Ursa Minor Pop-Top Jeep JK

[Amy H]

Well, it's a funny story. I bought the camper used from a guy in Portland. I'm pretty sure this is the first used Ursa Minor top (it's in great shape). I've been plotting this setup for a year now so it was a no brainier purchase when I saw the ad on craigslist. The funny part was I didn't own a Jeep yet. The seller was awesome and offered to store it & install once I had a jeep. A few week later I bought a jeep and took 3 friends out for a total of 5 people to do the install. The top is heavy. The wiring was a bit out of my league but you can certainly find people on the portal or nearby to help. Or just drive to San Diego to pick up & install. Use the shipping money for a nice summer road trip

Ann-Marie what a find! That is great that you found one used.

 

[rainstatebear]

Well, it's a funny story. I bought the camper used from a guy in Portland. I'm pretty sure this is the first used Ursa Minor top (it's in great shape). I've been plotting this setup for a year now so it was a no brainier purchase when I saw the ad on craigslist. The funny part was I didn't own a Jeep yet. The seller was awesome and offered to store it & install once I had a jeep. A few week later I bought a jeep and took 3 friends out for a total of 5 people to do the install. The top is heavy. The wiring was a bit out of my league but you can certainly find people on the portal or nearby to help. Or just drive to San Diego to pick up & install. Use the shipping money for a nice summer road trip

Jealouse :drool:

 

[kerouac]

If anyone has the time or gumption, please please please can someone take and post a picture of someone standing inside a jeep with the Ursa Minor J30 kit installed? I'm wanting to see how much room there is in order to change into/out of a wetsuit with the J30 roof popped.

 

[brianjwilson]

If nobody does, I'll try to do that when I get home next week.
With the rear seat folded, there's enough room to wiggle out of a wetsuit, but your feet will want to be right in the gap behind the seat. Or you can stand on the seat. Either way it would work okay, although it would be easier with the rear seat removed or a flat floor.

 

[kerouac]

Brian, Thank you. That would be awesome!

 

[Espo78]

You would lose a few inches of standing headroom, but I think building something like this would really supplement the Ursa Minor top well.

http://www.jkowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52178

 

[LilPoppa]

Wow that's umm... So I've been "building" of my dream vehicle since discovering this site a few months ago. And that's pretty much it right there. And looks as cool as it does in my imagination.

Whelp, *tightens belt*, off to the oil sands to make some money.

Last weekend we spent a night in the Jeep in the coast range. As usual, we woke up to rain and colder temps, but were very dry and comfortable. I still can't believe how much body heat is retained with two occupants! Everything was covered in dust and pollen the first day so naturally it was a mess after the rain, with lots of junk falling from the trees overhead. It is so nice to have that hard roof overheard instead of a huge tent setup like the habitat. While the top was a disgusting mess, the soft sides were clean and only had water droplets toward the bottom, as the top overhangs the soft sides pretty well. The overhang makes it very convenient to leave the windows unzipped at the top for circulation while keeping the rain out. In the morning I just wiped the junk away from the seal area, gently knocked some water drops off of the side and closed it up.

I opened the top at home on Monday just in case the soft sides were dirty or wet, but they weren't at all. Seems to be a very good solution for camping in the Northwest.

 

[MojaveKJ]

I am camped in my Rubicon J30 at Overland Expo 2013 and LOVING it. I saw John in the vendor area as I was coming back to the camp area from the Land Rover off road course and he's put an awning on the side of his! I have to go back today and check that out for sure.

As for the J30 itself, after the Jeep, it is the single best investment in fun EVER! For what I do it's just right. I no longer have to take everything out of the Jeep in order to set up my bed or set up a tent after a long day of off roading. The next 9 days will be a good test of overall usability. The J30...home sweet home.

 

[LilPoppa]

Hey MojaveKJ, did you happen to get a photo of that awning?

 

[Ursa Minor]

Hey MojaveKJ, did you happen to get a photo of that awning?

I'll post a photo of the awning up for anyone that didn't make the expo...as soon as I get the voicemail to stop beeping, the in-box emptied, and find the camera in the gear pile! Also I'll get a photo of someone standing in the camper as requested earlier in the thread (unless one of our owners posts one that is)

Cheers,
John

 

[brianjwilson]

If anyone has the time or gumption, please please please can someone take and post a picture of someone standing inside a jeep with the Ursa Minor J30 kit installed? I'm wanting to see how much room there is in order to change into/out of a wetsuit with the J30 roof popped.

Here you go. I'm 6' for reference, standing with one foot on the folded seat, one in the "trunk".

With a flat floor (no seats) it would be very comfortable. My wife may now be joining me on my Utah trip, and I'm considering removing the seats making a flat floor with storage under the foot well area. Nothing fancy, probably just carpeted plywood for temporary use as I want to retain the seats most of the time. It's nice being able to climb in, sit down, take your shoes off etc.

