Ursa Minor Pop-Top Jeep JK

[eternus]

I've found my questions answered after all. I bet I could make the "downstairs" habitable for the shorter kids and we could all live in there if I can just find a way to not have as much gear in place. I'll just have to post pics once I get my Anvil JKU since the most prolific picture takers are driving white Jeeps.

 

[Herbie]

I've found my questions answered after all. I bet I could make the "downstairs" habitable for the shorter kids and we could all live in there if I can just find a way to not have as much gear in place. I'll just have to post pics once I get my Anvil JKU since the most prolific picture takers are driving white Jeeps.

This is a legitimate strategy, but not without pitfalls. For a while after first building my pop-top van, we used the "park and disgorge" strategy. Everybody sleeps in the van (mom and daughter on lower bunk, me in the pop-top), but in the early days, this meant that upon setting up camp, a lot of stuff got moved OUT of the van in order to setup the sleep quarters. Tables, chairs, and the odd bit of recovery gear, at least. Having less gear, or at least smaller-packing gear is one partial solution to the problem.

However, what made "park-and-disgorge" worse from my perspective was that in addition to all the stuff that had to go out, other stuff had to be moved or "setup". Carseat de-installed, porta-potti moved, seat swiveled, potti moved again, bed pulled down, mattress rolled out, etc. etc. The carseat is non-negotiable for a little while longer, but I have been working to eliminate as many of those other steps as possible. The net effect was that in the early days, striking camp could take as much as a couple of HOURS of solo work (while mom kept the toddler busy). As I refine the build and the kid gets older, we're down to about 1/2 hour now. (2 people working). My goal is to make that a 1-man 1/2 hour or 2-person 15-minute job. Again, I'm finding solutions where possible with less gear, smaller gear, or in some cases actually bigger gear that isn't quite so finicky or time consuming to fold/stow.

The specifics of my load out and setup are less important than this: For any storage/sleeping system, remember the limitations of storage volume versus setup time and teardown time, and weigh it against your needs. I don't normally want one of those largish XP-campers or campers-on-a-truck-chassis systems, but every time I'm packing up and stowing bedding, chairs, etc. and in a hurry to leave for something important, I sort of wish I had a camper that didn't require quite so much "nesting" and packing. We often move frequently to see lots of places. I'd probably care less about some extra setup/teardown/re-packing time if we tended to stay put.

 

[eternus]

We have a long way to go before we "pack optimally" for sure, in the longer term a teardrop trailer will solve my problems by having a kitchen already set up all the time and I can leave my sleeping wife and children in the trailer and go do my own exploring. Of course, at the ~$7k price tag (fof what I want) for the J30 I might have a trailer before i have a sleeping solution. =oP

 

[skates04]

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!

I bought a cheap harbor freight hoist and rigged up a system so I can remove the J30 top by myself in about 20 minutes.

Have you looked at the JK habitat?? (Also made by ursa)

http://store.adventuretrailers.com/products/JK-Habitat-.html

I prefer the J30 for the hard roof But I think you might be able to sleep 4 at least 2 adults and 2 kids in the habitat. ( assuming you can sleep in the back half
I've never been in one)

Otherwise with J30 you could get a cargo box mounted on load bars integrated into the top for some extra storage for light stuff like clothes/sleeping bags.

Just throwing out some ideas.

Lucas


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jeepovich]

Last weekend at Big Bear

 

[Espo78]

Cool vid! Thanks for sharing.

 

[nwoods]

Cool video! Is that White Mtn?

 

[bigfish]

Did everyone enjoy the Summer Solstice?

 

[QPDO]

^^^^ That is one helllll of an amazing picture. WOW. I want to camp there.

 

[Presto88]

BigFish, you're killing me, man! THAT is my new screen background!

Wow. Just....wow.

Thanks for posting it.

 

[bigfish]

Thank you. I wish I had remembered my memory card for my big camera. I took this with my cell phone...

 

[Espo78]

Yep...new background screen for me as well. Awesome shot!!

 

[Comanche Scott]

Thank you. I wish I had remembered my memory card for my big camera. I took this with my cell phone...

I couldn't get that nice of a shot with a dslr!

Great eye! :beer:

While I didn't have as great a day as you, it was still a good one! Saw the sun rise over a well growing corn field, and watched it set from 35,000 ft.

 

[Amy H]

I just put some money down on a new 2014 Sport S after reading/watching for atleast 2 years! I am sooooo nervous and hope this all works out so I can get a J30!!! Thank you all for answering questions and posting.

 

[GetOutThere]

I just put some money down on a new 2014 Sport S after reading/watching for atleast 2 years! I am sooooo nervous and hope this all works out so I can get a J30!!! Thank you all for answering questions and posting.

Welcome to the Jeep life :smiley_drive: