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We just got back from a few quiet nights in Arizona and eastern California. We were happy to catch a bit of fall color in Arizona before the cooler weather really kicks in. It’s starting to be desert camping season for sure. The temps were perfect in the Mojave. 

I was just looking through my files, and I started the detailed design of this camper in November of 2021.  It’s crazy how fast the last four years have gone by building and traveling in this camper. 

Like always, the camper is working awesome for us, but you all know I also really love building things. So… I’ve started to think about what things I might try out if/when I make another camper like this. This vehicle has been great, so I’d probably just experiment with a few small things. We love this size, so if I made another one, it would be about this same size and likely on a Jeep Wrangler again; it’s been a really good combination. Maybe I’d try one of the rear door layouts or maybe one with slanted sides like I considered for this camper originally.  It’s fun to think about layout options again. 

Yvonne and I have been out in the camper every few weeks this summer and loving how easy it is to jump in the camper and go when we have a few free days.  It’s been a busy summer with a dynamic work schedule, so having the camper ready on-demand has been super nice.  We also have a few trips lined up for this fall in areas that are a bit too hot in the summer, so we are looking forward to those upcoming trips.

The camper has been working perfectly for us, but it’s funny how I can’t help but think about what different things I would maybe try if I made another camper.  We really like the compact size of this setup, so I’d for sure stick to this small size.  It’s just so practical and cozy for the two of us. 

Yvonne and I have been out in the camper every few weeks this winter and loving the weather out in the desert.  The desert is great this time of year.  We’ve also made our way over to the coast to a few of our favorite areas.  It’s great to just jump in the camper and hit the road on short notice. Other than our battery monitor losing its calibration once, everything is working great, and the camper is super cozy even on cold desert nights.

We recently had the clutch assembly replaced in the camper under recall by Jeep.  The dealership showed us the removed clutch, and it looked totally fine, so it clearly didn’t seem like an eminent issue on our Jeep, but it’s nice to have a fresh new clutch at no cost to us. The people at the dealership were super helpful and accommodating (thanks again Jim), so we appreciate that. It is nice to have a modern vehicle that is easy to get worked on.

I first posted about this project 3 years ago this week.  I had been sketching the jeep camper layout since we sold our Unimog in 2019, but I really got into the design details in December 2021. It’s been a ton of work, but it’s been so satisfying.  Thanks for all of your help and encouragement along the way.

Yvonne and I have been super busy lately, and we’ve been zooming all over California, Arizona, and New Mexico in the camper.  The camper has been great.  We have a few more small California trips planned for December as well as starting to think about some long-term plans.

Yvonne and I are super happy with the little jeep camper, and despite having COVID last month and having to take care of some adulting things this summer, we’ve been able to have several very nice trips in the camper recently. We had planned on heading up into Canada this summer, but our plans have shifted into multiple shorter trips around California and Arizona. The camper is a great size for Yvonne and I. It’s super easy to drive and the habitat is really cozy. It still blows my mind that all of that comfortable living space is on the back of a Jeep.

It was nice to see many of you at Overland Expo West.

It’s been really great to take the camper out lately. In total, Yvonne and I have spent 20 nights out with it, and it is so much better now with the final interior and finished pop top. It’s really comfortable and cozy for the two of us, and all of the interior storage makes everything stay nice and organized, and that keeps it from feeling like car camping.

There is so much room now with the pop-top up. It makes a huge difference in comfort during the day, when changing clothes, when cooking meals, and it was great to sleep with the upper windows zipped open on hot nights down in the Sonoran Desert. That being said, a few of the nights at Expo were a little cool, so we experimented with sleeping with the top down for those nights, and it was cozy and warm that way. We are really happy with the bed being down below and how it gives us the option of sleeping and sitting with the top down or top up depending on the weather.

The camper systems work great so far, so I think we are ready for more trips. It feels strange having the build “finished” now, and I’m finding myself in an odd mental transition period between build and travel. We need to start pulling together some travel plans.

The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur in the shop with a ton of progress. Long story short: the Jeep camper is done! The last two big things that I finished were the water system and the new lightweight carbon fiber bed platform. The interior has a really nice feel with a “daytime mode” couch arrangement that converts into a nice bed that is way more comfortable than before (with backpacking air pads under the Hest mattress).

