It would be a shame not to make use of the Gladiator's essential benefit of taking the top off...and minimizing the total height of the vehicle, by adding 4-6" of height and flipping forward where it takes up useless space (over the hood), and a nice ladder access from the bumper or from the inside the rear seats (I'd prefer from the bumper so the sleeping platform is fixed and light). Then you benefit from the second feature of the Gladiator: the bed...canopy, dirt bikes, nothing...etc...versatility.
Ursa Minor Camper Shell for JT Gladiator
- Thread starter Beowulf
- Start date
I agree I think this would be a game changer rather being similar to what is already out there.
mk216v
Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
I spoke to John at UM ~2wks ago (very nice guy!) about this. He said they're primary focus is JL's at the moment, so JT tops (sounded like he's still planning on a J30-style but just extended length "bottom section which includes the rear side windows" since the JT has the 5' bed) are at least a year out.
mk216v
Der Chef der Fahrzeuge
Looks like an early Habitat, which would be cool as you could then get up into the tent from either the truck bed or the front (or the side)...and yes, still have gear/etc in the truck bed.
Although your drawing also looks like an Eezi-Awn soft side tent. Why couldn't you just go with a regular RTT over the cab, then either have a bed rack with gear underneath/over the top, a second RTT on the bed rack, etc? RTT setup would be lots less $, you could access it from the front, side, rear.
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mk216v I agree, that would be really neat to have a J30 design where you could get into the top through either the front or the truck bed!
To me a Gladiator style J30 would look something like the below sketch. Ursa Minor would design their own cab like they do on the Wranglers as well as a "topper" piece to cover the bed. The purple ovals would be the removable mattress boards that we're used to with Ursa Minor's designs. The red squiggles at the interface between the cab and the topper would be a flex accordion boot to allow the cab-over portion to move around a tad when the frame flexes but still keep the weather out. To me, this would keep with the traditional J30 design but give a much bigger bed upstairs and also a lot more room to move around while standing up when the boards are removed from the area over the pickup bed.
The Artisan
Adventurer
The trickY part is how the the cab and bed would be divided. If it was one large open area I wouldn’t think the stock AC and heater could manage all that space. Not to mention there would have to be some way to seal the gap between the bed and cab. It would be nice as you could potentially fit 2 adults and two kids or even make a bunk bed in the bed below.
If I had any say in things*, I too would prefer something where part of the 'camper' took advantage of the space over the cab. However I wonder if it's a flex issue? Doesn't the bed of the Gladiator flex differently then the cab at times?
* As much as I dream of owning a Gladiator and some type of camper for it... my willingness to fork out 60k+ isn't all that high right now. Maybe in 5+ years if/when the prices come down enough to get me to consider it.
Agreed. For lack of a better description, make it like a cutaway van chassis. Take off the factory hard top and build a top that incorporates coverage of the truck bed and the standard interior. Maybe even toss the standard truck bed, a la the AEV Outpost 2.
2Jeeps&PatriotX1
Active member
I hadn’t heard of Ursa Minor until the Bronco guys stated that Ford would be offering them through their dealerships with the new Broncos. I wont be getting a rtt for the bronco, but was considering one if I picked up a gladiator.