Need help... Have JKU, still lusting for Vanagon

[jdzl]

Hey guys...

The short version is:

- Had 84 Vanagon Westy (not syncro), traveled all over and loved it but always frustrated that we couldn't go further afield - partly because of 2wd, and partly because it still had the original 1.9 in it.

- Sold the 84 Westy, bought a 12 JKU. The plan is/was to put Gobi Stealth on, Maggiolina, ARB fridge (had one in Van too) and AEV 2.5" lift w/ 33" Duratracs..

Worried that we're going to spend the $6-7k on the Jeep and still miss the Vanagon... For that kind of money we could do engine conversion, and maybe an LSD/TBD in a Vanagon. We plan to wander / explore for a few months this summer. The major concerns are:
- Camping when it's raining all day - the van provided heaps of space to play with without having to setup shelter, do you guys hang out in the Maggiolina?
- Anyone ever tried urban camping with a Maggiolina? You can stealth camp in the van (don't pop the roof), but popping the Maggiolina on the Jeep would probably draw some attention. :sombrero: With the fridge the Jeep isn't really big enough to sleep two people downstairs anymore.
- Taking 3-4 people, the van could do it easy - Anyone do overlanding in a JKU with more than 2 for any length of time?

Cheers all!

 

[Metcalf]

That is a tough call. Are you more interested in hanging out or getting further off the trail?

I'm going through much the same thing. My Dodge truck is too big to do the off-roading I want. I have started to look at the JK 4-door ( converted to 2-door long wheelbase ) for a do-everything type vehicle.

I think if your VERY careful you can camp with two people on the inside of the JK 4-door. I think anything more than 2-people and you just won't be able to 'camp' inside the vehicle in any capacity except sleeping in the seats.

I think the JK 4-door is about the biggest vehicle I would want to try more 'extreme' style 'wheeling in.....but it is on the small side for 'living' inside.

 

[Clutch]

I have a VW Westie....while cute, it is an underpowered turd...and can't really go too far off the beaten path without fear of ripping it up.
Sure I could toss a Suby motor in her, but why...so I can nowhere faster? All that time, money, and effort really for nothing, when I could of just bought another more capable vehicle...

I believe the solution to your dilemma is a 4WD Van.

Can be found "cheap" if you're patient.

 

[F5driver]

How about throwing a Oztent on top of the JKU. The "30 second" tent deploys pretty fast and is a inexpensive option to the RTT.

 

[mtnbike28]

I feel your pain. I have my great Tacoma but also lust for a Syncro - not really for the VW part, but the do everything I want part. Two years ago when camping in Nova Scotia, it was pouring and as we set up our trailer at Meat Cove, a VW pulled in, opened the top and cooked dinner as we...well you get the picture. I had wondered if a JKU with the URSA J30 top would be close - http://www.ursaminorvehicles.com/jeep.htm - I am always wondering if the Dormobile would work better, but they are as rare as Syncros. The latest issue of OJ isn't helping!

 

[Clutch]

I had wondered if a JKU with the URSA J30 top would be close - http://www.ursaminorvehicles.com/jeep.htm - !

You can't really have a standup interior kitchen setup like a Westie in one of those...all it is a small access hole to get to the bunk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjIa0m0Gd3Q&feature=relmfu


Now a Dormobile style top on the other hand...

http://www.desert-tec.de/html/oldtimer.html

 

[jdzl]

You guys are killin' me!

I was expecting "harden up and get used to being outside"... But yeah, pulling up, popping the top, cooking dinner, washing up and then hopping upstairs for a sleep is pretty awesome. Not really feeling the Ford vans. Don't get me wrong, they're awesome and probably super capable - but just a bit too big for me.

The new plan is to give the Jeep a go for the summer with a Maggiolina and see how it compares to the Westy experience. :snorkel:

 

[Patman]

Jku with an a/t habitat, cut a bigger access hole to have truck flippac access/room. Kit out the interior so you have a little table area and maybe a little couch that converts to a third bed. Still hard to fit 4 people though.

I fight with myself constantly about "needing" more power and capability, but Vanagon convenience/room always wins out.

