Roof Rack Guide

Platform racks can be a great way to create a big, stable base for your 4X4CO roof top tent. 4X4CO tents are designed to mount to a two-crossbars roof rack, so mounting to a platform rack can require extra parts or additional steps.

Because platform racks are low profile, there isn’t enough room to mount and tighten the hardware while the rack is on your vehicle.
You may need to mount the 4X4CO tent to your rack before mounting the rack to your vehicle (some racks allow you to remove just the slats or cross-members rather than the whole rack).
Platform racks will either have their slats running left-to-right or front-to-back. Because 4X4CO tents are designed to mount to crossbars, they can often be mounted to platforms with left-to-right slats without additional parts or steps.
We’ll cover some of the main brands here but the concepts can be applied to any platform rack on the market.
Ultimately, you’ll need to decide how you will mount your 4X4CO tent, but our guidelines can help you come up with a plan for the type of roof rack you’re looking for.

The Racks

Rhino-Rack Pioneer Platform

There are two ways to mount your 4X4CO tent to the Pioneer platform. One involves drilling holes into the slats (best if you want the lowest profile mounting solution) and the other involves using brackets from a 3rd party.

The Front Runner RTT mounting brackets work well and can be attached to your Pioneer platform directly. Then you can use four of the mounting bolts provided with your 4X4CO tent to attach the tent to the brackets. This video provides a good overview of using these brackets with platform racks and some of the considerations.

If you choose to drill holes and mount directly, you’ll likely need to remove the platform from your vehicle.

First measure the exact center-to-center distance between the mounting rails on your 4X4CO tent.
Then determine exactly where you want the 4X4CO tent to sit on your platform and drill four holes in the slats with the left-to-right spacing you measured and 36-48 inches front-to-back.
Now you can insert four bolts into your 4X4CO tent mounting rails, line these up with the holes you’ve drilled, attach the 4X4CO tent directly to your Pioneer platform, then reattach the Pioneer platform to your vehicle.

BKmedia

Prinsu Rack or Backbone Rack

Because this rack has horizontal slats, you can mount your 4X4CO tent directly to it with the included mounting hardware.

Note: this rack has a lip on the outer edge of the frame so if you have a Sparrow (regular, XL, or EYE) you’ll need to use a spacer between the rack and tent so the Sparrow does not rest on this lip – we recommend this.

It’s easiest to remove two slats from the rack, mount these to your 4X4CO tent, then reattach the slats to the rack frame. Choose two slats that are at least 24” apart and take exact measurements of the spacing as assembled into the rack, you will need to keep this exact spacing when mounted to the bottom of the 4X4CO tent.
Place the 4X4CO tent upside down onto something soft to protect the shell then attach the two slats to the bottom of the 4X4CO tent at the exact spacing you measured using the 4X4CO tent mounting hardware.
Reattach the slats onto the rack frame.

Front Runner Slimline Platform Rack

Because this rack has horizontal slats, you can mount your 4X4CO tent directly to it with the included mounting hardware.

It’s easiest to remove two slats from the rack, mount these to your 4X4CO tent, then reattach the slats to the rack frame. Choose two slats that are at least 24” apart and take exact measurements of the spacing as assembled into the rack, you will need to keep this exact spacing when mounted to the bottom of the 4X4CO tent.
Place the 4X4CO tent upside down onto something soft to protect the shell then attach the two slats to the bottom of the 4X4CO tent at the exact spacing you measured using the 4X4CO tent mounting hardware.
Reattach the slats onto the rack frame.
You can also use these brackets or these brackets instead of mounting directly to the Front Runner rack.

Gobi Roof Rack

Because this rack has horizontal slats, you can mount your 4X4CO tent directly to it with the included mounting hardware.

It’s easiest to remove two crossbars from the rack, mount these to your 4X4CO tent, then reattach the crossbars to the rack frame.
Place the 4X4CO tent upside down onto something soft to protect the shell, then attach the two crossbars to the bottom of the 4X4CO tent about 36-48” apart.
Reattach the crossbars onto the rack frame. (Depending on the size of your forearms, you may be able to mount your 4X4CO tent to the rack without removing the crossbars.)