Ursa Minor Camper Interior Cabin Build Thread

campertramper

Active member
I have 5” of foam in my mattress. I used the original mattress and then stitched two mattress toppers together for the top. To hold it all together my aunt and mother sewed me some slip covers out of full size sheets with Velcro closures so I can toss them in the washer. It all works really well and sleeps nice, even when I weighed 230. I keep a king sized comforter, top sheet, wool blanket and a microfiber blanket upstairs as well as a big pillow. It all fits!
Thank you for sharing that @shays4me ! I'm amazed all of that fits! I may just expand mine to 4". When I met UM John and asked him about it he thought about it for a moment and said that it would definitely work with an extra inch (3" total). I thought about just adding foam on its own, but I want a professional solution for this so that looks and performs as though it came from the factory.
 

Dan Grec

Expedition Leader
Does anyone know when the Ursa Minor mattress covers stopped being made out of sunbrella and started to be sewn out of gray/black tweed material? @Dan Grec has sunbrella (I'm not sure what his camper numbers is?) and I have gray/black tweed (#409). My other important question is, why did Ursa Minor change the fabric? - were there any meaningful disadvantages to using sunbrella?

I'm asking because I'm going to have a custom 3.5" foam mattress made for the top and I have to choose a fabric for it. I've already templated the 4 different pieces and I've tested the top with 4" of foam and it closes just fine without bedding. If anyone else out there is interested in such a solution, send me a message as I can order in bulk.

You probably don't want to use mine as any indication of "normal".
My entire matress is custom made by John to accomodate the huge opening mine has - it's actually 7 different pieces. I'm sure John just used Sunbrella for the covers because that's what he had on hand in the shop. I have no idea about "regular" ones.

-Dan
 

campertramper

Active member
You probably don't want to use mine as any indication of "normal".
My entire matress is custom made by John to accomodate the huge opening mine has - it's actually 7 different pieces. I'm sure John just used Sunbrella for the covers because that's what he had on hand in the shop. I have no idea about "regular" ones.

-Dan
Dan, you are just all kinds of helpful - thank you again for your generosity to share information!
 

dmulk

Active member
You probably don't want to use mine as any indication of "normal".
My entire matress is custom made by John to accomodate the huge opening mine has - it's actually 7 different pieces. I'm sure John just used Sunbrella for the covers because that's what he had on hand in the shop. I have no idea about "regular" ones.

-Dan
Yeah yeah...we get it you "special butterfly" you...??

Joking aside, I think the UM team simply doesn't have the time to track much less do a lot of custom work these days. Kris even mentioned to me as much during one trip. Every time I stop by the shop the little team is cranking on things.

Keep the great videos coming Dan! Having a great time following along.
-Also Dan?
 

campertramper

Active member
Back to my interior build: My guiding philosophy is to install as much light weight interior storage capacity as possible into the Ursa Minor so that I can permanently stow maximum camping gear without filling the jeeps trunk area for when I'm running around town in it. In the trunk area of the ursa minor along the ceiling I found that this MOLLE system from Builtright Industries fits great! This is their 'Velcro Tech Panel 8x15.5 - https://builtrightind.com/products/builtright-industries-velcro-tech-panel-large-8-x-15-5 for $25/each (please note that I rotated the panels 90 degrees to accommodate the bags).

Screen Shot 2022-02-14 at 3.17.57 PM.png

Once installed, I purchased the Tasmanian Tiger Tac Pouch 9 SP for $35/each:

Screen Shot 2022-02-14 at 3.23.50 PM.png

They attach to the velcro panels beautifully and they are very secure on the ceiling. Best of all, they don't obstruct my rear view from the drivers seat. I've had these mounted for several months, filled with clothes and haven't had any trouble with them falling down - they appear to be semi-permanently secure. I currently have 4 installed, but there is room for up to 6, should you be feeling extra ambitious.

I probably have about $260-270 into this solution, including taxes and shipping charges. I love it!

*This solution does not work with the Ursa Minor LED trunk light accessory. I have a different custom hard-wired solution that works very well that I'll share in a future post.
 
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campertramper

Active member
Lately, I've been focusing on mounting my go-pro camera for maximum camera angles in the cockpit of my 2011 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon.

#1 - I'm using the 67 designs 'Jeep JK Mount/JK Rail (2011-2018) Base Options with 2 ball mounts:
https://www.67d.com/collections/jee...ts/jk-mount-single-ball-base-no-arms-included - I use one ball to hold my phone with some 67 designs arms and the second one to hold my GoPro and also combined with a Snapmount (https://snapmounts.com/product-tag/accessories/) for a front facing over-the-hood angle (of course this can be turned around to face other directions)
#2 - A CMM Offroad JK A-Pillar Ball Mount on the passenger side next to the rear view mirror: https://cmmoffroad.com/products/ram-pillar-ball-mount?variant=31498060169277 - combined with another snap mount. This one offers a terrific angle of me while I'm driving and also captures my 5 year old when he's in his car seat in the back and allows us to narrate our adventure home videos.

I really like the versatility of the Snapmount system because you can move the camera around from position to position in a flash - the unit that attaches to the camera also allows it to magnetically attach to many steel areas on the outside of the jeep for easy exterior shots - of course it doesn't stick to the Ursa Minor top, but it works great on the doors and hood areas.

Recently, I was thinking about trying ball mounts to the jeep rollbar to create additional areas for my kid to use the camera from the backseat and to perform over-the-shoulder shots of the driver. This is the reason that I'm writing this post - I found a solution that I really like that I would like to share:

#3 & #4 - The 67 Designs 20mm ball for series 55 rails (https://www.67d.com/collections/series-55-rails-and-accessories/products/series-55-track-ball) can be modified with a longer bolt that fits through the rollbar. I contacted 67 Designs first to see if they had found a solution to do this (they answered that they have not). Next, I reached out to find out if they offer a longer bolt (they answered that they do not). Half a dozen trips to hardware stores around my area later, I found the solution pictured below. I run the longer bolt through the entire rollbar and affix it with a washer at the top for a super secure mounting solution. I was originally planning to add a washer at the bottom, but the 67Designs Ball Mount fits almost perfectly into the stock hole in the rollbar. I think that this makes for an elegant solution.

I was considering throwing my solution up on ebay as a mod kit to make this turn-key for anyone who wants to add these without having to run out to the hardware store and place special orders and such. Please message me if you think that you would be interested so that I can gauge interest before making the effort. I have some more 67 designs GoPro adapters and Snapmounts on order and will post some pictures once they arrive and I have my mounts fully installed. If you made it this far in the post, thanks for geeking out with me.
 

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campertramper

Active member
After further experimentation I found that the 67 designs mount was prone to slipping through the bottom hole on the roll bar, so I modified the design and added a second washer at the bottom and lengthened the screw by 5mm. Now it's perfect. I just posted this as a kit on ebay for anyone who is looking for a turn-key solution. It took me ages to dial this in and I would like to save anyone else who endeavors to have the same set-up the trouble. https://www.ebay.com/itm/284866828068
 

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Accrete

Explorer
A Q for J30 owners: Has anyone utilized a Froli Sleep System in the loft area? My wife and I've used the FSS in each of our two van builds and love the comfort and below-mattress ventilation it provides. YMMV, for us, anything close to a 2" to 3" mattress with the froli under feels like luxury sleeping at a 5 star hotel (it would add about 1.5").

froli.jpg

(no affiliation, just where we purchased ours)
https://nickleatlantic.com/
 

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