I would love a 4x converted duramax express, but I'm sure it won't have the same "feel" that a Vanagon does.

 

[Clutch]

You guys are killin' me!

I was expecting "harden up and get used to being outside"... But yeah, pulling up, popping the top, cooking dinner, washing up and then hopping upstairs for a sleep is pretty awesome. Not really feeling the Ford vans. Don't get me wrong, they're awesome and probably super capable - but just a bit too big for me.

The new plan is to give the Jeep a go for the summer with a Maggiolina and see how it compares to the Westy experience. :snorkel:

Yeah...the Fords just don't have the "cool" factor as VW. I dunno, my buddy has one that is diesel...it is bad to the bone. Its' brute force and roomier interior blows our VW out of the water. I have been trying to talk the girlfriend into selling it, as I am over it...no ac, no heat, no powersteering, my dirt bike makes more horsepower...
charm only goes so far...

Well there is one way to make a VW van more capable...

 

[Clutch]

Jku with an a/t habitat, cut a bigger access hole to have truck flippac access/room.

Thought it is a structure issue is why they built it like that in the first place...?

 

[Patman]

Thought it is a structure issue is why they built it like that in the first place...?

Nothing that can't be overcome with a little proper creative engineering. If a regular flipac can do it, no reason a jku top can't. It may introduce different issues but nothing that can't be compensated for.

May take a custom roll cage, but for a "camper"biased set up, may be worth it. For a production viable bolt on, maybe not.

 

[Clutch]

Nothing that can't be overcome with a little proper creative engineering. If a regular flipac can do it, no reason a jku top can't. It may introduce different issues but nothing that can't be compensated for.

May take a custom roll cage, but for a "camper"biased set up, may be worth it. For a production viable bolt on, maybe not.

True true...just don't know why they built it like that in the first place. Assuming because there is very little support structure over doors.


I was all hopped up to get a JKU....then saw the reveal....hmmm..."fail". Don't really want to fuss with anything, especially don't want to start cutting and figuring when it "should" of been down in the first place, that and to pay that kind of coin, to go hacking on it...

Could get an Action Camper..to get that Westy style camper, with JK offroad capabilities.

Gotta pay to play though...

http://www.actioncamper.info/details.php?ktid=4&artID=7

 

[Patman]

There is just something about parking, swiveling the seat around, popping up the table and folding down the bed, that is too convenient. Especially in the small footprint of a Vanagon. On top of it being a totally functional daily driver.

I think a properly setup fullsize van could come close, if you can deal with the physical size, but I would miss the forward control aspect of it. An FG based custom bodied van might work, but then we're talking about tons of cash, time, and custom work.

 

[Patman]

Action camper is awesome, but a little too bulky for anything I couldn't do in my Syncro. If extreme wheel/camping is the thing an Earthroamer JKU would be a better choice. IMHO

 

[Clutch]

There is just something about parking, swiveling the seat around, popping up the table and folding down the bed, that is too convenient. Especially in the small footprint of a Vanagon. On top of it being a totally functional daily driver.

I think a properly setup fullsize van could come close, if you can deal with the physical size, but I would miss the forward control aspect of it. An FG based custom bodied van might work, but then we're talking about tons of cash, time, and custom work.

Oh I hear you...I love our VW for that...but everything else is kinda annoying. It certainly is charming....but spending hours behind the wheel that charm wears off for me. Thank goodness we have two other vehicles for long distance traveling...a Tacoma and a Trooper.

The power of my friends fullsize with a diesel...yee-haw! And it still has that spin the seat around, eat lunch, and fold down the seat into a bed convenience...and cost the same as what VW Syncros are going for....just a more comfortable, more capable vehicle, better fuel economy...he can pull 18-22 mpgs out of it, plus has the room for a veggie tank if you want to run it on veg oil/bio-diesel. So it isn't as charming like a VW, function trumps form in my book...

It laughs at mountain passes...

Now only if Jeep would build this with a Westy camper conversion...seems like best of all the Worlds...of course probably couldn't
go anywhere without attracting loads of attention.