❶ Check Your Vehicle Compatibility
Most vehicles — whether a compact city car or a spacious van — can support a roof tent. One of the key factors to check is your car's dynamic roof load limit.
Dynamic roof load capacity – This tells you how much weight your car roof can support while driving. Make sure the tent, plus any gear, won't exceed this limit. You’ll find it in your vehicle manual.
Alternatively, you can use car.info to find your dynamic roof load limit:
Visit www.car.info
Enter your car into the search bar at the top, select the model
Select the correct year for your car
Select the engine size
Click 'Show all vehicle info'
Find the 'Weight' section, and look for 'Max roof load' This is the dynamic roof load limit.
The static load capacity — the weight the roof can support when the vehicle is stationary — is typically much higher and almost never a limiting factor in rooftop tent use, as vehicle roofs are engineered to safely support the weight of the tent along with occupants when parked.
Need help with checking your vehicle's compatibility?
❷ Choose the Right Roof Bars
To safely install a roof tent, your vehicle needs suitable roof bars that are compatible with your car. Each vehicle and roof design requires different bars to ensure a safe and secure fit.
Here’s what to check:
Before choosing roof bars, you need to know what type of roof or mounting system your vehicle has. The type determines what kind of roof bars you can install. Common types include:
– Raised roof rails (a visible gap between the rail and the roof)
– Flush roof rails (rails with no gap, sitting tight on the roof)
– Fixed mounting points (often hidden under small covers)
– Bare roof (no rails or mounting points)
Important: If your vehicle has a bare roof, you’ll need clamp-on roof bars – but we do not recommend using these. Clamp-on bars are not designed for the weight and dynamic forces of a roof tent, and may damage both the bars and your vehicle.
The roof bars must support the weight of the roof tent, plus any accessories. Always check the maximum load rating of the bars, and make sure it doesn’t exceed your vehicle’s roof load limit — whichever number is lower is your safe limit.
For all types of roof tents, we recommend using roof bars with a minimum load rating of 75 kg. Avoid using soft, cheap, or low-quality bars — they may flex or sag under load, causing instability both while driving and sleeping in the tent.
If you're unsure which bars are compatible with your roof type and load needs, try using this roof bar finder tool.
Need help with choosing roof bars?
❸ Choose Your Tent and Place Your Order
Now that you’ve checked your vehicle’s roof load and selected the right roof bars, it’s time to choose your roof tent.
We offer two different types of 2-person hardshell tents — both quick to set up, weather-resistant, and built for comfort and durability:
Peak Lite – our lighter and more compact model, ideal for smaller vehicles or those with lower roof load limits.
Peak – a heavier and more rugged version, with integrated crossbars that allow mounting additional gear and accessories. It also has enough internal space to store bedding inside when closed, making setup even faster.