Smittybilt Overlander Hard Shell Rooftop Tent Review
Photography by John Cappa
The Smittybilt Overlander hard shell rooftop tent is one of the newest sleeping solutions in the 4×4 and overland camping ecosystem. It comes with many of the same features that much more expensive rooftop tents have, yet the Smittybilt Overlander hard shell rooftop tent is significantly more affordable. It’s also one of the lighter weight hard shell rooftop tents available, which is a huge advantage when it comes to vehicle handling and stability on- and off-road. We recently took the Smittybilt Overlander hard shell rooftop tent on several camping excursions. Read on to find out what we learned.
Dollar for dollar it’s hard to match all the features of the Smittybilt Overlander hard shell rooftop tent. You get a lot of rooftop tent for the money.
Why Choose The Smittybilt Overlander Hard Shell Rooftop Tent
The Smittybilt Overlander hard shell rooftop tent sleeps 2-3 people and has a load capacity of 661 pounds. It comes complete with built-in gusseted awnings on all four sides of the tent, a collapsible aluminum ladder with a 300-pound capacity, a solar charged battery powered LED lantern and the necessary mounting hardware. At 94 pounds, it’s lighter than most rooftop tents thanks in part to the composite floor, anodized aluminum frame and black ABS plastic shell. The Oxford rip stop polyester tent has a 3000mm waterproof rating, which keeps you and your bedding dry inside, even in the worst weather. On top of all this, the Smittybilt Overlander hard shell rooftop tent is covered by an impressive five-year limited warranty.
The universal curved mounting brackets included with the Smittybilt Overlander hard shell tent can be used successfully on a variety of roof and bed rack tubing shapes and sizes. There is no need to tighten the hardware to the point that these brackets bend so go easy on the wrenches.
Mounting The Smittybilt Overlander Hard Shell Rooftop Tent
The Smittybilt Overlander hard shell rooftop tent features a rigid frame with convenient built-in universal sliding tracks for mounting. The two slotted tracks allow for attachment on most roof racks with crossbars. Each tent comes with stainless mounting hardware, four formed steel mounting brackets and the tools needed to tighten the hardware. The mounting brackets feature a rounded shape, but they fit many different sizes and shapes of roof or bed rack tubing. We opted to mount the Smittybilt Overlander on an adjustable-height bed rack on our 2020 Jeep Gladiator. This gave us the ability to tuck the already low-profile tent partially behind the cab. The tent is quite a bit longer than the bed of our truck so there was some overhang, but it was acceptable to us for improved wind resistance. We used the included stainless steel hardware and had trouble with the threads galling upon removal. We upgraded our hardware with some grinder-modified 5/16 x 2-inch grade 5 elevator bolts and locking nuts. You could also successfully use common carriage bolts in a pinch, thanks to the simple Smittybilt track mounting design. We were able to carefully maneuver our rooftop tent from a table top to the bed rack on our own, but it would be a much better job for at least two people.
We tucked the bottom of our tent just below the roofline of our Gladiator to decrease wind resistance and noise. It worked! We saw no significant change in fuel economy or wind noise with or without the tent on the truck. Note the aerodynamic shape of the tent top.
Driving With The Smittybilt Overlander Hard Shell Rooftop Tent
A Smittybilt Overlander hard shell rooftop tent measures 55 x 85 x 9.4 inches when closed. The ABS body is low-profile and aerodynamically shaped for less wind resistance. The combination of the reduced profile and our lower bed mounting resulted in a negligible change in fuel economy with our tent on verses off. Perhaps because our tent is mounted behind the cab we noticed no new wind noise or rattles either. Applications where the tent is mounted directly on the roof over the occupants will surely see different results.
When it rains, water pools in the molded divots on the roof of the Overlander hard shell tent. Our tent never leaked, but if you aren’t careful when setting up or taking down the tent you’ll get an unexpected shower.
Setup and Takedown Of The Smittybilt Overlander Hard Shell Rooftop Tent
Setup and takedown of the Smittybilt Overlander hard shell rooftop tent is easy compared to ground tents and many other rooftop tents. Set up is practically instant thanks to the gas-assisted struts. It literally takes less than a minute to expand the tent. We found that the best method was to unlatch all eight of the stainless steel latches, then lift the front or back of the tent. The struts do the rest for you and open the tent vertically. For takedown, there are loop straps at both ends of the Overlander tent. Choose an end and pull the tent down on that end. Loosely connect the stainless latches on that end and begin to tuck the tent into the shell. Next you can partially pull down the opposite end of the tent. Then you can tuck the remainder of the tent into the shell halves and secure all of the latches. With very little practice we were able to take down the Overlander tent in less than five minutes. The tent is completely self-contained. All of your bedding and accessories can remain stored in the tent during the trip, which frees up critical storage space inside the vehicle and provides quick and easy tear down and packing. However, in wet weather you’ll have to be cautious of pooling rain water in the divots on the roof. If you’re not careful you’ll get a shower when opening or closing the tent.
The open awnings will catch the wind, but they seemed fine to us in gusts up to 30 mph. If high winds are a concern you can always remove the wire awning supports and tuck away the awnings.
Sleeping In The Smittybilt Overlander Hard Shell Rooftop Tent
Over the years we have slept everywhere from the inside of a luxury RV to being curled up in the dirt around a campfire. When open, the Smittybilt Overlander hard shell rooftop tent measures 55 x 85 x 37. It is very comfortable for two adults and provides a sense of security because it’s well off of the ground. The telescopic anodized aluminum ladder locks into place and is very stable. It can be installed on either side of the tent for access, while a removable multi-pocket external shoe bag helps keep the dirt out of your tent and your shoes dry. All zippers are quality YKK with seam tape to keep out water. Inside you’ll find a comfortable high-density 2-inch-thick mattress with a removable foam padded cover. There are internal storage pockets to help organize your smaller items and two hooks for the LED lantern to hang from. The ceiling features an insulated fabric lining and there are two large air vents that can be used when you don’t want the windows open. The open awnings worried us a little in 30 mph wind gusts overnight but we never had any issues. You can easily remove the wire awning supports and tuck in the awnings in high wind if you are concerned.
The track mounting system on the Smittybilt Overlander rooftop tent is durable and easy to adapt. However, several of the stainless steel mounting T-bolts galled the first time we tried to remove the tent. We have since upgraded our hardware with some modified grade 5 elevator bolts.
Smittybilt Overlander Hard Shell Tent
Pros:
- Very affordable hard shell tent
- Lots of great features
- Bedding can remain in the tent when collapsed
Cons:
- Stainless mounting hardware galled easily
- Large molded divots on the roof collect rain water
- The awnings capture high winds
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