Can You Put A Roof Top Tent On A Subaru Outback?

14 comments Jun 03, 2021

Given the amount of popularity that both roof top tents and the Subaru Outback have gained over the past few years, it’s quite common to get this question in online forums, social media and the trails: can you put a roof top tent on a Subaru Outback?

Yes you can, however, you do need to consider the importance of having the right roof rack or cross bars to support it, as well as the roof weight limitations that Subaru vehicles have.

To put it into simple terms, you need to understand three key factors before placing a roof top tent or any heavy item over the roof of your Subaru Outback:

1. Subaru roof’s weight rating
2. Roof rack weight rating
3. Item’s (roof top tent) total weight

Subaru Outback Roof Weight Rating

Subaru rates that the roof rails of the Subaru Outback can support a dynamic weight of 176 lbs, dynamic weight is the total weight that can be supported whilst the vehicle, in this case the Outback, is in motion.

Roof Rack Weight Rating

Whatever type of roof rack you buy, platform or crossbar, has two weight ratings or weight capacities: dynamic and static. Dynamic is the weight capacity a rack can handle when the car is in motion, and static is the weight the rack can handle when the car is parked. Normally, the static is three or more times as the dynamic.

You want to look at the dynamic first, since the rule is: the weight of what you put over the rack when driving, cannot exceed the dynamic weight rating.

Essentially, if the roof top tent weighs 200 lbs, and the roof rating of the Outback is 176 lbs and the roof rack weight rating is 165 lbs, then you shouldn’t carry that tent.

If the weight of the tent is 150 lbs, and the racks’ weight capacity is 165 lbs, you can carry it over the rack.

To explain even further, the roof rack can be either cross bars, or a full platform roof rack. There are many different styles, brands, and materials racks are made of. The recommended style of rack for a roof top tent to safely go over a Subaru Outback is a full platform roof rack, that bolts directly into the roof’s factory mounting points.

As shown on the image below, your Outback likely comes with factory roof side rails, most low weight capacity roof racks mount directly to those side rails by “grabbing or clamping” onto them. However, that limits sturdiness, stability and strength of the rack or cross bars.

A better solution is to remove said rails, that will expose the roof mounting points, where you can mount the side feet or side panels of a platform roof rack, and bolt the rack to the roof. Additionally, platform roof racks have more mounting and tying points than cross bars, making it even easier to attach the roof top tent to the rack.

Roof Top Tent’s Total Weight

Finally, the Subaru Outback roof top tent weight is key. We already explained this above in the roof rack weight capacity section, but essentially your tent’s total weight should never exceed the roof rack’s dynamic weight capacity or Subaru Outback’s roof weight rating of 176 lbs.

Subaru is conservative in the 176 lbs, as they don’t want any trouble, but still, adhere to that limit and you’ll be fine.

Bear in mind the factory cross bars are never strong enough to handle a roof top tent, they can barely carry over 120 lbs safely. The recommendation is to remove factory cross bars and at least buy after market cross bars from brands such as Rhino-Rack or Thule that have a dynamic weight capacity of at least 165 lbs.

Final advise, the weight of your roof rack must be accounted into the calculations of the Subaru Outback’s roof weight capacity, which is 176 lbs. Therefore, if the roof rack weighs say 26 lbs, then the tent can weigh a maximum of 150 lbs to be on the safe side, which leaves you a choice of the lighter roof top tents.

So, Can I Install A roof Top Tent Over A Subaru Outback?

Yes, yes and yes. All factors discussed above lead to a final answer of yes. However, as you can see and read, there are limitations. Don’t go for heavy roof top tents, wisely pick the roof rack considering not only the roof rack’s total weight, but it’s installation method, and its weight capacity.

Finally, account for the rooftop tent’s design. What does that mean? Given the Subaru Outback can handle mostly lightweight roof top tents, don’t go for an extremely long or bulky tent, it’s better to get a smaller tent when closed, that won’t have overhang at the front or back, to avoid unnecessary safety concerns!

But the final answer is yes, if you follow all the guidelines, it is 100% safe to put a roof top tent over a Subaru Outback!