Ursa Minor Pop-Top Jeep JK

jscherb

Expedition Leader
Anyone? Thanks
Having made rear barn doors for early and late model factory hardtops and for Ursa Minors all from the same molds, they're all the same height, the only difference is the width the barn door gets trimmed to.

DonnyFinal1_zpsjablnjkj.jpg


Barn doors for early and late factory hardtops:

EarlyAndLateBarnDoors.jpg
 

wandererr

Adventurer
Having made rear barn doors for early and late model factory hardtops and for Ursa Minors all from the same molds, they're all the same height, the only difference is the width the barn door gets trimmed to.

DonnyFinal1_zpsjablnjkj.jpg


Barn doors for early and late factory hardtops:

EarlyAndLateBarnDoors.jpg
Thanks!!!!!! That's great news as it means that I can design and buiild my kitchen now and not worry about a surprise later on.
 

ventura911

Adventurer
I think they’d be open to it. Chris Schontz had some custom work done for storage in the tent, I believe, so they’re familiar with the J30.

I’ll shoot them an email and see what they say. I’m looking for a simple net, rigged with their adjustable paracord to keep things tight. I don’t know if they can come up with something that mounts to the roll bars (my preference, if possible) or if they will need to have D-rings mounted through the camper floor.
Just heard back from BROG and they are not doing custom work. Anyone know another business that might be able to do this?
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
Just heard back from BROG and they are not doing custom work. Anyone know another business that might be able to do this?
Having designed fabric products for several Jeep and trailer companies, I can offer some thoughts.

Getting the product made normally wouldn't be too hard - there are many shops that do small runs, especially in the RV space, that live for this kind of work. I've worked with a few in the Elkhart, Indiana area (the Detroit of the RV industry) that small runs, including one that specializes in nets.

But the challenge is coming up with the design - most of these shops only do manufacturing and will expect a design that's ready to manufacture. Companies like Blue Ridge and Overland Outfitters (I've done designs for Overland Outfitters) likely won't be interested because their production capacity is under pressure due to the pandemic - almost all of these companies are operating at reduced capacity so while they may have been open to custom work in the past, right now very few of them will have the capacity.

If someone can come up with a design, I can refer you to companies that might have some manufacturing capacity and would be willing to do a small production run.

Without a design, the best bet is probably for anyone who wants one to find a local automotive upholstery shop and have them do something just for their own use.
 

ventura911

Adventurer
Without a design, the best bet is probably for anyone who wants one to find a local automotive upholstery shop and have them do something just for their own use.
I was thinking along the same lines and will check my upholstery shop. Perhaps given the uniqueness of the J30, Ursa Minor would have already filled this niche if there was a solid demand for the product.

At least I’ve already done some mods to my top over the years and am not scared of drilling another (properly-placed) hole or two if needed!
 

jscherb

Expedition Leader
I was thinking along the same lines and will check my upholstery shop. Perhaps given the uniqueness of the J30, Ursa Minor would have already filled this niche if there was a solid demand for the product.

At least I’ve already done some mods to my top over the years and am not scared of drilling another (properly-placed) hole or two if needed!
Before going the custom route, you might check and see what's commercially available that can be adapted. For example, a search turned up a number of nets that might be a good size and would just need to be adapted to hang inside the hardtop.

CargoNet(1).jpg


CargoNet2.jpg


Could be worth an $18.26 or $22.99 experiment before spending a lot of money on something custom. In the search above there's a net called the "Car Ceiling" that might work, or the net on the left, which is intended to mount to the roll bars, might work well adapted to a ceiling mount. And if you do an experiment but aren't satisfied with it, you haven't invested much and the experiment could lead you to a better design than you might otherwise have if you went to an upholstery shop without trying something first.

Lots of things you could do before spending bigger $ at an upholstery shop.
 
Last edited:

ventura911

Adventurer
Before going the custom route, you might check and see what's commercially available that can be adapted. For example, a search turned up a number of nets that might be a good size and would just need to be adapted to hang inside the hardtop.

CargoNet(1).jpg


CargoNet2.jpg


Could be worth an $18.26 or $22.99 experiment before spending a lot of money on something custom. In the search above there's a net called the "Car Ceiling" that might work, or the net on the left, which is intended to mount to the roll bars, might work well adapted to a ceiling mount. And if you do an experiment but aren't satisfied with it, you haven't invested much and the experiment could lead you to a better design than you might otherwise have if you went to an upholstery shop without trying something first.

Lots of things you could do before spending bigger $ at an upholstery shop.
Thanks for the research and suggestions. I appreciate your efforts in helping everyone with their projects!
 

dmulk

Active member
Making my way through this gigantor of a thread and finally gave up after a couple visits to UM Chula Vista and page 131...placed my deposit today.

Now the waiting begins.

It's fortunate that I also live in Chula Vista just 10 miles (across town) from their southern shop as I realize communication can be an issue and I want to make sure that when my build starts that I get all the options I want the first time and also follow up if there are any fitment or quality issues.

If some of you thought they were only doing one top at a time....that's not the case....they are cranking out 4 at a time and they still have the back log....so....if you're on the fence....place your deposit and get in the queue. While the deposit is not refundable, with the demand they have right now I'm fairly certain you could flip your spot to someone else if you got in a pinch.

Right now for my JKU it looks like it's *9 Months* of waiting. That said, I'll likely get going in other mods and selling my FSR HC80 tent with Rhino rack backbone modded hard top. (Ping me if interested).

Looking forward to joining the club soon.

Dan
PS: In the last year or so I've done the ORBDR, WABDR, Northern IDBDR, SOCAL BDR, Southern NVBDR, Mojave RD, and some other trips. On deck is to finish the IDBDR, NVBDR and COBDR in July. Yeah, I'm committed to this Overlanding thing. :)
 

that_dude

Member
Haven’t done anything further about the ceiling storage, but spent 4 days on the Mojave Road last week and had a great time with friends. Also got to try out the new Adapter Shade Panel from ForceProtector Gear. High-quality and versatile equipment that packs small.
View attachment 661846
View attachment 661847View attachment 661845

What do you have it lashed to on the corner of the Ursa? Looks like it’s maybe a removable ring? Looking forward to picking up a ASP too. I’m going to update my Ursa order to remove the rear awning brackets as this looks like a much better solution.
 

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