 

[cobblecrazy]

If anyone has the time or gumption, please please please can someone take and post a picture of someone standing inside a jeep with the Ursa Minor J30 kit installed? I'm wanting to see how much room there is in order to change into/out of a wetsuit with the J30 roof popped.

I have changed inside, but most recently I started to use the Port-a-Privy I had from previous camper.
http://www.hotcampshowers.com/inc/sdetail/379

It folds down to a flat about two foot "disc" that can be easily slid in between a bag or container. It "pops" open/closed in seconds without needing to deal with any poles and a folding camp chair inside makes for a nice changing area. I keep it right next to the backseat door for a quick changeover

 

[brianjwilson]

Cobblecrazy, I hope you don't mind my continued posts in this thread. You had a lot of information and pictures running so I've just been adding my experience to it.

Yesterday my wife and I went camping at Cape Lookout on the Oregon coast. We were right on the beach, just behind a 20' tall sand dune. Heavy, constant rainfall and 30+ mph winds hammered is all night and morning. The best I could find for daily rainfall total was 1.25" today. We expected to get a little water blowing in, but it wasn't bad. Our friends were next door in their new travel trailer getting rocked pretty hard also.
We slept well, plenty warm as usual, as we listened to the rain falling. The soft sides flapped a little on occasion, but it was minimal and the top as a whole was sturdy. We woke up around 8am, still heavy rain and strong wind. My wife slept on the windward side and said that the sleeping bag was a little damp on the outside edge. There was a little bit of water that slipped between the fabric and the fiberglass top. It pooled a little under the cushions but didnt soak in.
No big deal, I lifted the cushions and dried underneath. My wife jumped out of the jeep into about 4" of standing water and went into our friends trailer while I closed the top. Being that the rain and wind were so intense I wasn't able to dry off the outside so I just closed it up. When I stepped outside I saw that at least two camp sites were abandoned with collapsed tents, chairs thrown about with no cars around. Looks like the tent campers bailed in the night for a hotel.
Inside the trailer, towels were stuffed under windows and there was water on the floor under the roof vents.

We were glad not to be tent camping last night! I also don't miss the fear of water leaking into my wood framed truck camper. Once I got back home I opened up the camper and found that the cushions were just a little damp, so I removed the foam and I'm letting them air out. I checked the screws that hold the soft sides to the "floor" (essentially the seal) and found a few stripped screws, a few that were just plain loose, and a lot of them that I just gently snugged up by hand (probably just natural loosening from settling in). Hopefully this helps a little in the future but otherwise it held up very well. Constant driving wind and rain will blow past most seals anyway. I will say, I was again very grateful for this top vs my other option. The j30 seals up much better if you tend to camp in terrible weather.


My wife has now expressed interest to join my on my extend trip into Utah, Arizona and Nevada. It's causing me to revise my simple plan of packing for only myself. Now I've got to condense my gear and find out how to make it livable for both of us for and extended amount of time. I'm revisiting the idea of removing the rear seats for the trip and building a "flat floor" for more usable space, and an "out of the way" spot for tools and recovery gear. Probably nothing fancy, just a one time basic platform with some tie downs, I'll have some time to experiment, and it may result in a couple more driveway or close to home camping trips to test things out.

 

[cobblecrazy]

No worries Brian. I really think the thread is important to make camping with the J30 better. It's always interesting to know how others approach a particular issue.

 

[cobblecrazy]

My wife has now expressed interest to join my on my extend trip into Utah, Arizona and Nevada. It's causing me to revise my simple plan of packing for only myself. Now I've got to condense my gear and find out how to make it livable for both of us for and extended amount of time. I'm revisiting the idea of removing the rear seats for the trip and building a "flat floor" for more usable space, and an "out of the way" spot for tools and recovery gear. Probably nothing fancy, just a one time basic platform with some tie downs, I'll have some time to experiment, and it may result in a couple more driveway or close to home camping trips to test things out.

Packing is always intersting. The thing I don't like is constantly digging through bags, or "layers" to get to what I want. I was cruising through Home Depot the other day and found a Rubbermade 4 drawer unit that I thought would work for clothing, towels, and other personal items, and a bin with a slightly angled front that you can get into both (I was looking at stacking 2) without disturbing or having to move the other bin. Both systems can be easily accessed by simply opening the rear gate, and the drawer unit had a small storage area in the top that I thought might be good for cooking/eating utensils. All three items would be about $75.00.

I really like the drawer system by Adventure Trailers, but at this point $2000 (about 3K with the refrigerator) is just not happening. I also thought about building something, but I would like something that could easily be put in and removed. The downside is not being able to stand on the plastic bins/drawers to get up into the "camper", but I found I prefer to leave the rear seat in the up position, and I can use the top of the rear seat to assist (with a slight push up with my arms) in stepping up into the top. I also like using the space under the rear seats to store things like tools.

I'd be interested to see what others are doing.