rubicon91
Explorer
Sweet I will let you know and much appreciated. I may just take you up on your offer next time I am up there.
Ursa Minor Pop-Top Jeep JK
- Thread starter cobblecrazy
- Start date
Sweet I will let you know and much appreciated. I may just take you up on your offer next time I am up there.
Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
Great information!, and awesome pictures. :clapsmile
Sure.
I used the bracket from ADventure Trailers
http://store.adventuretrailers.com/products/10-lb.-Propane-Cylinder-Bracket.html
and bolted it to the HiLift with some SS Bolts/Nuts/Washers.
Nothing Fancy.
I used the bracket from ADventure Trailers
http://store.adventuretrailers.com/products/10-lb.-Propane-Cylinder-Bracket.html
and bolted it to the HiLift with some SS Bolts/Nuts/Washers.
Nothing Fancy.
Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
More great pictures!
There are more awesome shots and info in this one thread, than there is on the whole Ursa Minor website. :bowdown:
If they aren't already a sponsor of this site, they should become one, and just point customers to this thread.
There are more awesome shots and info in this one thread, than there is on the whole Ursa Minor website. :bowdown:
If they aren't already a sponsor of this site, they should become one, and just point customers to this thread.
The closest experience I've had to our first night in the J30 while tent camping would have been at the top of Schnebly Hill in Sedona, AZ. That night the wind picked up and we spent the whole night with the tent bowing down to our faces. With the J30, the wind hasn't affected the top one bit. Once the support bar is down, I think the only thing that could cause serious worry would be falling debris. The tent sides will flap a little in a really strong wind, but once asleep it never woke us up. In my experience, there is no comparison between the J30 and tent camping while in nasty weather. Sleeping in the J30 is much more similar to sleeping in a vehicle than sleeping in a tent. We woke up to multiple lightning strikes within a half mile of us and felt safe, secure and snug in our little hideout. We spent the entire morning watching the nasty weather unfold around us and never did I feel even the least bit uncomfortable.
Now the downside to the J30, as I see it, is that in bad weather you are stuck in your "pod". With 2 adults, there is plenty of room to lie down and sleep. Or lie down and hang out. However, there is not enough room to do much of anything else. So when the weather is bad, you're just kinda stuck. We used to camp in a 6 or 8 man tent and set up a queen sized air mattress. There was plenty of room inside the tent to sit up and play cards or a board game or whatever. There just isn't that kind of room in a J30. Not that there should be. The J30 is very functional and practical as a sleeping space.
I also forgot to mention that my wife was 25 weeks pregnant during this 5 night trip. She did amazing! However, we both agreed that the cushions in the J30 just weren't going to cut it. So after 2 nights in the backcountry we picked up an overpriced self inflating mattress pad for her side from the North Rim general store. This made a huge difference in her comfort.
I know that people have talked a little about how they set up their sleeping spaces, so I figured I would chime in as well. We have two synthetic mummy bags that can zip together, but once we got the top we decided that we would much prefer 2 simple old fashioned flannel sleeping bags. We picked up two for our trip at Big 5 for $60 and they are extremely comfortable. We also brought a queen sized plush blanket and ALL the pillows. Seriously, I think she had 6 (including a full body pillow) and I had 2! With all this stuff "upstairs" there is no way for the top to close so my wife brought 3 white rectangular stuff bags she bought at IKEA. Getting everything set up or taken down takes about 10 to 15 minutes. The trickiest part of the J30 is trying to figure out a system for getting stuff and people up and down. I can see where the extendable ladder would help tremendously.
We absolutely love the top and love being able to hop in the Jeep, drive 20 minutes out of town to the top of a local mountain, pop up the top and sit up there eating ice cream while watching the city lights and planes landing. Last week we took it to our first drive-in movie and had a blast. By opening up the rear glass, we were able to make a nice picnic table for our snacks.
Something else I wanted to point out. As the weather gets hotter here in the desert, we have been looking at ways to stay cool in our J30. I picked up a mini 12v swamp cooler from MightyKool and have to say it works surprisingly well. When we took the J30 to the drive in, we set up the MW2 at our feet by the front mesh screen. The air coming out of the unit is about 20 degrees below ambient so while it was 90 outside (and upstairs) the air blowing out of the unit was about 70. Not too bad for a 2A draw!
We have thought about trying to "pipe in" air from the A/C vents below using hoses. For now, this unit is working pretty well.
We have thought about trying to "pipe in" air from the A/C vents below using hoses. For now, this unit is working pretty well.
cybercat
Adventurer
This is a DIY version.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHbQYajfGqM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHbQYajfGqM
brianjwilson
Some sort of lost...
Comanche Scott
Expedition Leader
Looks like a slice of heaven.
