I did a ton of research and came up with the following solution:
- Jeep Wrangler Unlimited (the 4-door JK) -- The base MSRP is $27,895 (explore configurations here).
- Ursa Minor J30 Pop Up Camper -- The base price is $6,550 (explore configurations here).
- Thule T2 Pro XT 2 - 2" -- Available at REI for $580.
I love my Jeep and camper, but it took me quite awhile to get everything delivered, installed, and all the kinks worked out, even after all the initial research. Hopefully these notes will make it easier for you to do something similar and much more smoothly!
The irony of this adventure is that I spent much of my career doing systems integration work, so I was acutely aware of integration issues in my research. I thought I had everything figured out up front. Not even close.
The irony of this adventure is that I spent much of my career doing systems integration work, so I was acutely aware of integration issues in my research. I thought I had everything figured out up front. Not even close.
This is a look at the problems I encountered along the way and what I'd recommend as a result.
Overall aesthetics can be a challenge (or more expensive)
The standard color of a J30 camper top is marine white. To have the color of the top match the body color of your Jeep costs another $1,000-2,000 over the base price, depending on the options you choose. I didn't want to spend that extra money. Moreover, I like the white color, and it's good from the perspective cooling in the summer.
A white top presents an aesthetic challenge though, because you probably want a light(er) body color and Jeep's standard fenders are black. I didn't think many light body colors looked very good with black fenders, but you can only get body-color fenders if you also get a body-color hardtop. And body-color hardtops are much harder to sell than standard black ones.
I really wanted to get a blue Jeep with body-color fenders, like the Chief, but I didn't want to pay $1,200 for a blue hardtop that I couldn't easily sell. I ended up going with a Gobi (desert/sand) Jeep and a white camper top (with standard black fenders), because this one looked pretty good ... and it's driving all over Africa.
Jeeps come loaded with extras
Besides not wanting to pay for extras, options, and packages, I wanted the most basic, stripped down Jeep I could buy. I would have gotten manual windows and door locks, if I could have! I wanted lower cost and higher reliability (less to not work/break). Virtually all the Jeeps you'll find on a dealer's lot come with many options and packages installed though, all jacking up the price.
It turns out that you can buy a Jeep built to your specifications as factory order. This is what I ended up doing, so I could just get the automatic transmission, towing package (2"), and slush mat upgrades and the color I wanted. Dealers don't lead with this, but ordering from the factory a formal option. Note: The issue below wrto the top though!
Tip:
Ursa Minor installs campers in San Diego (where they make them) and Portland (Oregon). If at all possible, I highly recommend that you have them install your J30, as opposed to having them ship it to you and you doing it.
Installing a J30 is way more than just taking the OEM top off and putting the J30 on, even setting aside the weight of the camper (260 pounds). Getting it placed just right is important for preventing leaks, and there are subtle little things here and there to get right. For example, when mine was installed, it took the two installers awhile to get the top to latch correctly.
If you live a significant distance from San Diego or Portland, it might be interesting to consider buying your Jeep through a dealer in one of those places, flying there to pick it up, have the camper top installed, and then just drive one way home. Seattle is not that far from Portland--three to four hours, depending on traffic--but I made the mistake of ordering my Jeep from a dealer nearby in Portland, because they were aggressive on pricing. Once I realized I wanted to do a factory order though, I should have done that through a dealer in Seattle. But I learned the pitfalls of this approach, which may help you avoid them.
As you would expect, I worked with both the dealer and Ursa Minor, figured out roughly when both would be in Portland, built in plenty of buffer, and got a firm install date for the camper. But long story short, when my Jeep came in and I had to go take possession, the camper wasn't in Portland as promised. So I had to make two trips: the first to get the Jeep and the second to get the J30 installed.
Tips:
The day I went to Portland to pickup my Jeep, we almost came to blows, because they wouldn't let me drive away with it even though I'd wired them the money.
