2-Door JK JeepKitchen - AT Chaser - Globetrotter - National Luna build thread

[jacobconroy]

Curious as to your GVW, locked and loaded for a trip?

Loaded to go today, Total vehicle weight is 5460. Is that bad? Curb weight is listed on Google as 3976. So, 1500 lbs. of crap? That seems like a lot. This wasn't a certified scale or anything...just the free one at the concrete place.

I can sure tell she is heavy but I don't drive faster than 60 MPH.

 

[jacobconroy]

I'm leaving for the first camping trip of year today, so I washed all the bedding in the tent. Took the opportunity to make some changes to the mattress that I'd been planning for a while.

I sleep on my stomach and have to lay in the Baroud diagonally to fit comfortably. Since my toes usually hang over the end of our bed the RTT hurts my ankles. No where for toes. I cut a corner out of each side where my toes might lie.





And something else I've been meaning to do forever. There is no place to put my water at night and the bottle is always lost. So I made a cup holder.






Can't even tell where the "footy corners" were cut out.


And here is where the ducting will be stored for the Propex.


Oh, trying to put the Baroud mattress cover on is the toughest, cursingest, crappiest, miserablest thing you will ever do in your lifetime. I've done it once before. Today I threw the damned thing out (not really, I boxed it up in case I ever sell the tent). The bed sheet is much easier to remove and install...which will make cleaning it happen more often. Also, I'm pretty sure that the chemical, plasticy smell that Barouds are famous for is coming from that mattress cover. Time will tell.

 

[Jurfie]

5460 without occupants? GVW is a little over 4800 lbs stock, so yeah you're a bit over that. Add a couple of people (say 350 lbs?) and you're 1000 lbs over. I'd suspect that as long as you aren't driving like an ********, impeding traffic or otherwise drawing attention to yourself, it won't be an issue (other than wear and tear on the suspension).

 

[jacobconroy]

And another little thing. I'm afraid that when I close the RTT the scissor arm might crush the Propex thermostat. I rigged up some shock cord to pull it out of the way.





k.

Worked like a charm. I think. If the thermostat is crushed when I get to camp tonight I guess I'll just freeze to death.

 

[jacobconroy]

5460 without occupants? GVW is a little over 4800 lbs stock, so yeah you're a bit over that. Add a couple of people (say 350 lbs?) and you're 1000 lbs over. I'd suspect that as long as you aren't driving like an ********, impeding traffic or otherwise drawing attention to yourself, it won't be an issue (other than wear and tear on the suspension).

Good point. I was in the car...so there is 250. And I never have anyone else in this rig. When the wife goes camping she follows in her own car (because I won't let her ride in the Jeep with me when I'm towing her camper).

It sounds like 660 pounds heavy. That isn't as bad as I though. There are a few more things that will be added too, but it's very nearly done.

Edit...I don't think that suspension mods will benefit GVW...but I do have a heavy rear sway bar, air bags, and an AEV lift (they were all necessary to keep it drive-able). Next time I do the lift I will get something specific to "overlander" loads. I hear AEV is working on one.

 

[Jurfie]

Good point. I was in the car...so there is 250. And I never have anyone else in this rig. When the wife goes camping she follows in her own car (because I won't let her ride in the Jeep with me when I'm towing her camper).

It sounds like 660 pounds heavy. That isn't as bad as I though. There are a few more things that will be added too, but it's very nearly done.

Does that weight include the trailer? Because that comes into play as well; I was looking for the GCWR for a 1st gen JK (not sure what year yours is, but from one of the pics it looks like a <2012 with the 3.8L), but couldn't find it. For a >2012 2-door JK, the GCWR is 6029 lbs (GVW is 4900 lbs). That leaves 1129 lbs for towing a loaded trailer. Assuming the numbers are the same for the 1st gen (though it is not), you've only got capacity to tow a 569 lb trailer. Point is, your towing capacity is reduced by the amount you exceed the GVW.

Mind you, there are many who believe the GVW is grossly underrated and more of a suggestion anyways. Look at some of those steel bumpered and armoured rock crawler JKs on 37s or 40s (which alone can weigh can over 100 lbs each). It doesn't take much to go over GVW.

With all that weight up top, you may catch some cop's eye and get pulled over. Hopefully showing him/her that the roof rack is attached to the roll bar would assuage any concern and they let you go on your way. I think as long as you understand that your powertrain, suspension and tires are going to be under more stress (and wear out faster), you'll likely be fine (YMMV, don't sue me if I'm wrong!).

 

[jacobconroy]

I went out on Thursday night this week and it was fun, but there were a lot of new peeps at the Easter campout and I'm not really a "new peeps" type of guy...so I came home on Friday.

The Propex worked great. My CM detector went crazy reporting 60 ppm and woke me up at 9AM though. Oddly enough I had switched it over to fan mode a few hours earlier...so I think my CM detector might need to be sent in for servicing (the instructions say that this should be done each year). Maybe the camp fire was blowing into my tent. Don't know. In any case, the Propex hadn't been burning propane fore quite some time when the detector decided to crap its' digital pants.

