Isuzu DMAX Dual Cab
The Dmax is a super reliable and cost effective touring vehicle. It has the right mix of comfort to simplicity and maintains an excellent approach and departure angle combined with a stiff commercial chassis. We like its cabin space but would love a higher seating position for a better view when in the rough Stuff... .
The Vehicle is well balanced from Factory and when empty - We'd Reccommend Roof top tents be fitted over the Cabin on Dual Cab varieties.
Why fit rooftop tents over the cab on the D Max and Other Dual cab Vehicles?
As Discussed above - Over-cab mounting of Roof top Loads reduces vehicle body roll. Fitting a Roof Top Tent over the Dual Cab Cabin can also create a bit of room on the rear canopy to help you access the ladder, or if customised - Have WALK UP ENTRY into the tent... (See more on this here on Canopy Tray vehicles link here ) In all Cases, Dual Cab Utes on and off-road performance is greatly increased by keeping all weight centred and as low as possible on the vehicle. More on this here
Tough Touring Over Cab Roof Racks Made for Isuzu D-Max Dual Cab
We started building custom roof top tent mounting platforms for Dual Cab Utes some years back as we were super impressed by these vehicles improved handling on and off road with the Touring tents moved forward over the cab. We found that there were virtually no options for racks for these vehicles that could handle the load and or size of common Hard shell Roof top tents, and certainly none that were low mount, strong and balanced.
So we built our own.
Tough Touring racks shown above and below
The Isuzu D Max Above is fitted with our Tough Touring Dual Cab Roof Rack Platform. We then fitted a Bundutop Tent and Ostrich 270 wing awning along with 400W of solar power - Power for the Touring equipment is available via our 'Slide in' portable Power pack - utilising Powerful inbuilt chargers to renew battery power quickly via renewable sources.
HOW TO FIND THE OVER CAB MOUNTING HOLES ON ISUZU D MAX.
The Isuzu D-Max roof has 4 x M8 Bolts each side - Some models have them hidden under the paint work - Dimensions on where they can be located are shown in the pictures below.
To Locate them - we removed roof lining and pushed a small drill bit up through the Bog/Glue/Paint - then cleaned out the M8 Factory Nutsert with a Thread cutting tool. Some Pics below of the measurements of rear and front hole sets on a 2012 D-Max Dual Cab
For Further Information about what to look out for on your own vehicle to ensure an Over cab Rack can be fitted - (And what to do next) - See more on this here - "Dual Cab Roof Cavities and fitting information"
What's the best rooftop tent for the Isuzu D-Max and Why?
You can't beat the Bundutec Bundutop for the Isuzu Dual Cab.
* Shortest footprint allows fitting to either Over Cab or over canopy (Just 2.1m Long) - The Tent can overhang 50cm unsupported over the cabin roof or over the canopy to centre its weight.
* light weight at just 76Kgs keeps the vehicles body roll to a minimum
* Square Sides give ample mounting side space for fitment of External Shovels and Awnings.
POLE LESS WING AWNINGS - FIT to ROOF TOP TENT DIRECTLY ON ALL DUAL CAB UTES
When Fitting Hard Shell tents to the Isuzu D Max please note awnings need to be fitted directly to the tent. This Puts them Up High enough to stand under, It also gives the Awning the right width to mount on . The Roof Rack at 1200mm and the canopy at 1650mm are too both short and or Narrow to fit full size pole less awnings too directly.
This also Means Fibreglass Tents are USELESS if you intend to also to run a pole less awning. (Because you can't bolt a 30Kg Awning to a plastic tent) Tents with Bevelled Sides are also more difficult to fit awnings too....
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FITTING A POLE LESS AWNING WITHOUT A ROOF TOP TENT TO DMAX CANOPY
FULL SIZE 270 AWNING OPTIONS:
If you want to fit a full size wing awning Like the Ostrich 270 Wing awning directly to any Dual Cab Ute running a 1650mm Canopy - You can fit them using our '3 point awning mounts' - More on these Mounting Brackets here.
We have listed our picks of top performing awnings (For Victorian/SA weather conditions) here.
SHORT /SMALL 270 AWNING OPTIONS
If you wish to run a Pole Less Wing awning on short canopy Utes without bridging the awning across canopy and Cabin on Dual cab utes - The Choices are limited due to the short mounting lengths available on the DMax (and all dual cabs). Our Fitting Brackets to mount Pole Less Wing awnings directly to rack or canopy are listed here. Some manufacturers are making smaller / Lighter Specialist Awnings that are built for dual cabs ... At time of writing the one to check out is the 'Ostrich Junior Wing' It is as large as much of the competition at 2.2m span - and can be fitted with mounting points at only 1500mm apart... One shown below on a ford ranger for example below... See more on these here - https://www.toughtouring.com.au/product-page/ostrich-junior-270-pole-less-wing-awning
Portable Power Pack for Utes and Tub Tray Canopies - Why Portable?
BUILT IN DUAL BATTERY SYSTEMS IN DUAL CAB UTES CANOPIES - A BETTER OPTION:
Tough Touring Builds a Portable Power Stations for Tub Tray Canopies and these can also 'Slide in' Slide out of Purpose built rear canopies.
Shown Below - Tough Touring Builds Portable Power Stations that are water resistant and Easy to move between vehicles, making your tub tray or canopy a full blown power station when in camping mode, when back at work - slide out the power system and its back to open to use with tools and equipment like the day you bought it. Powerfull Charging via Solar, and DC (While driving) can replentish these packs to fully charged in under 2 hours from empty - making them the fastest charging power packs in the market today. The Benefits of a 'Plug and Play' Install are limitless over a built in system. More on these packs we build here - https://www.toughtouring.com.au/copy-of-dual-battery-systems
