Canadian wilderness access tool - Build

[BVClimber]

My wife and I both ice and rock climb. there are all these great places to go that are off various highways that we get to in our honda fit. Solid. HOWEVER, there are all these amazing places where 117 hp, front wheel drive and 5 inches of ground clearance.... well, you get the picture. We graduated from an awesome back country platform (2007 lifted subaru forester with an air top) to our jeep rubicon. STOKED.

We first used our experience and reviewed our needs to get a vehicle. The subaru was really really good, but we wanted something a bit more rugged, a bit more room and needed to have better approach/departure angles for the ice shelves that build up in various approved river crossings. Long story short, we ended up by going the Ursa Minor J30 route and a full AEV build. No need for rock crawling just wanted to build upon the awesome stock rubicon plateform and protect from wild life impacts. Most of the time this will probably be a bit much for us but the few times that the extra clearence is needed it will provide a level of comfort. I have had too many days returning from a long ice climb in the dark to digging a vehicle out in the dark for hours as the drifts build faster than you can dig.

Stage 1 is all the vehicle hardware for the electrical system, accessories like lights and winch, lift, bumpers et all and the camper top. Stage 2 will be some sort of awning with enclosure walls for living space out of the wind/snow and a drawer system in the rear.

Will update as things progress but here's a couple starter pics:

Respect to the Ol Steed... She was a rad machine!


The New Steed


My wife stoked. Height reference picture


Toys for install!

 

[Lecoq]

Awesome! As a fellow Calgarian I'm looking forward to this build. What did you end up doing with the Airtop? Hope to see your Jeep in person at some point!

 

[BVClimber]

Sold the subie all in to a good friend. It's now crusing the west coast. The big downside to it was.... well not much haha. will be nice to have some standing room in the jeep though.

 

[BVClimber]

Oh yes... and the why part.... access to this:



Can anyone spot the Jeep? haha

 

[BVClimber]

Well, everything has come in from my local supplier and my wife is going to pick up the rest of the kit... bumpers, hood, rock rails etc. from the out of town shop (prices were way better than anything local). Thankfully she is up there 2-3 times a month for work so we got an additional price discount and tacked on the parts pick up with her work trips and the truck rental. I am hopeful that the arrival of the J 30 from Ursa Minor will be the same as the shop install. Yep, I'm a bit lazy when it comes to all this stuff, it takes time away from climbing! Hoping for everything to be in and complete for the first week of November. Even better timing, considering the seasonal opening of a winter only road that opens up so I can go check out some climbing developing projects without lost time!

 

[Jurfie]

When you get the J30 and if you don't mind, I'd love to check it out one day when I'm in the Calgary area; haven't seen any locally (to me), but I have family in Strathmore that I visit a couple of times a year.

 

[KellyM]

Congrats on the new ride. We have a very similar setup -- 2013 JKUR with AEV 3.5 and bumpers, dual batteries, ARB fridge with partner Steel stove, AT Drawer and shelf. It is a great setup both on and off-road. Here are a few pictures of ours to tide you over while you wait for the J30 ( I remember it was quite a painful wait.)

 

[Jurfie]

^^ So awesome.

 

[BVClimber]

@ Jurfie: Sure, PM me when you are coming through!

Thanks for the pictures KellyM! Your set up has been our goal basically, although it will be a progression since we have our dog Niko. I am hopeful that we can do everything but the fridge/stove combo and that will be enough space for her. The white is awesome and was our first choice for the Jeep but alas... Black was the only option available for us. May look a bit off with a white roof but will keep it cooler so practicality over asthetics. Ok by me. How are those awning mounts on your Gen 2? I am hoping to add something like the Eezi Awn batwing and some side walls.... from what I can find there are infact side walls avaliable across the pond, and it should be big enough to cover the tail gate when open, and create a fairly large open area over one side of the jeep and the 'kitchen'. Foul weather hang out space.

More Parts:

 

[BVClimber]

Oh, and what size are those Duratracs? 315s? You wouldn't happen to know the overall height of your jeep? I've got 83 inches of room for my garage entrance.. Might have to air down if I need to park in there lol.

 

[KellyM]

Oh, and what size are those Duratracs? 315s? You wouldn't happen to know the overall height of your jeep? I've got 83 inches of room for my garage entrance.. Might have to air down if I need to park in there lol.

Yes, the Duratracs are 315/70s. IIRC, the Thule rack posts (w/o the towers and bar) on the top of my Jeep are right around 83-84" without a full load in the Jeep. I have a 88" garage door opening, and have room to spare. I will get a more accurate measurement for you this weekend.


We have two small Australian Shepherds who come along on a lot of our trips. We put a large dog bed over the folded down the rear seat, and they seem fine with that space. We really like the fridge (my wife claims it is her favorite mod). Between the drawer with a couple of Action Packers on top, the fridge and the shelf we can fit all of our gear and food for week -- all behind the rear seat.


The new awning/ladder mounting spaces are a big improvement (along with almost a foot more height). I have not mounted anything yet, but am looking into a ladder. I think John at UMV said he reinforced the area and all you need to do is drill for your anchors. I talked with John about and awning across the back while designing my top, and think we concluded that the ARB 4 footer would work.


I'm happy to answer any other questions you might have.


Please post more pictures as you build out your Jeep.


Kelly

 

[BVClimber]

Thanks for all the replies! This community is great, being able to share with everyone and have feedback is really neat. My wife and her father are going to pic up the hood today. We opted not to get it painted and shipped down, as there was some slight damage to the hood in shipping so we figured to avoid it again. The guys at Northridge are awesome and are driving it 1/2 way to us (it's 2 hrs away) and personally bringing it to protect the new paint job for no additional charge. I should be able to get pictures up later today or tomorrow. I cannot go get it as a good buddy of mine just bought a house in Canmore and needs a hand slingin' boxes all day.

My wife and I are gettin ancy for the installation of all the goodies! So we decided to go to vegas for 4 days before it happens haha. Halloween on the strip, oh my!

 

[BVClimber]

Oh, and I have read that the factory sub woofer needs to be moved to accommodate the stage 1 adventure trailer drawer? Is this a remove and custom box build job to locate it above the wheel well?

Thanks!

 

[KellyM]

Yes, the sub has to come out completely. I thought about having a custom box built, but the sound is not as bad as I thought it would be without the sub. There is a guy on the AEV website who had a nice sub box built. I think his screen name is Helinomad or something like that.

 

[BVClimber]

I thought that was the compromise. I am not doing the drawer immediately so I have time to think of options. Probably either a relocation or delete and put in some better 6.5's in the header. Got the hood on saturday! Just in time to sit there, I leave for Vegas and come back a day before the shop install.... Gettin ancy with all these parts sittin around and no time to do anything with them!