:beer:
You guys are killing me with all the great shots and reports of fun
But don't stop! It's great motivation. :drool:
:beer:
You guys are killing me with all the great shots and reports of fun
But don't stop! It's great motivation. :drool:
Now that is awesome! Wish I'd seen that before dropping the cash on the MightyKool!
eternus
Observer
First time posting after a good healthy lurking period but just wanted to say that this thread has either ruined me or saved me, but it has definitely had a profound impact.
My kids have just gotten to an age where going camping with them has the capacity to be fun, ie. they can walk for themselves, be curious about the things around us, listen to "STOP" when they're headed for danger. To that end we took our inaugural camping trip late last summer which was beautiful, until midnight when the heavens opened up. My daughter (9) quickly decided she likes some sort of walled protection to keep the lightning and mountain lions away. We promptly bought a 12' popup camper, intending to pull it behind my wife's Outback. Then, in October I decided it'd be nice to have a truck that could haul us all comfortably and pull the camper and bought a high mile, 2009 Tacoma Double Cab. Fast forward to spring and the new camping season, my truck isn't quite big enough for a 4 person camper and nobody wants to sleep in the popup trailer (nor do we really want to pull it.) Back to the drawing board. I was looking into modifications I could do for my Tacoma to at least fit 2 people in it while my son and myself rough it in a tent. At the same time I started feeling the itch for a Jeep again (I had an old CJ7 when I was younger.) I peeked into this Jeep sub-forum and came across this camper and as someone mentioned earlier in this thread, I came across what I would classify as perfect.
Thanks a ton both cobblecrazy and brianjwilson for sharing so many pictures and everyone for so much insight. I'm now trying to sell off my Tacoma and talking regularly with a local Jeep salesman. I'm now trying to reconcile my wasted tag/title/tax spent on the truck which I'm either trying to sell or trade-in as well as justify having a car payment again to pick up a new JKU, then I need to drive all the way to CA and shell out some extra cash for a J30. Unfortunately, unless I'm patient for at least a year, I'm going to take a bath on my truck. I'm not sure if I'm that patient or not.
I have a couple of questions for J30 owners; the Ursa Minor site suggests it can easily be removed with a couple of people if I feel like going naked but I'm curious how feasible that is. Do I need to just expect that I won't really ever take this top off and enjoy one of the beauties of owning a Wrangler? Do you take yours off often or at all?
Also, if I were to pack clever enough, would it be possible to have a downstairs bedroom easily beneath the upstairs? Has anyone tried to stay self contained with 4 people in a JKU+J30? Longer term I'll be looking for an off-road teardrop but in the interim, could I drive up into the mountains with my wife and 2 kids and realistically expect to not set up a tent?
Thanks!
My kids have just gotten to an age where going camping with them has the capacity to be fun, ie. they can walk for themselves, be curious about the things around us, listen to "STOP" when they're headed for danger. To that end we took our inaugural camping trip late last summer which was beautiful, until midnight when the heavens opened up. My daughter (9) quickly decided she likes some sort of walled protection to keep the lightning and mountain lions away. We promptly bought a 12' popup camper, intending to pull it behind my wife's Outback. Then, in October I decided it'd be nice to have a truck that could haul us all comfortably and pull the camper and bought a high mile, 2009 Tacoma Double Cab. Fast forward to spring and the new camping season, my truck isn't quite big enough for a 4 person camper and nobody wants to sleep in the popup trailer (nor do we really want to pull it.) Back to the drawing board. I was looking into modifications I could do for my Tacoma to at least fit 2 people in it while my son and myself rough it in a tent. At the same time I started feeling the itch for a Jeep again (I had an old CJ7 when I was younger.) I peeked into this Jeep sub-forum and came across this camper and as someone mentioned earlier in this thread, I came across what I would classify as perfect.
Thanks a ton both cobblecrazy and brianjwilson for sharing so many pictures and everyone for so much insight. I'm now trying to sell off my Tacoma and talking regularly with a local Jeep salesman. I'm now trying to reconcile my wasted tag/title/tax spent on the truck which I'm either trying to sell or trade-in as well as justify having a car payment again to pick up a new JKU, then I need to drive all the way to CA and shell out some extra cash for a J30. Unfortunately, unless I'm patient for at least a year, I'm going to take a bath on my truck. I'm not sure if I'm that patient or not.
I have a couple of questions for J30 owners; the Ursa Minor site suggests it can easily be removed with a couple of people if I feel like going naked but I'm curious how feasible that is. Do I need to just expect that I won't really ever take this top off and enjoy one of the beauties of owning a Wrangler? Do you take yours off often or at all?
Also, if I were to pack clever enough, would it be possible to have a downstairs bedroom easily beneath the upstairs? Has anyone tried to stay self contained with 4 people in a JKU+J30? Longer term I'll be looking for an off-road teardrop but in the interim, could I drive up into the mountains with my wife and 2 kids and realistically expect to not set up a tent?
Thanks!
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