The wire for the balance I owed had executed the morning I was to pickup the Jeep and the proceeds were with the dealer's bank, but their bank hadn't yet put the money in the dealer's account. So, from the dealer's perspective, they didn't have the money. I no longer had the money, but the dealer wouldn't act like they did and wouldn't accept the risk of their bank not giving them their money.
I spent an hour or two wrangling with them, trying to get them to complete the deal. They asked me to spend the night, so we could close the next morning! Incredibly frustrating. The money eventually hit their account though, and we finished the transaction.
Tip:
Overall aesthetics can be a challenge (or more expensive)
The standard color of a J30 camper top is marine white. To have the color of the top match the body color of your Jeep costs another $1,000-2,000 over the base price, depending on the options you choose. I didn't want to spend that extra money. Moreover, I like the white color, and it's good from the perspective cooling in the summer.
A white top presents an aesthetic challenge though, because you probably want a light(er) body color and Jeep's standard fenders are black. I didn't think many light body colors looked very good with black fenders, but you can only get body-color fenders if you also get a body-color hardtop. And body-color hardtops are much harder to sell than standard black ones.
I really wanted to get a blue Jeep with body-color fenders, like the Chief, but I didn't want to pay $1,200 for a blue hardtop that I couldn't easily sell. I ended up going with a Gobi (desert/sand) Jeep and a white camper top (with standard black fenders), because this one looked pretty good ... and it's driving all over Africa.
Jeeps come loaded with extras
Besides not wanting to pay for extras, options, and packages, I wanted the most basic, stripped down Jeep I could buy. I would have gotten manual windows and door locks, if I could have! I wanted lower cost and higher reliability (less to not work/break). Virtually all the Jeeps you'll find on a dealer's lot come with many options and packages installed though, all jacking up the price.
It turns out that you can buy a Jeep built to your specifications as factory order. This is what I ended up doing, so I could just get the automatic transmission, towing package (2"), and slush mat upgrades and the color I wanted. Dealers don't lead with this, but ordering from the factory a formal option. Note: The issue below wrto the top though!
Tip:
- Order from the factory, to get the exact Jeep you want.
Ursa Minor installs campers in San Diego (where they make them) and Portland (Oregon). If at all possible, I highly recommend that you have them install your J30, as opposed to having them ship it to you and you doing it.
Installing a J30 is way more than just taking the OEM top off and putting the J30 on, even setting aside the weight of the camper (260 pounds). Getting it placed just right is important for preventing leaks, and there are subtle little things here and there to get right. For example, when mine was installed, it took the two installers awhile to get the top to latch correctly.
If you live a significant distance from San Diego or Portland, it might be interesting to consider buying your Jeep through a dealer in one of those places, flying there to pick it up, have the camper top installed, and then just drive one way home. Seattle is not that far from Portland--three to four hours, depending on traffic--but I made the mistake of ordering my Jeep from a dealer nearby in Portland, because they were aggressive on pricing. Once I realized I wanted to do a factory order though, I should have done that through a dealer in Seattle. But I learned the pitfalls of this approach, which may help you avoid them.
As you would expect, I worked with both the dealer and Ursa Minor, figured out roughly when both would be in Portland, built in plenty of buffer, and got a firm install date for the camper. But long story short, when my Jeep came in and I had to go take possession, the camper wasn't in Portland as promised. So I had to make two trips: the first to get the Jeep and the second to get the J30 installed.
Tips:
- Either buy your Jeep where you live, so you don't have to coordinate with the trip to install the camper in San Diego or Portland or make multiple trips; or
- Arrange for the dealer near Ursa Minor to hold onto your Jeep, until the camper arrives so you can make one trip; or
- Arrange for a friend to pick your Jeep up and hold onto it, until you arrive to get the camper installed.
The day I went to Portland to pickup my Jeep, we almost came to blows, because they wouldn't let me drive away with it even though I'd wired them the money.
