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Picked up one of these yet??

http://www.campist.com/archives/nissan-pathfinder-murano-x-trail-qashqai-suv-tent.jpg

Picked one up, headed out to catch a race, camped the night before and had the...

Use another tent rod in the middle two holes going across and the arch created will solve that.
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/mezamichael82/Canopy/DSC06993.jpg

Nice!! I like how you used the 1" star nuts and the bottle cage nutserts. :D

BTW...
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e13/mezamichael82/Canopy/DSC06985.jpg

Someone's playing w/ XT, too bad...

What you are describing as far as tapering would be a slip-sleeve joint, the castle method's a lot stronger if done right. :)

Take a section of the same material and just cut it into 4 corner braces. (Once you cut it down it'll fit the I.D.)

Make the pieces at least 4" long, so you end up with an even 2" amount in both...

*Mike, pick up some washers and bend them to the radius of the pvc to prevent stress cracks around the wingnut/bolt.

All you'd need to do is use a piece of 4x4 scrap with a hole the O/D of the pvc...