Ursa Minor Pop-Top Jeep JK

[shays4me]

I placed my order a few weeks ago and I've gotten... absolutely nothing. Other than the 10% being charged to me, of course. I even reached out via email about next steps in the process and I'm still awaiting a reply. Kinda frustrating, just give me something.

Mine took four months. I know its nerve racking but I did eventually get a call and went to Portland for my installation. It wasn't until I sat in the Portland waiting room that I finally realized how busy John really is. He was installing my top while being constantly bombarded by phone calls on a headset. The level of multitasking was amazing. Here's a pic of my top being installed so you'll have something to look at while you wait. Don't worry too much, I know it's a lot of money out but they're just totally swamped by demand. We absolutely love our top and think it's the best Jeep accessory we ever bought! Be patient, it will be great.

 

[ventura911]

I dont have solar on top but. Can you slide the solar back a little. Order some 80/20 from tnutz.com (way cheaper than 8020.net) mount one bar in the rails your solar is in and the other bar in the Yakima mount.

The solar panel and mounts are back about as far back as they can go. After seeing other posts earlier where they’ve installed longer tracks, I’m thinking the cleanest way to go will be to either add another set of 42” tracks in front of the existing ones or replacing the existing ones with 60” tracks.

 

[RastaPasta]

Mine took four months. I know its nerve racking but I did eventually get a call and went to Portland for my installation. It wasn't until I sat in the Portland waiting room that I finally realized how busy John really is. He was installing my top while being constantly bombarded by phone calls on a headset. The level of multitasking was amazing. Here's a pic of my top being installed so you'll have something to look at while you wait. Don't worry too much, I know it's a lot of money out but they're just totally swamped by demand. We absolutely love our top and think it's the best Jeep accessory we ever bought! Be patient, it will be great.

I know it'll be worth it once it's on there, but I have the patience of a tired, hungry 6 year old haha. I'm trying!

 

[Scrib]

The man, the myth, the legend putting the finishing touches on #454

 

[Jbrazeal]

I placed my order a few weeks ago and I've gotten... absolutely nothing. Other than the 10% being charged to me, of course. I even reached out via email about next steps in the process and I'm still awaiting a reply. Kinda frustrating, just give me something.

I ordered mine in August 2020. Emailed John is the beginning and got the order set up. Didn’t hear anything for a few month. I would reach out occasionally and not get a response by email so I’d try again. Within a couple weeks John would respond. Mine is set to be picked up Feb. 19th, 2021. Very long wait but I think it will really be worth it.

 

[riverjon]

We wanted to do some winter camping so I got one of those Chinese diesel heaters and made a quick & dirty box so we could take it out for a test. I had about a half gallon of fuel in the tank and that lasted a full 16 hours before running out. Temp only got down to around 30 so it wasn't a really cold night. We had it on the lowest setting and the camper stayed in the 60's all night. I scrunched up the heat duct to shorten it from what is in the photos and need to do some work on that. Overall a very successful test so now I can finish the job and make it look pretty. For just a bit over $100 it works great.

View attachment 637664

Nice set up! I had been thinking about heat in the top this winter and saw those heaters, glad to hear it works well. I came up with a solution using one of the vents on the dash. Of course it requires the jeep to be idling, but both of us can be up there with both hatch sections in place getting heat.

Basically it is a wet/dry vac hose that fits snugly into the ductwork inside the vent and secures just by pushing. Then it leads up into a flange I found in the home depot plumbing section. Goes in and out very quickly. The last photo is where I store the hose above the back passenger roll bar.

Up top it uses another Jeep vent attached to the flange and runs through the cushion so it flows right in. Hard to describe, I do not have any pictures of the vent up top but Ill take some and post if interested.

See below for the pics...we definitely did some chilly camping this year and it was awesome, also easy to find a campsite. Keep warm and enjoy.

 

[rustypayne]

I thought about something like that but couldn’t decide how to get a duct up top Nice solution.

 

[Presto88]

That vent hose is a great solution!

