Choosing the Right Rooftop Tent for Your Next Overlanding Trip From St. Louis

Scott Carline • June 16, 2025

The Ultimate St. Louis Guide to Picking the Best Rooftop Tent

A rooftop tent is more than camping gear—it’s your mobile cabin, storm shelter, and sunrise lookout all in one. For overlanders rolling out of St. Louis every weekend, the choice is clear: Axleboy Offroad rooftop tents featuring the award-winning iKamper Skycamp 2.0 and 3.0 are the only rooftop tents trusted to handle Midwest weather, heavy use, and daily driving without turning your rig into a sloppy, leaky headache.


These aren’t gimmick tents. They’re lab-tested, field-proven shelters that match perfectly with the real-world roads, forests, and wild Missouri weather. This guide covers why iKamper Skycamp tents beat every other style for local trips, how Axleboy fits them properly, and what every St. Louis explorer should know before bolting one on.


Why the iKamper Skycamp Stands Alone for St. Louis Overlanders

St. Louis weather doesn’t care if your rooftop tent looks fancy on social media. Spring rains, heavy winds, and surprise ice storms will expose a weak design fast. That’s why Axleboy Offroad installs only iKamper Skycamp 2.0 and 3.0 rooftop tents—nothing else meets the shop’s standards for guaranteed performance.


These hard shell tents pack big benefits into a surprisingly compact shell:


  • Setup in under 60 seconds – No wrestling with poles at dusk.
  • King-size mattress comfort – Sleep well above wet, buggy ground.
  • Aluminum honeycomb floor – Holds up to 900 lbs without flexing.
  • Rugged clamshell design – Slices wind drag on I-70 and seals out Midwest storms.
  • Quality materials – Waterproof fabric, rust-proof hardware, triple-layer insulation for cooler nights.


Locals choosing an iKamper get a proven shelter that handles daily driving around Kirkwood just as easily as an overnight at Hawn State Park. It’s not an “all brands welcome” approach—Axleboy backs only the tents that earn it, no compromises.


Hard Shell Design Means Real Comfort and Easy Travel

Many St. Louis drivers new to rooftop camping think all RTTs work the same. They don’t. Soft shells can flap, leak, and wear out under Missouri’s constant rain and seasonal extremes.


The Skycamp 2.0 and 3.0 are engineered as true hard shell rooftop tents, built to last for years of heavy trips and fast highway runs. The clamshell lid stays tight against wind noise and keeps the tent compact when not in use. No drag, no extra sway, and no big box hanging off your roof like a sail.


Inside, the Skycamp layout matters more than Instagram shots:

  • A king-size memory foam mattress rolls out over an extendable floor, so two adults and a child sleep comfortably.
  • Large side windows and a sky view let in fresh air while mosquito-proof mesh keeps Missouri’s insects out.
  • The ladder is rock solid and adjustable for rigs from a lifted Tacoma to a stock Bronco.


This isn’t just camping—it’s the closest thing to an elevated hotel suite on wheels that a St. Louis adventurer can get without towing a trailer.


Proper Fitment Protects Your Truck, Fuel, and Sleep

Adding a rooftop tent is like adding another passenger. It changes weight balance, fuel use, and roof rack stress. Many owners rush install jobs at home or let big box stores bolt a tent on generic crossbars. That’s a shortcut that costs more later when leaks, squeaks, and broken mounts appear.


Axleboy’s method is different:


  • Checks rack strength and placement before install.
  • Uses factory torque specs so bolts don’t loosen over washboard trails.
  • Aligns the tent to avoid drag and uneven tire wear.
  • Test-drives after mounting to check wind noise and structural stability.


Most importantly, every install is covered by a 12-month/12,000-mile labor warranty—a promise almost no online tent reseller offers. And if anything rattles or shifts after that first big trail trip out past Cuivre River, the Axleboy crew fixes it right, no extra excuses.


When considering rooftop camping, St. Louis locals find Axleboy in local searches for “overlanding near me” because they solve problems before they start.


What to Know Before Adding a Skycamp to a Daily Driver

A rooftop tent sounds great until someone ignores reality: weight ratings matter. A Skycamp 2.0 weighs around 150 lbs—light for a hard shell, but still something your truck or SUV needs to carry safely.

