Rooftop tent FAQs — Australia & New Zealand

A rooftop tent is a tent that mounts to the roof bars of your vehicle and opens into an elevated sleeping platform, so you camp above the ground instead of on it. Roof Space tents are a fusion design: a hard shell for aerodynamics, weather protection and security on the road, combined with the fold-out sleeping area of a soft-shell tent. You unclip the latches, the shell lifts, and the tent unfolds over the side of the vehicle.

You get a flat, dry, level bed anywhere you can park, in about two minutes. There is no clearing rocks or sticks, no wet groundsheet, no packing a soaked tent in the morning, and you are up off the dirt, water and wildlife. The mattress lives inside the tent permanently, so bedding stays made up between trips — most owners find that alone changes how often they go away.

Yes — the sleeping surface is a full mattress on a solid base, not an inflatable pad on uneven ground. Because the platform is rigid and level, you are not rolling into a dip at 2am. The elevation also keeps you out of ground damp and cold air pooling, which makes a noticeable difference on cool nights in the high country.

Setup is under two minutes and can be done solo — release the latches, lift, and the tent unfolds. Pack-down takes a little longer because you tuck the canvas in as the shell closes, but most owners are back on the road inside five minutes. There are no poles to thread and no pegs unless you are also pitching an annex.

Yes. Roof Space tents are built for year-round use, and in Australian and New Zealand conditions the main considerations are heat and wind in summer and condensation in winter. For genuinely cold trips — alpine NSW and Victoria, or the South Island in winter — the Thermal Inner Tent adds an insulating layer that also cuts condensation significantly.

Yes, many owners do. The closed hard shell is weatherproof and locks, so the tent can stay mounted between trips. The trade-offs are fuel consumption, extra height in car parks and garages, and the fact that your vehicle is permanently at its raised height. If you only camp a few times a year, taking it off between trips is straightforward with two people.

Expect a noticeable increase, usually in the range of one to three litres per hundred kilometres depending on the vehicle, speed and how boxy the car already is. A hard-shell tent like the Roof Space is far better here than a soft-shell in a travel cover, because the closed shell is a smooth aerodynamic form rather than a canvas brick.

Yes, within sensible limits. The tent is anchored to the roof bars, which are anchored to the vehicle, so the whole assembly moves as one. In strong wind you will feel movement and hear canvas, the same as any tent. Park with the vehicle nose or tail into the wind rather than broadside, and close any annex awning rather than leaving it flying.

The RS4 is for families and anyone who wants maximum sleeping width without giving up hard-shell convenience. It combines the two-minute setup and aerodynamics of a hard shell with the extra-wide sleeping area of a fold-out tent — a combination that did not exist before this model.

205 x 200 cm — wider than a domestic king bed. That is genuinely enough room for two adults and two children, or four adults who know each other well.

Your vehicle needs a minimum dynamic roof load rating of 100 kg. The RS4 weighs 90 kg, so you also need to account for the weight of your roof bars or platform. This rules out many small wagons and some utes with light-duty tub racks, so check your owner's manual before ordering.

Start with your vehicle, not your preference. If your dynamic roof load rating is under 100 kg, the RS2 is your answer. If you have the rating and you regularly camp as a family or want the extra width, take the RS4. Both set up in under two minutes and both take the same annex and accessory range.

No. Both are a single-fold design that one person can open in under two minutes. The RS4 canvas is larger, so pack-down takes marginally longer as you tuck the fabric in, but the process is identical.

Usually yes, provided the canopy or tray rack is rated for the load. This is the key point people miss: the limit is set by the rack and canopy manufacturer, not the vehicle roof, and a canopy rated for a static camping load may have a much lower dynamic rating. Get the rating in writing from the canopy maker before ordering.

Dynamic load is what your roof can carry while the vehicle is moving; static load is what it can carry while parked. Static capacity is far higher — the roof is supported by the whole structure and there are no cornering or braking forces — which is why a 90 kg tent plus two adults sleeping in it is fine on a roof rated at 100 kg dynamic. Always size your tent against the dynamic figure.

Your owner's manual is the authority, usually under roof rack or roof load. If it is not there, the vehicle manufacturer's Australian or New Zealand customer line can confirm it. Do not rely on forum figures — ratings vary between model years and between wagon, ute and canopy variants of the same badge.

Yes. The dynamic rating covers everything you add to the roof: bars, mounting feet, platform, the tent and anything strapped on top. Subtract the weight of your rack system from the rating before comparing it against tent weight.

