If you have a dog or two, and want them to sleep with you in your rooftop tent, it’s not such an easy feat, especially if they’re one of the larger breeds.
Our 85 lb rescue lab, Lizzy, has some “separation issues”, which have caused us some sleepless nights while camping. Despite making her a nice bed in the truck’s cab, she would still make sad crying sounds throughout the night, especially whenever she heard us moving around up in the tent.
We figured the easiest thing to do was just find a way for her to get up there with us.
Ours is just one way to get your big dog in a rooftop tent. Others ways include the following:
- A tight fitting canvas cover for your ladder.
- Letting them walk up over the hood and windshield to an open tent window – (one of our readers recommended using a yoga mat for this.)
- Carrying them up by hand. (not an option for our dog)
- Mounting the tent low for access thru truck’s sliding rear window.
- Training them to climb the ladder. (also not an option for our pup.)
Low-Mount RTT Rack
Our rooftop tent is mounted on a KB Voodoo rack that’s only 6″ above the bed, so we began experimenting with a few types of steps and ramps, and even bought a DOGGO RTT ramp, which, although well made, was a bust. Lizzy didn’t like how the soft fabric gave way under her feet and would freeze halfway up each time we tried getting her up on it.
So, we decided to make our own hard surface dog ramp for the rooftop tent. It’s working great so far and we’ve had no problems getting Lizzy up in the tent with us on our last camping trip.
The following ramp design is easy to make, and cost us only about $70. (There are probably better ways of doing this and your dog may be fine with a soft canvas ramp, but this is how we made ours.)
Step 1. Buying the Materials for Our Rooftop Tent Dog Ramp
The following are all the items we bought to make the dog ramp for our rooftop tent.
- 2 pre-cut pieces of 1/2″ grade A plywood measuring 2′ x 4′ (Marine plywood would last longest – however our options were limited).
- stainless steel continuous hinge
- 15 machine screws – size #10-24 – 1.5″ long with washers.
- Olympic waterproofing treatment
- 6′ x 8′ length of Indoor – Outoor Carpet
Step 2. Cutting and Attaching Hinge
The next step in making our rooftop tent dog ramp was to cut the stainless steel continuous hinge (also called a piano hinge). For this we used a grinder and cutoff wheel. (Don’t be like us – wear gloves!)
Next, we clamped the hinge down dead center over where the two boards met and drilled holes for the machine screws. We staggered the screws in every other hole, using the regular wood screws – which sit flush in the hinge – in the other holes. We added a washer and tightened the screws down using a driver, then used a grinder to cut off the excess.
Step 3. Waterproofing and Covering the Rooftop Tent Dog Ramp With Carpet
Next, we applied four coats of Olympic waterproofing treatment to the regular plywood. Marine plywood would’ve been the better choice, but we couldn’t find any in our area. After the last coat had dried, we cut our indoor-outdoor carpet and stapled it onto the plywood. (We used a hammer to drive all the staples fully into the wood so they wouldn’t come out.)
Taking Our Rooftop Tent Dog Ramp Camping
Our ramp project only took a couple of hours (not including drying time) to make. Finally we were ready to take it camping, but first we went out to a local park to try it out. This was a good choice, because we’d envisioned using an ice chest to prop the end up on, but the angle proved too steep for our dog.
We ordered a 35″ tall aluminum work platform (Amazon affiliate link*), which ended up giving us just the right angle for Lizzy to walk up into the tent, after giving her a boost onto the platform.
To secure the ramp to our RTT ladder, we used two ratchet straps.
First Try Was a No-Go
Once we had the angle of the ramp right, we thought it would go smoothly, however Lizzy had other plans and balked at the sight of the contraption. She’s a very fearful dog who was rescued from an abusive situation, so we first had to do some things to get her used to the ramp. We fed her and our other dog Tripp on the ramp inside the house, and eventually she decided it wasn’t so bad after all.
Second Try of Rooftop Tent Dog Ramp a Success!
We went camping to try it out again, this time with some high-value dog treats placed along the ramp and this trick worked! I walked alongside and guided Lizzy up, as Melissa coaxed her inside the tent.
We’ve only camped a couple times with this setup, but so far it seems to work very well. The ramp folds up into a 2′ x 4′ x 1″ size and weighs less than 30 lbs. To store it for travel, we simply place it under the folded rooftop tent ladder, under the cover. When not using it for the rooftop tent dog ramp, the aluminum work platform makes a nice camping table.
How Do The Humans Get in and Out?
While the ramp doesn’t look that easy for people to use, it really isn’t that hard to get in and out. We place our largest ice chest about halfway alongside, and simply scoot out a couple feet and step down onto it.
Now we can finally get a good night’s sleep because our big dog Lizzy is happy at night, which is all that really matters, right?
Note: For most dogs who aren’t as timid as our Lizzy, a heavy canvas dog ramp that wraps around your rooftop tent’s ladder may be a much better solution, but for ours this ended up being the one she would actually use.
*Full disclosure: This post may include affiliate links to products we use and recommend. Our readers never pay any extra when using these links.
