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Calling all Subaru Forester roof top tent lovers! Wondering if your Subaru Forester can carry a Roof Top Tent? The short answer is, yes. In order to look deeper into this question you must understand a few things such as dynamic and static load ratings.
Dynamic & Static Load Ratings
- Dynamic weight means when your car is in motion. This rating is a lot lower than the static rating (when you’re parked) for many reasons such as center of gravity, wind drag, turning & weight transfer, among many others. The dynamic load for a Subaru Forester is 150lbs. When looking at the weight of the rooftop tent, be sure to include the weight of your bars & whatever else you may store inside of the tent. Personally, I fly a Roofnest Sparrow (check out our YouTube review, here) on top of my Crosstrek with no issues…it weighs in at 130lbs. Add in the weight of my sturdy Yakima Crossbars and I’m all set. I’d recommend getting a solid set of crossbars like the ones we use if you’re venturing into the world of rooftop tents.
- Static weight is when your car is parked. This load is a lot higher than the dynamic rating because the car is not driving, stopping, or turning which means the weight is not amplified by other factors. I had a hard time finding an actual number, but keep in mind that car roofs are designed to handle the weight of the whole car if flipped over (which is well over 1,000lbs). My Roofnest and 2 adults weigh much less than that.
Check out our list of Recommended Roof Top Tents! There are plenty of Subaru Forester’s out there rocking both the pop up and fold out style rooftop tents. For us, we ultimately decided on the hard shell pop up due to the quick and easy set up time. At first, we were concerned due to the length of the Roofnest. We measured several times with a tape measurer and we weren’t sure if it would hang out over the windshield too much. Once we mounted it, we cant even see it from inside the car (unless we lean way forward). In addition, we can fully open our trunk with the nest mounted in this position. Explore our Instagram @rooftoptrekkers to see the Sparrow mounted up on our Subaru. Check out our article here on why we absolutely love it!
Thanks for reading this article…we hope it gave you the confidence to buy a rooftop tent for your Subaru Forester. If you’re still in the market for a tent, consider a Roofnest Sparrow …we freakin’ love ours! Be sure to leave questions and comments below. Life’s better on top!
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This Post Has 12 Comments
Thank you so much for this post! I was looking at buying the Falcon for my Forester because of its low profile (it’ll fit in my garage) and I’ve been running around with a tape measure trying to figure out how it’ll fit and how much it’s going to need to hang over the windshield so I can still open the hatch.
Glad to help! My buddy just picked up a Sparrow for his Subaru Forester and it fits great. Should be similar with the Falcon. Best of luck and thanks for reading!
Hi Bill and Rooftoptrekkers, I am so glad to come across yalls conversation…I am looking at the Falcon and would love to stay in touch…instagram: choedebra
Hey Deb! We will check out your IG and feel free to reach out with any questions! Cheers, Ben
Hey! I have a question for you. Have you heard of this at all…I just attached the sparrow onto my 2016 Subaru Forester and within about 10 miles of driving the tire pressure monitor gauge light came on. I’m not sure if that was just a coincidence or if it’s correlated. should anything be done with the tire pressure to compensate for the added weight on the roof? I was going to post on the Facebook page but I’m a newbie and haven’t been admitted to the group yet.
Hey Katie,
Thanks for reaching out! I have never heard of this but we run our tires 1-2 psi above baseline and have never had an issue. Have you had anymore problems?
Cheers,
Ben
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Just thought I would comment and say great theme, did you make it on your own? Looks really good!
Does the tent bounce at all when you are driving? We bought the rooftnest falcon and have the Subaru forester.
Bounce on the crossbars? Yes, however we added some floor furniture sliders in between the tent and the bars. Worked like a charm. Hope this helps!
I bought a Thule tepui kukenam rooftop tent for my 2018 Subaru Forester. Any recommendations on which crossbars to buy?
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