Yes. In Australia the general limit for a light vehicle is 4.3 m overall height, and in New Zealand it is 4.25 m — neither is remotely at risk with a rooftop tent on a normal vehicle. The practical limits are car parks, drive-throughs, service station canopies and low branches, so measure your loaded height and write it on a sticker on the dash.

Check with your insurer. A rooftop tent is an accessory permanently fitted to the vehicle, and most comprehensive policies expect modifications and accessories to be declared so the tent itself is covered against theft or damage. It is a short call and worth making before your first trip.

No — where you can sleep is set by local rules, not by the tent. Australia and New Zealand both have areas where roadside or freedom camping is restricted or banned, and councils enforce it. Use designated campgrounds, national park sites, and in New Zealand the freedom camping rules that apply to non-self-contained vehicles, which is what a rooftop tent counts as.

Ventilation is what makes summer comfortable — open opposing windows to get airflow across the sleeping area rather than one window on its own, and park so the tent opens away from the afternoon sun. The Light Awning adds shade over the entry, which drops the internal temperature noticeably in the late afternoon.

Yes, provided your rack system is up to it and everything is properly torqued. Corrugations are hard on fasteners, so check the mounting clamps and any accessory bolts at the end of each corrugated section — a habit worth building on the Oodnadatta or the Gibb River Road.

The closed shell seals well, which is a major advantage over soft-shell tents on dusty routes. Fine dust can still find its way into the canvas folds, so shake the canvas out before closing and give the tent a proper air and vacuum after a dusty trip.

Yes, with sensible maintenance. Salt air accelerates corrosion on any hardware, so rinse the shell, hinges, latches and mounting clamps with fresh water after beach camping and dry the canvas before folding it away.

The tent is built for sustained rain and the shell sheds water off the sleeping area. In the tropics the real enemy is packing away damp — mould grows fast in humidity, so if you have to close the tent wet, open and dry it fully within a day or two.

Treat it like any camping setup: check local fire danger ratings and total fire bans before you travel, camp where the local authority allows it, and have an exit plan that does not depend on packing the tent. Being on the roof means you cannot leave in a hurry without closing up first — that is a real consideration on a high fire danger day.

Both are annexes that hang below the tent to create a room at ground level. The Light Base is the compact, lighter option for changing, storage and shelter. The Family Base is the larger version, giving enough enclosed floor space to use as a second sleeping room or a proper living area on longer stays.

The Light Awning extends off the side of the tent to give shade and rain cover over the entry and the area beside the vehicle. It is the single most-used accessory in Australian conditions, because it turns the space beside the car into usable living area in the middle of the day.

It is an insulating inner layer that clips inside the tent. It keeps warmth in on cold nights and, just as importantly, keeps the inner surface warm enough that condensation forms much less readily. Worth it for alpine, desert-winter and South Island trips.

The Panoramic Screen is the mesh panel system that lets you open the tent up to the view while keeping insects out — the practical half of Panoramic Mode on a warm evening.

You can add any accessory at any time; nothing requires factory fitting. That said, the bundles pair a tent with the Light Base at a better combined price, so if you already know you want the annex it is cheaper to take it with the tent.

Anti-theft locking nuts replace the standard mounting hardware so the tent cannot be unbolted from the bars without the matching tool, and the closed shell latches down over your bedding and gear. For long unattended stops, park where the vehicle is visible and consider a rack-level cable through the mounting rails as well.

Roof Space products are covered by a manufacturer's warranty, and separately by the guarantees in the Australian Consumer Law, which cannot be excluded — that includes acceptable quality, fitness for purpose and repair or replacement where a product fails. Full terms are on our Refund and Warranty policy page.

Normal wear, accident damage, and damage from misuse are not covered — the most common examples being driving with the tent open or unlatched, exceeding the roof load rating, and mould from storing the canvas wet. Look after those three and you will not have a problem.

Yes. Wear items are available separately — replacement tension straps and spring steel rods are stocked, and we can source other components. Email us with your model and a photo of the part and we will identify it.

Photograph the carton and the damage before you unpack any further, and contact us the same day. Freight damage claims depend on evidence at the point of delivery, so those photos matter — with them, we resolve it quickly.

The Instructions page has the current fitting and operating documents for each model, and the Rooftop Tent Guide covers the wider how-to material. Dealers can also access technical documents through Dealer Downloads.

Email sales@roofspace.com.au or call 0452 282 200 — we are on the NSW Central Coast at 16/94 The Entrance Road, Erina NSW 2250. Include your model and order number and, for anything mechanical, a photo. We answer our own email, so you are not going through a call centre.