In other big news, Yvonne and I put the camper on the scales yesterday before going on our first test trip with the finished camper. The new curb weight with a full tank of fuel and everything finished is 570 lb under the gross weight rating, so I’m pretty happy with the current vehicle weight. With Yvonne and I both in it, that should give us about 250 lb of capacity for all of our provisions. We’ll do an all up weigh-in with us and our provisions in it as we head out on our next trip.

Our test trip last night went really well. It was really comfortable and nice to finally have all the creature comforts working. Note in the interior photo the little red light on the oven means that our tacos were being cooked.

Among other things, I’m happy to report that I finished the pop-top cloth sewing and installation last week. Sewing the cloth was a good bit of work, but I learned a lot, and I’m happy with how it turned out. Having the cloth finished makes the interior feet a lot larger.  There is 7’3” standing height in the back, and at 6’2” tall, I can stand as far forward as the middle of the habitat.  With the top down, you can comfortably sit and the pop top cloth bunches up nicely with straps along the top of the wall and doesn’t get in the way of sitting.

The Sailrite sewing machine that I used was great, and I like the Top Notch 9 cloth that I selected.  In the end, I decided to use 10mm molded zippers for the window closures and fine no-see-um mesh for the screens.  I cut all of the cloth with a DIY hot knife (I made a blade tip for a normal soldering iron), so the cut edges of the cloth are fused and won’t unravel.

I attached the cloth to the aluminum angles that I previously installed on the camper and roof using marine grade hook and loop.  I then added (with Yvonne’s help on the inside) small stainless steel bolts every ~10 inches as a secondary attachment.

With the weight of the finished roof assembly, the gas struts feel really nice and have a very solid feel when the roof is up, but the force to close the roof is reasonable.

The finished pop top cloth with hook and loop, zippers, and screens only weighs 4.7 lbs. Not too bad.

I’ve been super busy working in the shop on the new interior and getting everything ready for more test trips next month. I’ve made a lot of progress lately; here are some captioned photo collages from the last month or so.

It’s all still in-work, but it’s really satisfying to have the electrical system finished now, and I’m quite happy with the size and layout of the kitchen cabinet. Overall, recent progress has been good, and I still think that the weight is tracking close to my planned limits, but I won’t know for sure on the weight for a bit longer. Keep your fingers crossed.

The kitchen cabinet is compact and includes:

-50L Dometic front load refrigerator
-Sink with hand pump faucet
-Graywater system
-Slide out Trelino separating toilet
-Autoterm diesel heater
-Travel Buddy 12V oven
-Slide out storage bag
-Switch/breaker panel
-Slide out trash can
-Fire extinguisher
-Victron battery monitor
-120VAC and USB sockets

Since our latest test trip, I’ve been looking forward to finishing our pop-top roof. Yvonne and I considered both wedge and vertical tops, and we decided that a simple front-hinge wedge roof would be practical and lightweight for us. 

When looking at available hinges, I didn’t find any hinge options that were quite what I wanted, so I decided to make my own custom hinges that integrated well with our forward wall. I’ve used CAD for 30 years, but I decided that it would be fun to design the hinges with pencil and paper. Although a bit less efficient, drafting by hand just feels more creative to me compared to computer work.

I designed the hinges like clevis/tang aircraft pivot joints. I turned the stainless pins and bronze bushings on my lathe, and I machined the hinges from 1” thick aluminum plate. It took me some time to machine all of the hinge parts, but they turned out well and they only weigh 0.44 lb each.

I decided to use gas struts for the roof lift, and I made a spreadsheet to calculate the optimal strut size, strut force rating, and mount positions using trigonometry.  In addition to roof weight, I also considered wind aerodynamic loading, and the ergonomics of opening and closing the roof.  I know the spreadsheet probably seems like overkill, but it really helped me dial in the strut mounting locations, if the struts were slanted forward or back, and pick the right gas struts.  The roof has 32.5 inches of lift at the back, and that gives 7’3″ of ceiling height. The load to pull the roof closed feels appropriate.

It’s now time for the pop top cloth. 

P.s. As you can see, Dan Grec’s jeep is here visiting while he is getting ready for his next round of upgrades.