Ursa Minor Pop-Top Jeep JK

[Presto88]

It is called perimeter paint so the very top is original white

That's great! The Jeep is obviously plenty tall, so any normal sized person won't ever see the white, unless you are camping. Well, unless UrsaMinor employs only freakishly short people. ;-)

Still, I wonder how much of a difference in temperature you would find between painting the center of the top white vs painting the center of it red? Intuitively, you would think that it might be significant. I'm thinking that you made the right choice.

I just can't get over how great your Jeep looks! Congratulations! I hope you enjoy the ride home more than the ride out!

 

[Espo78]

No matter the color of the vehicle, the interior temperature will always be the same. The difference is the time it takes to reach that temperature.

A black car and a white car parked in the sun will still reach the same high temp, but the black car will reach it quicker.

I love that awning setup BTW! I think an Ursa Minor Jeep would be PERFECT for football tailgating!

 

[Presto88]

No matter the color of the vehicle, the interior temperature will always be the same. The difference is the time it takes to reach that temperature.

A black car and a white car parked in the sun will still reach the same high temp, but the black car will reach it quicker.

I love that awning setup BTW! I think an Ursa Minor Jeep would be PERFECT for football tailgating!

I know where you're going with that, but I think that in this instance there would be a significant difference in interior temperature between black and white tops because the top of a J30 isn't like a car. There's no glass (which IICR is the path for most of the interior heat in a car) and on a hot day there is likely a reasonable amount of cooling air passing through to dissipate the heat - because you'll likely have the vents open. Also, from what I've seen, there isn't any insulation on the interior of the top, so the inside surface temperature should be close to the outside surface temperature. So, that black top could end up (I'm just spit-balling here) 30 or 40 degrees hotter than a white top and would radiate that heat down onto you inside. I'm pretty sure that in direct sunlight the inside of the black top would be noticeably hotter than the white one.

 

[JDaPP]

My top is painted black, so I have had both. Only difference I noticed was the touch when closing it. The black is usually warm/hot to the touch where the white wasn't as hot. I have never really noticed a difference between the two colors in regards to the interior. I think Espo78's description is pretty accurate. I wanted to do the sides black and top white, but my free painter/wife/father in law painted it all black by mistake. I have no regrets other than the black on top has faded faster than I would like.

 

[Dan Grec]

No matter the color of the vehicle, the interior temperature will always be the same. The difference is the time it takes to reach that temperature.

A black car and a white car parked in the sun will still reach the same high temp, but the black car will reach it quicker.

The Engineer in me says that can't be right. The black car is absorbing more energy, so it will be hotter.

Mythbusters proved this: http://mythbustersresults.com/episode38

-Dan

 

[Espo78]

I'm no engineer. Heck I might not even be smart. But your link says this:

SPINOFF: A black car heats up faster than an identical white car. (From Pilot 2)
CONFIRMED
A fan wrote in and asked a follow up question: "Does the color of a car affect the way it heats up?". The MythBusters used two identical cars, one black the other white and left them both out in the summer heat with thermometers in both. By mid-afternoon the black car had heated up to a temperature of 135 °F while the white car topped off at 126 °F, almost 10 degrees cooler.

So while it does seem the white car is cooler at the end of their experiment, who says the experiment should have been over then? Perhaps more time in the same environment would have eventually led the white car to match the 135 degrees of the black car?

Sorry to derail this awesome thread I just get curious about these things and have always reasoned that black gets hotter quicker than white but the end result would be the same over a long enough time span.

 

[michael_l]

The Engineer in me says that can't be right. The black car is absorbing more energy, so it will be hotter.

Mythbusters proved this: http://mythbustersresults.com/episode38

-Dan

I'd have to rewatch the episode, but I think the issue is not as to whether or not the black one heats up faster, but if they eventually reach the same temperature. Who knows what the equilibrium time requirement is, however that result simply states the black one heats up faster, not that they don't eventually reach the same temperature.

In any case...someone with a j30 post a photo in the woods so the rest can keep drooling!

 

[hardwickj]

2nd year at Burning Man w/ my White J30 on black Rubicon. My single biggest (only?) regret in this setup is getting the Jeep in black. Spending 10 days in that blasting desert sun will make you regret having anything in black.

Yes the majority of the heat comes via the windows, but I also noticed a big difference by covering up the sun-facing side of the rest of the Jeep as well. This is where having an easily deployable awning can make a huge difference just via the shade. The photo shows the opposite side obviously.

I'd argue that it doesn't matter what the final temperature is. You just want it to stay cool enough in the AM so that you can sleep. Last year when I didn't cover up my Jeep, I'd wake up at 7:30-8am due to the heat and that was all the sleep I'd get. This year I was able to sleep until 9:30 or so before it started to become too hot. When you were out until 4am the night before, that's a world of difference and you start to care about those things A LOT.

Many desert climates where the sun makes it incredibly hot during the day also become very cool at night. In this case Black Rock City got down to 28F one night, hence it didn't matter how warm the Jeep still was. Once I unzipped the canvas it was cold in no time.

 

[TenaciousTJ]

Sweet set up, hardwickj! Any pics with the top down and rocket box (not sure if that's what it's called), mounted? Also, which brand is that and how do you like it?


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[jungblud]

At Expo East I had an unexpected amount of rain coming into the sleeping area and dripped down into the rear cushion and soaked the rear driver side seat below as well.

Anyone who actually owns an J30 (second gen) have any recommendations for solving this?

Thanks
Tim

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[jungblud]

Going use some 303 Fabric Guard: http://www.sailrite.com/303-Fabric-Guard-16oz

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[goin camping]

Where was it leaking in?

 

[hardwickj]

It's just a Thule. I had no intention of getting one, but we were scrambling last minute before leaving and short on space. The box was the cheapest Thule REI carried, and also the lightest at just shy of 40lbs empty. Even with it empty though, I was shocked at how much more difficult it made it to put the top up. You need to have a support beam of some sort to hold it up once you lift it, until you can situate the internal pole correctly. With it fully loaded you pretty much need multiple people.

Since I'm contemplating a long-term overlanding adventure at some point, this is an issue for me as I'd want to utilize that space up there. I spoke to John about possibly utilizing linear actuators to lift the top and am brainstorming some ideas which I hope to start working on soon!

Here's a couple with the top down:

Sweet set up, hardwickj! Any pics with the top down and rocket box (not sure if that's what it's called), mounted? Also, which brand is that and how do you like it?


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[expedition4x4]

When I was at UMV I was informed that they have 100lb gas struts as the stock option but if you are running weight up top all the time they also have 150# and 200# options


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[Edroid]

I just picked up my J30 from AT Overland. The Ursa Minor top is fantastic, and the work the boys (and one girl) did on the Jeep is impressive.

Question: What have you found to be the best sleeping bag or blanket for the J30? I want a bag that I can just leave up there when closed, preferably a rectangular bag instead of a mummy, and warm enough for a cold fall night in the mountains.