Vincent
Member
- Joined
- Oct 16, 2024
- Messages
- 137
- Reaction score
- 16
- Rivian
- R1T
So, Rivian sells Thule rooftop tents, and it seems like third-party rooftop tents are extremely popular on short-bed trucks in general (whether Thule, Yakima, iKamper, Roofnest, etc.).
And if I'm not mistaken, virtually 100% of these block the third brake light (CHMSL). Some people care more about this than others, but I really notice when other cars' CHMSL isn't working, and some (older) studies showed that they reduce rear-end collisions by as much as 50% compared to cars without them.
So I guess I'm writing this just out of curiosity and probably one of the reasons I'm still a bit hesitant on getting a rooftop tent fixed on my truck. Or maybe I should just not worry about it? I do tamper with my truck wiring occasionally even the low-voltage electrical in my truck and maybe wiring something like this in with a quick-release plug could be an option (and then sticking the lights to the rear of the tent)?
One major reason why this has been on my mind is because the combination of a trailer hitch bike rack and a rooftop tent is going to really eat away at the visibility of the R1T's brake lights, which makes me a bit nervous.
I met someone who ended up settling for the Thule rooftop tent. He bought a saris light bar meant to be put on one of their racks. So he took all the bed plastics out to run wiring for another set of trailer lights. Problem is if you use the built-in set, the truck thinks you have a trailer connected, and all kinds of stuff gets disabled.
P.S: Ignore the wiring that goes to the trailer hitch area as he's not using that now.
The wiring system he used is one that doesn't require breaking or cutting wires as it uses an induction loop to detect current change. He looped it over the grey wires at the rear lamps, pointing away from the lights. Didn't connect anything for tail or stop lamps, just turn signals.
Wiring is routed up through the void space at the corner of the tailgate, taped down to the bedrail. Seems to be working okay for him so far, but I'm curious what it will do at night. Would definitely help with having a bike rack on the truck as well.
And if I'm not mistaken, virtually 100% of these block the third brake light (CHMSL). Some people care more about this than others, but I really notice when other cars' CHMSL isn't working, and some (older) studies showed that they reduce rear-end collisions by as much as 50% compared to cars without them.
So I guess I'm writing this just out of curiosity and probably one of the reasons I'm still a bit hesitant on getting a rooftop tent fixed on my truck. Or maybe I should just not worry about it? I do tamper with my truck wiring occasionally even the low-voltage electrical in my truck and maybe wiring something like this in with a quick-release plug could be an option (and then sticking the lights to the rear of the tent)?
One major reason why this has been on my mind is because the combination of a trailer hitch bike rack and a rooftop tent is going to really eat away at the visibility of the R1T's brake lights, which makes me a bit nervous.
I met someone who ended up settling for the Thule rooftop tent. He bought a saris light bar meant to be put on one of their racks. So he took all the bed plastics out to run wiring for another set of trailer lights. Problem is if you use the built-in set, the truck thinks you have a trailer connected, and all kinds of stuff gets disabled.
P.S: Ignore the wiring that goes to the trailer hitch area as he's not using that now.
The wiring system he used is one that doesn't require breaking or cutting wires as it uses an induction loop to detect current change. He looped it over the grey wires at the rear lamps, pointing away from the lights. Didn't connect anything for tail or stop lamps, just turn signals.
Wiring is routed up through the void space at the corner of the tailgate, taped down to the bedrail. Seems to be working okay for him so far, but I'm curious what it will do at night. Would definitely help with having a bike rack on the truck as well.