The Axleboy team checks:

  • Roof load limits (dynamic and static)
  • Rack specs (some factory racks can’t handle RTT stress long-term)
  • Bed rail or crossbar compatibility
  • Ladder angle for lifted rigs


They also discuss how a tent affects fuel economy and wind drag. An iKamper’s sleek design reduces these impacts compared to floppy soft shells, but owners should still plan a few less MPG on highway hauls out to Ozark National Scenic Riverways.


These details separate a fun trip from a frustrating one. Many St. Louis overlanders learn this the hard way—Axleboy customers skip the headaches.


St. Louis Locals Pick Axleboy for Rooftop Tent Installs

Choosing a rooftop tent is one part gear, three parts expertise. The gear—an iKamper Skycamp 2.0 or 3.0—is locked in as the best. The difference is how it’s mounted and supported.


Axleboy Offroad stands apart because the crew uses dealer-level tools and backwoods-level experience. They live this life: hunting, fishing, hiking, and off-roading in the same places customers do. They know what Missouri’s weather does to cheap seals and bad hardware.


Every install is custom-matched to the vehicle:


  • 4Runner rooftop tents with rack spacers to keep roof lines clean
  • Jeep Wrangler tents mounted with low-profile brackets for tight trails
  • Ford F-150 setups balanced to protect tailgate and roof strength
  • Chevy Colorado and RAM 1500 mounts with easy ladder positioning


Drivers searching “rooftop tent near me in St. Louis” find real local expertise, not just an e-commerce site. And repeat customers love knowing one crew handles it all—tent, racks, maintenance—under one roof.

See why so many neighbors trust Axleboy Offroad before heading out to Missouri’s wild spaces.


Why iKamper Skycamp 2.0 and 3.0 Beat Every Alternative

St. Louis overlanders get serious about weatherproofing. Heavy spring rain at night can soak a cheap tent. Freezing winds whip through budget zippers. An iKamper Skycamp solves this: thick fabric, double stitching, tight seals, and high-grade metal parts that won’t rust after one wet winter.


Inside, Skycamp’s premium foam mattress puts inflatable camping pads to shame. Families love that the extended floor means kids or dogs have space to stretch. The window awnings open up fresh airflow even during rain—huge for muggy Missouri summer nights.


Axleboy only trusts Skycamp because the shop tested other brands on local trails for years. They failed—Skycamp didn’t. That’s why they stand behind it with a performance guarantee.


About Axleboy Offroad

Axleboy Offroad is St. Louis’ trusted shop for custom rooftop tents, lift kits, and serious offroad upgrades. From local daily drivers to overlanding rigs ready for Ozark adventures, Axleboy builds vehicles that drive better than stock and survive real trails. Factory-trained mechanics, dealer-level tools, and honest advice make sure every upgrade works right the first time. Every install is backed by a 12-month/12,000-mile labor warranty, so customers get peace of mind from garage to backcountry and back again.