The wire for the balance I owed had executed the morning I was to pickup the Jeep and the proceeds were with the dealer's bank, but their bank hadn't yet put the money in the dealer's account. So, from the dealer's perspective, they didn't have the money. I no longer had the money, but the dealer wouldn't act like they did and wouldn't accept the risk of their bank not giving them their money.
I spent an hour or two wrangling with them, trying to get them to complete the deal. They asked me to spend the night, so we could close the next morning! Incredibly frustrating. The money eventually hit their account though, and we finished the transaction.
Tip:
- Take a cashier's check or wire the money a couple of days ahead of time. The wire executing may not be enough.
Jeeps that come with shift tops aren't wired for hardtops
This was a big gotcha that could and should have been avoided. I told the dealer I ordered my Jeep from that I was going to put a custom hardtop on it, and I told Ursa Minor that I was going to order a soft top, so I could put it inside the back, for the drive home after the install. And they knew I'd ordered the rear defroster and wiper. But neither told me--and it didn't come up in my research--that Jeeps that come from the factory with soft tops aren't wired for hardtops: inexplicably, Jeep doesn't put in the wiring and hoses in all units, so the rear wiper and defroster on a hardtop work.
Here's the backstory: You can't buy a Jeep Wrangler without a top, and in the northwest, you have to have a top anyway most of the year to get to Ursa Minor in Portland (Oregon) to have the camper installed. I chose to get my Jeep with a soft top as opposed to a hardtop, because I didn't want to pay the $1,000 more for a hardtop or deal with the hassle of having to sell one. I figured I could drive the Jeep with the soft top to Ursa Minor, they could take it off, install the camper, put the soft top inside, and I could drive home and sell the soft top in Seattle.
After going to Portland the first time to pickup my Jeep, I went over to Ursa Minor which was fortunate, because it was (only) then that I learned that I needed these wires and hoses and they weren't standard. It cost me another $1,000 and multiple trips to the dealer, to get my Jeep hardtop ready.
It's a major production to install this assembly into an already-built Jeep, as opposed to simply laying it in when it's just a skeleton. It took nearly eight hours of labor! My dealer took pity on me and only charged me for four hours. That and the part was still over $1,000.
Moreover, in the process of researching and ordering my Jeep and camper, I missed that Ursa Minor will take possession of your OEM hardtop and sell it for you for as a free service. So my thinking that a soft top from the factory was ultimately the better logistical and cost option was dead wrong.
Tips:
Here's the backstory: You can't buy a Jeep Wrangler without a top, and in the northwest, you have to have a top anyway most of the year to get to Ursa Minor in Portland (Oregon) to have the camper installed. I chose to get my Jeep with a soft top as opposed to a hardtop, because I didn't want to pay the $1,000 more for a hardtop or deal with the hassle of having to sell one. I figured I could drive the Jeep with the soft top to Ursa Minor, they could take it off, install the camper, put the soft top inside, and I could drive home and sell the soft top in Seattle.
After going to Portland the first time to pickup my Jeep, I went over to Ursa Minor which was fortunate, because it was (only) then that I learned that I needed these wires and hoses and they weren't standard. It cost me another $1,000 and multiple trips to the dealer, to get my Jeep hardtop ready.
It's a major production to install this assembly into an already-built Jeep, as opposed to simply laying it in when it's just a skeleton. It took nearly eight hours of labor! My dealer took pity on me and only charged me for four hours. That and the part was still over $1,000.
Moreover, in the process of researching and ordering my Jeep and camper, I missed that Ursa Minor will take possession of your OEM hardtop and sell it for you for as a free service. So my thinking that a soft top from the factory was ultimately the better logistical and cost option was dead wrong.
Tips:
- Buy a standard black hardtop, so the Jeep comes wired for a hardtop, and arrange for Ursa Minor to sell the hardtop for you; or
- If your Jeep doesn't have these wires and hoses, don't order the rear wiper and defroster on your camper top; or
- If you want them and do have to install this wire and hose assembly in your Jeep, be warned that there are multiple nearly identical parts: the specific wire and hose assembly you need depends the specific model of Jeep Wrangler Unlimited that you have. It took my dealer two tries to get the right one, even though they knew my VIN number (of course). Sigh.
