bought a 250 watt solar system and it had a broken hinge a missing latch and the solar controller didn’t work luckily I had my own controller so I didn’t really care but the box hadn’t been opened from the factory and it was like that, if they lifted there game a little they would own the market
Yeah that's one of the biggest concerns i had with it after everything that had gone wrong so quickly, is what will it be like 1 or 2 years down the track. Not what you want when warranty has passed 🤷♂️
You can fix new bolts with nut locks from rivits is rip off. Simple job 👍👍
Put heat shrink on the zips stops a lot of rattle
Will have to look into that one for my current tent!
Thanks for the review, just trying to work out if your review on the last tent (your 3rd one), is actually a Mark II or a fixed Mark I? Thanks
No dramas mate, when we took the second one back in we were told we could replace it with a Mk2, which is the third we had
Buy once cry once...I went into a Kings outlet the other day and it's for people who don't go off road, poor build quality. Good review mate
The price tag kills it mate , why I bought one I'm lucky so far but dont use it heaps like u , like to know more about the flexi solar panel tho thinking off fitting one
Very informative mate although a bit long
Thanks I now know what not to buy
Hey mate for your zips for the awnings making noise in the wind have your tried heatshrink?
G'day mate, never ended up giving that a go, pretty much always had the awning rolled up and tucked away unless it was prime conditions
Seems like easy fixes for Kings, they just need to get it right and it will be a good buy!
Yeah thats it!
Zip noise. + heatshrink = no zip noise
Is this the MKI or the MKII?
I was told it was the mkII but they've made changes since
Seems like a tube of T-rex would solve 99% of the issues it has.
Ground top tent it is!
Too expensive, takes up roof top storage space, POS
You'll save yourself 90+ kgs of weight on the roof as well!
I don’t think it’s a quality product, I know they are cheaper, but lining falling, failing gas struts after three months, and leaking,,,, keeping rain out is kind of the purpose of a tent right? The rubber seal detaching and the clips falling off…..and it’s the third tent! To have so many failings on a new tent shows it’s poorly made and not tested well. It’s in reality an expensive tent as you will be buying another tent in a year
Àhhhhmmmm
Um,um,um,um,um,um,um,um,um
Haha that’s all I could hear as well…