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By Scott Carline • April 7, 2025
So we're back inside at Axleboy Offroad. We've got our 2020 Jeep Gladiator Sport S. This is still bone stock. I haven't made any modifications to it yet. We have ordered and been receiving a lot of the components from our supplier partner. They're going to end up on this Jeep Gladiator. One thing that's going to be probably the most dramatic cosmetically and performance and everything else from the outside, is the lift kit, and the wheels, and the suspension. Yeah. So right now behind us is bone stock. Let's talk about suspension first. Why don't you tell us what we have here from TeraFlex? Sure. So from TeraFlex, we're doing the adjustable alpine IR arms. IR stands for independent rotation. Now this is a really new product and it's amazing in the fact that it uses the bushing, so we're going to retain the same sound dampening and the same ride quality as we would when we're stock. But the inner sleeve that the bolt actually goes on... Okay. This is actually on a bearing. Okay. And it's a sealed bearing and unlike standard bushings where once the bolt clamps down, it's captive in the rubber and the rubber has to flex in order for this arm to move through its travel. The independent rotation allows free movement, no binding whatsoever, and this is huge in terms of ride quality, in terms of flex when you're off road or when you're on the RTI ramp at a Jeep show, or whatever it may be. We get the best of both worlds. We get the reliability of a good rubber bushing. We get the flexibility of a flex joint, but we don't have the parts that wear out or they get loose and make noise like the flex joints do. So it's kind of the best of both worlds. We expect that these bushings are going to last the vehicle's lifetime. This is a new product, this independent rotation bushing, been in testing and development for quite a while. We expect these to do amazing. What does installing an adjustable control arm do? What's the benefit for me as the Gladiator? Yeah, that's a great question. So we're going to lift it and we're going to raise the suspension. And the way that the geometry works, as we raise, this control arm is going to drop down further away. Now if you notice when this control arm swings down, it moves back. We actually lose some wheelbase when we lift it and it's just the nature of basic geometry. There's nothing we can do about that unless we put in an adjustable control arm. In this case, we can extend the length of this. We can recover our wheelbase, we can recover our alignment angles and our pinion angles as needed. So this gives us the ability to affectively adjust the front axle forward and backward. So we can make sure that the front axle is exactly where we want it. Exactly where we want it with the correct angle and the correct rotation. This is going to make the vehicle drive amazing. We're going to be able to keep caster where we want it, which is important because as we lift it caster drops out. Caster is the alignment angle that gives us stability going down the highway. We can roll it back in. Terrific. What else do we have here from TeraFlex? Well, we also have the new Falcon series three shocks. These are the brand new SP two shocks. Now I know in the past you and I have talked about how nice the Falcon shocks are because we have the quick adjust knobs. So we can turn this knob and we can go from soft ride to firm ride or tow, or if you're particularly picky like I know you are, you can go into setting number two, which gives you micro adjust on the small knob. You can literally dial in the ride as you drive. Now the SP two adds a new feature to it. Okay? It allows us to control the dampening, so this isn't as quick adjust or as easy, but what we can do, if you come in and say, "Dude, I am going to run down a gravel road and I'm going to run this thing hard." You can take the shock off and you can twist it, turn the bottom, and it goes into performance mode. Now this isn't going to be something you're changing in and out of every day. It's something you're probably going to do on install, but it gives you the ability to take the entire shock range and move it to more of a performance setting or to move it more to a comfort setting. Okay. So it just adds one more layer of adjustability to these shocks. These shocks are made up in Utah at the TeraFlex plant in the Falcon plant, handmade up there. Everything is amazing. We've been up on this line. It's the most spotless incredible thing you've ever seen. They've put a lot of time and development into this and these are definitely the best riding shock out there for the JK, and JL, and Gladiators. And it's going to look really cool. Oh yeah. How do you go wrong with all the big, all the billet, all the anodizing, the badging? They cut no corners on this thing at all. So I'm going to guess we've got a front and a back. Yeah. Yeah. So this will be the back. And so the importance with the back is... So it's a gladiator, right? So we're probably going to load it up with stuff, right? I mean, bicycles, kayaks, tent. So we're going to be taking weight in and out of it all the time. And that's really where the quick adjust knob is going to come in for us. So as you add that weight, all your shock dampening needs to change. It's easy now. Reach in there through the wheel-well, make a flip, and go. Going down the road or as a daily driver, what setting would I want to put it on? Well, I'll let you have it as far as a personal preference, but I know when I'm going down the road, just genuinely driving down the highway, I like a softer setting. I don't need to really feel the road. When we go to the firm settings, you're going to feel more input from the road. Now that's going to be great in certain situations. So if you're particularly driving sporty or driving heavy, you're going to want to have that road feel where you can feel the bumps and know what the vehicle is doing. With that, we're going to get a lot of roll control. So the vehicle is going to corner better and it will be able to handle the washboard gravel roads. Because I know like when you're out camping, you're driving down the- Gravel road. Yeah, yeah. You know how it is. You hit the bump and you bounce off the road, not with these, you move it to a firm setting and yeah, it's going to feel like you're zipping across the desert in a Baja race there. So really good stuff. Very adjustable, tunable to how you want it. So typically when you're off road or you're driving in let's say a spirited fashion, if you will, we're going to put them on firm. That's great. Well, thanks a lot to TeraFlex and to Axleboy Offroad. To learn more, you go to teraflex.com or visit us at axleboy.com.

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