I'm always solo when camping, so if it's cold I'll leave one of the hatches out and the heater turned on high. Then if I get too cold in the middle of the night, I just hit the remote start and go back to sleep. The Jeep only runs for about 15 minutes before shutting itself down. 15 minutes is long enough to warm the whole place up, especially up high where I'm sleeping.

I really do like that idea of ducting the heat straight up there though. Gotta give that some thought.

 

[riverjon]

Thanks! Opening the hatch works great and I love the fact that the Ursa Minor can be warmed up easily. With two of us camping most of the time, taking out one hatch only works if we are both not up there (or if I sit down in the Jeep for a bit while it warms up).

I first tried a flexible metal duct but it became way too hot and did not fit tight into the vent. The plastic hose gets warm as well but not to the point where we have been concerned yet. Of course using a hole saw to cut through the roof was a commitment unto itself.

My goal was to set up the duct before going to sleep, then hit the remote from up top to stop and start as needed. The area I am getting stuck is that the remote turns on the window defrost not the main vents, I am investigating if there is a way to set that differently - ideas welcome. In the meantime I just go down, start it and let it heat up as long as we need.

The other issue was that the horn would beep twice when starting, so if it is in the middle of the night it is loud. For that I disabled (both) of the horns to avoid this issue. One was more difficult to remove, the other was easy so I just plug/unplug it when needed.

I'll post the "upstairs pictures" this weekend and if anyone is interested in which parts I used happy to share. All from the Home Depot!

 

[JDaPP]

There is a setting in the menu for horn and lights with starting I am pretty sure. I have a 2012 with remote start and it definitely does not honk when I start it, I played with all the settings when I bought it so I don't remember how I did it but it can be done.

 

[pith helmet]

There is a setting in the menu for horn and lights with starting I am pretty sure. I have a 2012 with remote start and it definitely does not honk when I start it, I played with all the settings when I bought it so I don't remember how I did it but it can be done.

Not to take this further off your UM topic (I love the UM but don’t have one), but I am very interested in disabling the horn while locking. I have a Sport and don’t have remote start but I hate the horn beep when you lock it, when camping especially.

 

[JDaPP]

Found this on the wrangler forum. According to the forum it is listed in the owners manual between pg 20 - 25 depending on year. Mine was through the EVIC so was pretty easy.

Sound Horn On Lock
This feature will cause the horn to chirp when the doors
are locked with the RKE transmitter. This feature can be
turned on or turned off. To change the current setting,
proceed as follows:
• For vehicles equipped with the EVIC, refer to “Electronic
Vehicle Information Center (EVIC)/Personal Settings
(Customer-Programmable Features)” in “Understanding
Your Instrument Panel” for further information.
• For vehicles not equipped with the EVIC, perform the
following steps:
1. Push the RKE transmitter LOCK button for 4 to 10
seconds.
2. While the LOCK button is pushed (after four seconds),
push the RKE transmitter PANIC button. Release both
buttons.
The “Sound Horn On Lock” feature can be reactivated by
repeating this procedure.

 

[pith helmet]

Found this on the wrangler forum. According to the forum it is listed in the owners manual between pg 20 - 25 depending on year. Mine was through the EVIC so was pretty easy.

Sound Horn On Lock
This feature will cause the horn to chirp when the doors
are locked with the RKE transmitter. This feature can be
turned on or turned off. To change the current setting,
proceed as follows:
• For vehicles equipped with the EVIC, refer to “Electronic
Vehicle Information Center (EVIC)/Personal Settings
(Customer-Programmable Features)” in “Understanding
Your Instrument Panel” for further information.
• For vehicles not equipped with the EVIC, perform the
following steps:
1. Push the RKE transmitter LOCK button for 4 to 10
seconds.
2. While the LOCK button is pushed (after four seconds),
push the RKE transmitter PANIC button. Release both
buttons.
The “Sound Horn On Lock” feature can be reactivated by
repeating this procedure.

Many thanks! That‘s not in my manual. It did the trick, though.

 

[riverjon]

Nice thanks for the info on the horn, I'll give it a try!

 

[riverjon]

Here is the vent coming into the sleeping area...