It must be at least 70 degrees and dry, to install the drip trim for the camper
The camper has strips of drip trim above the length of the doors on both sides, to guide rain runoff away from the door seals. These strips are put on at the installation site (not factory), and for the adhesive to properly stick, it must be 70 degrees Fahrenheit and dry.
That's a small window in the northwest, and my camper was installed in January. So, the strips peeled off on my drive home to Seattle. Sigh.
Tips:
That's a small window in the northwest, and my camper was installed in January. So, the strips peeled off on my drive home to Seattle. Sigh.
Tips:
- Either get your camper installed in San Diego, where temperature and precipitation aren't the issues they are in Portland; or
- Get your camper installed in Portland during the summer; or
- Make sure Ursa Minor uses their new technique of turning up the heat in the install bay and warming the strips up with a space heater.
Jeep doors are notorious for leaking
I didn't spend a lot of time investigating the reliability and quality of Jeep Wranglers, because I was optimizing for my biking or hiking and camping scenarios. It probably wouldn't have changed my decision if I had, but after my camper was installed, my front doors started to leak.
I discovered that leaks in Jeep Wrangler doors are so common that there's a whole manual for troubleshooting leaks and my dealer in Seattle has a leak specialist come in every Tuesday to deal with their backlog of leaking Jeeps. And a custom (vs. OEM) hardtop makes it that much less likely that the Jeep dealer will try to fix your leaks, because it's at the interface between the Jeep and the top where the problems occur. After waiting three weeks to have the water specialist troubleshoot my leaks, he took one look at the setup and threw up his hands (politely). So, I had to make a third trip to Portland, to have Ursa Minor debug and fix the problems (which took two experts a couple of hours and involved minor adjustments to the installation--hence my recommendation that they do the install).
As someone who spent their career designing and building software products, it is mind boggling to me that a product like a Wrangler could make it though a professional design and production cycle with this degree of problem, much less have over half a million units made over a period of 20+ years.
Tip:
I discovered that leaks in Jeep Wrangler doors are so common that there's a whole manual for troubleshooting leaks and my dealer in Seattle has a leak specialist come in every Tuesday to deal with their backlog of leaking Jeeps. And a custom (vs. OEM) hardtop makes it that much less likely that the Jeep dealer will try to fix your leaks, because it's at the interface between the Jeep and the top where the problems occur. After waiting three weeks to have the water specialist troubleshoot my leaks, he took one look at the setup and threw up his hands (politely). So, I had to make a third trip to Portland, to have Ursa Minor debug and fix the problems (which took two experts a couple of hours and involved minor adjustments to the installation--hence my recommendation that they do the install).
As someone who spent their career designing and building software products, it is mind boggling to me that a product like a Wrangler could make it though a professional design and production cycle with this degree of problem, much less have over half a million units made over a period of 20+ years.
Tip:
- Have Ursa Minor stress test the front door seals, after the camper is installed and before you drive away!
The Jeep Wrangler glove box is useless for manuals
A second head-scratching example of Jeep design is the glove box.
While generously sized, the interior shape is odd, and the owners manuals only fit in cockeyed. IOW, the place you always store your manuals doesn't readily accommodate your manuals.
The glove compartment is fine as a receptacle for random items, like sunglasses. Just don't expect your owners manuals to fit, like the same people designed both.
Tip:
Tip:
Some more tips & tricks
Here are a bunch of other suggestions, to round out your rig:
Again, I love my rig, but it was an experience getting it all together. Enjoy!
While generously sized, the interior shape is odd, and the owners manuals only fit in cockeyed. IOW, the place you always store your manuals doesn't readily accommodate your manuals.
