Tuesday, June 8, 2021

A WAAAAAAYYYYYYY long overdue update.

 On one of my previous posts, I went through my grandiose plans of rebuilding a Jeep CJ8 Scrambler into a dedicated camping rig.  Yeah, see where this is going?...

Upon much more thought, insight/ revelations on JUST how much energy, time and additional money I was going to have to expend on it, I decided to back out.  I still think it would be an awesome project.  Fortunately, my friend from whom I bought the project decided to buy it back to repair and sell.  He even bought some of the additional components I had gotten for this project.  The only thing I have yet to disposition is a full hardtop and doors.

Instead, I went the easy route and purchased this in March of 2020, the day before the world shut down.


It's a 2017 JKU Rubicon with an Ursa Minor aftermarket camper top.  This IS the concept that I was going for with the Scrambler rebuild.  But at the end of the day, the Scrambler would still be a 35 year old vehicle.

What I like about the Ursa Minor top over a typical roof top tent is access is primarily from the inside, through hatches above the rear seat area.  It can be accessed from outside as well.

Rather than me continuing to opine, watch Chris Shontz's well done video that describes the attributes of the top.  I'll wait....

Venture4WD,A Closer Look at the Ursa Minor J30

Of course, Maggie loves it too.


We are quite enjoying this vehicle and have only begun to explore the national forests for dispersed camping.

It SHOULD be needless to say, but unfortunately there are numerous people who do not adhere to the principles of Tread Lightly or leave no trace.  That is what ends up getting public lands shut off to the public.








One day we hope to be able to take enough time to stray farther out than the forests of VA and WV.  Until then, there is still a lot to explore!


1 comment: