Ursa Minor Pop-Top Jeep JK

[that_dude]

Ended up calling and chatting with John twice - once yesterday and once today.... and my order is in!!!!!!!!! Sad thing is that we have a trip at the end of April but I'm hoping that we can get it for the Thanksgiving holiday!

No doubt you got your answer after speaking with John and placing an order, but I thought I’d add for the good of the thread—with regard to the rack rails—that I recently placed an order too and had questions about the adjustable rails as well and John said they are making a running change from using 40” rails toward the rear and fixed feet toward the front to 60” rails. He said they’d be using 60” rails by the time they get to my order, which is what I wanted.

 

[Jbrazeal]

The J30 came with the Thule rail option and I mounted the solar panel with brackets from DIYvan.com (http://m.ebay.com/itm/131702371613?_mwBanner=1). Note: You’ll want to measure between the two tracks and know the dimensions of your solar panel. You’ll give the measurements to Hein, the owner, so he can make the short block pieces the right length to match up with your solar panel.View attachment 651527
The wiring runs through a hole at the right-rear corner of the top, then joins the wiring pocket in the tent before going to a solar controller inside the cargo area. UMV ran the wiring when they installed the top, so I’d defer to them for other questions on how they prefer to wire for solar.
View attachment 651568
View attachment 651528I recently replaced the rails with longer ones and had them installed at Rack Attack in Santa Monica (https://www.rackattack.com/), where they were able to re-use the existing holes and carefully continue along top of the camper hinges.

I just received some additional brackets and 80/20 bars and will be putting together a mount for the Maxtrax soon.

Thats Brilliant!! Thank you so much for sharing. You stated how you routed the wires through the camper. Can you post one more close up of that? Much appreciated!!

 

[Jbrazeal]

Alright, here is my Jeep sitting in my driveway. I'll post some better pics next week when I head to Vermont to camp. I absolutely love the camper. John is an artist and everything is top shelf. Its pretty straight forward as far as everything goes. The box on the rear is a diesel heater I put together (I included a couple pics). With my wife and I sharing the sleep space, I decided to go with a telescoping ladder to get in and out of the top. Right now it is not mounted to anything and seems to work fine, but time will tell.

Here is a YouTube video of me setting up the camper and ladder. The ladder from Amazon is the Luis Ladders 6.6 ft, 330 pound capacity.

 

[wandererr]

For those looking to order now.... You're looking to have it probably Octoberish

Counting down seconds till the unknown yet install date

 

[wandererr]

So that I don't bother John and pull him away from building the tops - the rear awning option: ARB1250 is that the 4' wide one???

Thinking about picking that up now so that I can use it on my trailer over the summer and then later swap it between the trailer and the UM top as needed.

 

[ventura911]

So that I don't bother John and pull him away from building the tops - the rear awning option: ARB1250 is that the 4' wide one???

Thinking about picking that up now so that I can use it on my trailer over the summer and then later swap it between the trailer and the UM top as needed.

Yep, that’s the one.

 

[ventura911]

Thats Brilliant!! Thank you so much for sharing. You stated how you routed the wires through the camper. Can you post one more close up of that? Much appreciated!!

Just took off the solar panel to powder coat the brackets, repaint the sides of the panel, and clean this area up a bit.

 

[Dan Grec]

So that I don't bother John and pull him away from building the tops - the rear awning option: ARB1250 is that the 4' wide one???

Thinking about picking that up now so that I can use it on my trailer over the summer and then later swap it between the trailer and the UM top as needed.

I have the ARB 1250 on the back of mine - it's been there for 4+ years now.
To be honest, it's not great. It's just so narrow that if the rain is coming in even a little bit sideways you only get about a 1 foot strip in the middle that is actually rain free. With side walls it would be better, but actually on my next vehicle build I'm going for a side-mounted batwing.
The "covered" area provided by the 1250 is just too small to be useful for me.

-Dan

 

[ventura911]

I have the ARB 1250 on the back of mine - it's been there for 4+ years now.
To be honest, it's not great. It's just so narrow that if the rain is coming in even a little bit sideways you only get about a 1 foot strip in the middle that is actually rain free. With side walls it would be better, but actually on my next vehicle build I'm going for a side-mounted batwing.
The "covered" area provided by the 1250 is just too small to be useful for me.

-Dan

Justin (a.k.a. Gear) was a big influence when it came to getting rid of my bulky Scipio awning and replacing it with Force Protector Gear tarps for better versatility and small storage form.

 

[wandererr]

I have the ARB 1250 on the back of mine - it's been there for 4+ years now.
To be honest, it's not great. It's just so narrow that if the rain is coming in even a little bit sideways you only get about a 1 foot strip in the middle that is actually rain free. With side walls it would be better, but actually on my next vehicle build I'm going for a side-mounted batwing.
The "covered" area provided by the 1250 is just too small to be useful for me.

-Dan

Thanks! That's good to know. My use would probably be more for sun protection then rain - I'm in SoCal and I plan most of my trips around the weather though occasional drizzle is sometimes unavoidable.

On the back of the trailer I could mount something up to 6 feet wide but on the back of jeep it seems I do have to keep it at 4' in order not to stick out to the sides.

 

[Dan Grec]

Thanks! That's good to know. My use would probably be more for sun protection then rain - I'm in SoCal and I plan most of my trips around the weather though occasional drizzle is sometimes unavoidable.

On the back of the trailer I could mount something up to 6 feet wide but on the back of jeep it seems I do have to keep it at 4' in order not to stick out to the sides.

I mostly used mine for the sun in Africa, and to be honest it really only works when you drape a towel or something else over the side to try and increase the shade area....

-Dan

 

[Jbrazeal]

View attachment 652557
View attachment 652558
Just took off the solar panel to powder coat the brackets, repaint the sides of the panel, and clean this area up a bit.

Thank you again. I'm going to install exactly what you have, so thank you so much for sharing. I love the clean look you have. Last couple questions, where did you find that part (What is it called) and what are the dimensions of your solar panel?

 

[ventura911]

Ursa Minor installed the solar cable pass-through piece when I bought it, so I’d suggest checking with John or Kris for specific info; they might have started using something different, as well.

The Renogy 150W panel is 39.5” x 39” x 1.4”.

 

[that_dude]

Thank you again. I'm going to install exactly what you have, so thank you so much for sharing. I love the clean look you have. Last couple questions, where did you find that part (What is it called) and what are the dimensions of your solar panel? I've always had solar on my RVs but usually there is already a hookup on the roof or I run wire down the fridge vent. I really hate to drill into my new Ursa Minor, but I feel the solar is a necessity with the fridge running 24/7 even with the duel battery setup.

You want a CableClam for a waterproof pass through.

Cable Clams - Blue Sea Systems

Engineering high quality marine electrical components for safety, reliability and performance

www.bluesea.com

 

[wandererr]

Rear springs question: I got the tallest Rubicon stock springs (I forget which part number they were) and a 1.5" poly spacer which gives me probably

I know it's hard to guess aheaf of time BUT I'm willing to risk it with some input from folks who upgraded their springs.

I'm looking for a bit stiffer ride that won't drop down too much when I have two more people in the back and a trailer on (currently I lose about 1.5" or maybe even more when I have 4 adults and a trailer).