The glove compartment is fine as a receptacle for random items, like sunglasses. Just don't expect your owners manuals to fit, like the same people designed both.
Tip:
- Get the map pockets in the camper. They're over the two front seats, and all the Jeep manuals fit in those pockets nicely. I got lucky on this, having ordered the map pockets before I discovered the problem with the glove box.
You need a hitch extension
One of the things I spent the most time researching was what bike rack to get. I wanted to make sure you could fully open the gate and rear window with the rack on.
I found a round up that showed this could work, but only with the Thule T2. Being the skeptic that I am, I wanted to see visual evidence, not just read words. Despite seeing that, I still encountered two problems.
The first is that, while it is visible if you know to look for it, the round up doesn't mention that you need a hitch extender to make this arrangement work. Moreover, a "normal" short extender is just 8" which isn't long enough. But the longer extenders are typically 12-14" which is way longer than you need and really stick out.
After a couple of trips to the local Rack N Road and a bunch of research online, I finally discovered an extender designed specifically for use with a rear-mounted spare tire like the Jeep: Advantage Sports Rack Hitch Extension. The extender can be used in 9" and 11" positions.
Even though it is designed specifically for this scenario though, I still couldn't fully open my gate! It turns out that the tires that come on the Rubicon I bought are bigger and wider than the tires on standard Jeep Wranglers, and that little bit of difference is what makes the difference. The Jeep in the photo must have smaller tires.
Tip:
- I recommend that you test a specific extender and Thule T2 rack on the same model Jeep with the same size tires you're going to get. Find a dealer or a friend with one who will let you put the extender and rack on and test the gate. Find a combination that works (enough) for you, before you buy your Jeep.
Here are a bunch of other suggestions, to round out your rig:
- Buy trench covers — To get in and out of the camper, your back seats need to be down. And I keep mine down, unless I need the seat space. Whether or not you leave them down, when they are down, there's a "trench" that makes standing back there challenging. You can buy a third-party trench cover like this, so that the back of your Jeep has a flat, stable floor.
- Protect the back of your rear seats with a cut down door mat — Again, to get in and out of the camper, you need to stand on the back of the back seats. The fabric there wasn't designed for foot traffic, much less dirty or wet shoes. You can buy a commercial door mat like this and cut it down to size to protect your seats and more-or-less blend into the black interior.
- Get sliding back windows — Consider getting half-sliding glass in one or both of the rear quarter windows of the camper top (see J30 configuration options). The reason is that in order to put the camper up (or down) you have to have a door or window open or cracked. If you don't, the vacuum inside the Jeep will keep you from pushing the top up and open. If the weather is bad outside, having a door open isn't ideal, and to close a Jeep window that you've opened part way, the power needs to be on. The sliding side windows in the J30 are manually operated which means that you can open and close them by hand. I didn't realize this when I ordered mine, but I wish I had.
- Install a phone holder in your CD slot — Unless, of course, you want to play CDs. I haven't played CDs in a car in a long time though, so this smartphone holder is awesome.
- Buy a locking anti-rattle bolt — The Thule T2 rack has an anti-rattle device, and it locks to the hitch, so your rack can't be stolen. As noted though, you also need a hitch extender. Even if your extension comes with an anti-rattle bolt (like the one I suggested), those typically require a fairly significant and specific tightening torque which makes taking the extension on and off non-trivial. If you buy an anti-rattle bolt that also locks like this one, you can leave the extension on the Jeep and just take the Thule on and off as needed. And when the rack is on the car, it can't be stolen (because it locks to the extension and the extension is locked to the hitch).
- Buy carbon offsets — Despite being perfect for this solution, Jeeps aren't hybrids or even very fuel-efficient gas-powered cars. Consider buying carbon offsets, to compensate for that. A friend in the know recommended this marketplace, and I bought credits to cover the amount I expected to drive in a year and will continue to do so going forward.
Again, I love my rig, but it was an experience getting it all together. Enjoy!