As to the build, I had an epiphany during the camping trip. I sleep with a down ultra-light backpacking quilt and won't leave it in the RTT because I'm afraid that condensation and the heat from the sun might ruin it over time. This means that I'm always packing it around in the Jeep and it's only a matter of time until I snag it and maybe ruin it. So, I'm going to buy a ceiling-mount cargo net to store it in the cab of the Jeep. This would also give me convenient access to the quilt, dog jackets, my jackets, gloves, cold weather gear, etc. and remove the problem of cramming jackets in a backpack.

And, to the backpack...don't like it too much. Not nearly as convenient as I'd hoped. Might invest in one of those "back of the seat" molly contraptions for storing first aid, small sundries, and fire making gear (to replace my missing drawer system).

But, I am still glad that I didn't put the drawer system back in. It seems like there is much more space without the drawers and using the gear is more enjoyable (meaning less irritating). The fridge is much faster and easier to access without the fridge slide. When the Kanz Kitchen is set up there is much more empty space in the back of the Jeep to work too.

 

[MattJ]

1) In case you're interested, there was a pretty good discussion a while back about GVW here: Is My Jeep Too Heavy? An AEV rep got involved in the conversation, too.

2) The CM detector alarm is surprising. I wouldn't think it could be from the Propex since the combustion is happening outside the tent and you've got the exhaust vented away. But certainly no fun to wake up to that type of alarm clock!

 

[jacobconroy]

1) In case you're interested, there was a pretty good discussion a while back about GVW here: Is My Jeep Too Heavy? An AEV rep got involved in the conversation, too.

2) The CM detector alarm is surprising. I wouldn't think it could be from the Propex since the combustion is happening outside the tent and you've got the exhaust vented away. But certainly no fun to wake up to that type of alarm clock!

I've been following that thread. Lotsa good info. As for the CM detector, they want $50.00 plus shipping to calibrate it every 6 months. I haven't had it calibrated for two years. ? Last night I ordered a $13.00 CM detector with PPM readout and will test again with that. Could be that my detector is pooched.

 

[FreemansXJ]

Great write up, got a quick question though. I have a 2015 2-door that I am thinking about going with the Gobi rack and a RTT, my concern is the weight up high. I will be using it on camping and overlanding trips to Colorado, so there will be some off camber trails. How much of a difference off road did the rack and tent weight make?
Thanks,
John

 

[jacobconroy]

Great write up, got a quick question though. I have a 2015 2-door that I am thinking about going with the Gobi rack and a RTT, my concern is the weight up high. I will be using it on camping and overlanding trips to Colorado, so there will be some off camber trails. How much of a difference off road did the rack and tent weight make?
Thanks,
John

Well, it's going to make a pretty big difference but I have a LOT of crap bolted to my rack... at least 400 lbs. on my roof and wouldn't try to do anything more off-camber than the last 100 feet of a Forest Service road (to reach a camp site). If you are going to wheel your Jeep I'd recommend the absolute lightest RTT and mounting system that you can get. Autohome makes at least two different carbon fiber hard shell tents that are under 100 lbs., but you will pay through the nose for either of them. Baroud makes a little folding tent (not hard shell) and I think it's under 100 lbs. too. There may be others.

A traditional roof rack for a JK is going to weigh at least 100 lbs. (I think). If you don't need to mount an awning you would do well to find some sort of small and light (through-the-fiberglass) type of load bar system for your tent.

In short, if you spend big $s for a very light tent and load bar system, you'd probably end up with 150 lbs. on the roof total. Bet you would barely notice it's there.

I don't really "overland" though. Just a car-camper. There are probably a lot of JK folks with RTTs in the Jeep forum here that could provide better feedback about off-camber situations.

 

[jacobconroy]

Easter!



It's a little setup compared to most camping rigs...but it's comfy!

Finally got around to baking something with the Coleman oven and Partner Stove. It worked very well and I'm going to be doing a lot more baking at camp.

 

[MattJ]

Finally got around to baking something with the Coleman oven and Partner Stove. It worked very well and I'm going to be doing a lot more baking at camp.

Just bought one after reading this post. At $30, it will be my cheapest I-wonder-if-I-could tinkering project in a long time! Here's my idea: do you think there is a way I could rig it to work with the Coleman single burner that hangs under my skottle? I own nearly every camp cooking gadget ever invented, but the skottle is the one I use the most. I'll report back on whether I figure out how to use the skottle burner in the Coleman oven.

 

[jacobconroy]

Just bought one after reading this post. At $30, it will be my cheapest I-wonder-if-I-could tinkering project in a long time! Here's my idea: do you think there is a way I could rig it to work with the Coleman single burner that hangs under my skottle? I own nearly every camp cooking gadget ever invented, but the skottle is the one I use the most. I'll report back on whether I figure out how to use the skottle burner in the Coleman oven.

Cool. We will have to figure out a way to put a real, accurate temp readout on them. Let me know how you like the new one. Mine is 20 or 30 years old. I wonder if the new ones are built the same? It would be nice to have a silver one that matches my chuck box (I'm anal like that).

 

[MattJ]

I've got a hi-temp thermometer probe system that I use with my BBQ smoker unit. I'm thinking I can use it to test the stability and consistency of the heat distribution in the Coleman oven.