A Note About Roof Racks
Roofnests are engineered to be mounted to two cross bars that are at least 30 inches apart. Platform racks can be used, but are not necessary and in some cases make installation trickier.
Please refer to the platform rack installation guide for more information. Roof Rack Guide
On some vehicles, the stock crossbars are too close to the roof to provide enough clearance to install the mounting hardware. In these cases an after-market crossbar solution is recommended. Contact sales with questions. You can always use etrailer.com as a great resource to find the perfect crossbar or checkout our roof rack guide for more information.
Your crossbars should be rated to support the weight of the tent by itself. Your crossbars have a weight rating which is the dynamic load rating (when your vehicle is moving at highway speeds) and can support 5-7 times this Dynamic Load rating when your car is parked. Almost all modern cars and crossbars have no problem supporting the weight of a Roofnest and occupants – just don’t drive on the highway with your friends in your Roofnest!
Parts List
Your Roofnest Condor is shipped with the following items. Please inventory all parts and make sure you have all of the following:
One Mounting Kit with:
- 4 U-shaped Brackets
- 8 M8 Bolts with 8 Self Locking Nuts (if replacements are needed, these can be found at your local hardware store)
- 8 Aluminum Mounting Plates
- 1 13mm Ratcheting Wrench
- 4 Rubber End-plugs (for the ends of the mounting rails on the bottom of the tent).
- Two Multi-functional Pockets with Waterproof Covers (great for storing shoes and dirty items)
- Six Metal Awning Poles and Storage Bag
Installation Instructions
We highly recommend referring to our installation video here:
STEP 1: Lift the tent onto your crossbars (you’ll need a friend or two) with the Roofnest badge facing towards the rear of your vehicle and the hinges at the front of your vehicle.
STEP 2: Make sure the tent is positioned approximately where you want it. Typically, if it looks right – it is! For SUVs and hatchbacks, open you trunk and push the tent back until it just misses touching the open trunk. This allows you to be sure hte tent won’t interfere with your trunk’s operation.
STEP 3: Prepare your mounting sets. Here is a helpful video from one of our customers:
a. Insert an M8 bolt into a mounting plate (tracks facing up). Then attach a hex head bolt a little less than half way. Repeat three more times.
b. Prepare four M8 bolt and plate sets by connecting an M8 bolt to a mounting plate. Repeat three more times.
STEP 4: With your 4 original mounting sets with the U Bracket, slide each into the mounting track, followed by your M8 bolt and plate set. Repeat for each corner of the tent.
STEP 5: Start at the front or back with a partner and lift the front or back up to slide the mounting set to the inside of your crossbar as shown in the video. Repeat for each corner.
STEP 6: Connect the mounting sets together by inserting the dangling M8 bolt through the mounting U bracket and finger-tighten a nut onto the M8 bolt. Repeat for all four corners.
STEP 7: Tighten the nuts evenly and snugly making sure that before you do a final tightening of the nuts that you have your Roofnest lined up on your vehicle’s roof exactly where you want it.
IMPORTANT: BE SURE TO CHECK THE HARDWARE AFTER 10-20 MILES OF DRIVING TO ENSURE IT IS STILL SNUG. REPEAT PERIODICALLY.
- The bolts included are M8 1.25 hex head bolts, if you want shorter or longer mounting bolts they are readily available at most hardware stores.
- If your crossbars are too tall or too short for the included mounting hardware you can quickly contact our support team via chat on roofnest.com
Setting up the Condor
Step 1:
Undo all four closure straps and lift the edge of the shell until the gas struts take over.
Step 2:
Undo all four closure straps and lift the edge of the shell until the gas struts take over.
Step 3:
Use the ladder to open the floor by pulling down on the end of the ladder and pulling it towards you until the tent floor is unfolded and fully extended.
Step 4:
Adjust the height of the ladder by collapsing ONLY the upper rungs so that the bottom of the ladder is touching the ground.
Step 5:
The ladder should be at roughly a 70-degree angle and support the floor of the tent so that both sections of the floor are level. If you need to adjust the height of the ladder, make sure that all lower rungs are fully extended and only the upper rungs are collapsed.
How to use: Awning Poles
Your Condor is shipped with 6 awning rods, each time you set up your Condor you’ll most likely want to add the rods to the front of the tent where the door is. The window rods will help with rain protection when the windows are open, but are not required when using the Condor.
STEP 1:
- Insert Awning Pole into the small hole, hook tip facing the ground, in the metal banding of the lower shell near the edge of one door. The pole goes in at a STEEP angle – make sure the pole is fully inserted – you may have to twist the pole.
STEP 2:
- Insert the hook into the grommet at the bottom corner of the canvas door. It will feel like you are bending the pole – the tension is what keeps the awning extended.
Note: awning insert brackets are directional – please refer to Step 3 in the Pre-installation Section above if the poles are not pointing away from the insert brackets.
LED Lights and Strut Locks
Your Condor comes with an interior LED lighting strip located inside the tent, above the door.
The USB plug on the dimmer cable must be plugged into a USB battery pack such as you would use to charge your cell phone.
The Condor comes with strut locks attached to the piston portion of the strut on the inside of the tent.They effectively lock the struts out in the event of heavy winds, snow, or inclement weather. It’s not often you’ll need to use them, but they’re nice to have for, if nothing else, peace of mind.
NOTE: THE RECOMMENDED SPEED LIMIT WITH THE CONDOR ON YOUR VEHICLE IS 75 MPH
Driving speed should always be adjusted according to the current driving conditions – please use caution on your first few drives with the condor on top and always remember to check the mounting hardware.
Condor FAQs
1.How tight should the crossbar mounting bracket hardware be attached to the crossbar?
Should feel tight with a wrench, sometimes this slightly bends the lower bracket.
2. Where to position the tent over the crossbars?
As centered as possible and move just forward enough to avoid a rear door opening into the tent.
3. How to use the awning pole?
The awning pole will be flexed to create the necessary tension to keep the window or door taught. You may need to flex the pole firmly to create this tension. If the pole doesn’t seem to be working, please ensure it is seated ALL the way into the receiver.
4. Why is my brand new tent hard to close?
The Condor tents are hard to close when new. This is due to the tent materials being new and requiring a break in period. Note: the latch tension can be adjusted (see more here).