'20 JT Rubicon overland build & evolution

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

Recent trip to the Outer Banks at Cape Lookout…the Gladiator performed flawlessly and this is a great setup.

The custom rack is overkill stout - probably stronger than OEM roll bars. Lol.

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[jwilson2899]

Recent trip to the Outer Banks at Cape Lookout…the Gladiator performed flawlessly and this is a great setup.

The custom rack is overkill stout - probably stronger than OEM roll bars. Lol.

Looking great! Did you ever get the winch in there?

 

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

Looking great! Did you ever get the winch in there?

also @Montana Brian

Thanks but no winch installed yet. Over 35 years of off-roading and have yet to install a winch. My off-roading doesn’t typically include burying the Jeep in mud up the axles…so I’ve yet to feel the “need” to install a winch. But a Hi-Lift jacks with attachments is a necessity!

 

[Montana Brian]

I use the winch on my Wrangler probably an average of once or twice a month over the year. Though, hardly ever in the summer.

 

[cgm]

Thanks for sending me to this thread from the AEV bumper thread! you have a great build. Your info is super helpful for me trying to fit one of these bumpers. time to stalk the markeplace. one was posted for 200 like 7 weeks ago... we will see if its still avaialble.

 

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

Go here for more photos of the bedrack…

https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/forum/threads/aev-bumper-custom-bedrack-bed-cover.82826/

 

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

It’s been over 5 years that I’ve owned the truck and it’s been a really good vehicle. It went from daily driver to weekend duty, so I think I can now turn it into more of a purpose-built overland truck.

So, that super stout AEV-inspired custom bedrack and all its extra parts was the first thing to go. Hard to do, but a must for my next step and had to make room for a rather large upgrade to the Gladiator…

…an AT Overland Summit topper!

In my quest to get out camping more often and make setting up and breaking down camp easier and faster (my 9 and 11 year olds are not much assistance…lol), I’ve been looking at toppers for about 7-8 months.

Was very close to buying a used Alucab Canopy Camper last summer but the owner had second thoughts and elected to keep it.

Next, in an attempt to save a few bucks, I spent several months trying to determine how to turn a SmartCap or an Alucab topper into a pass-thru camper with the addition of a RTT. Decided that was going to be more of a project than I wanted to tackle not to mention cutting up brand new (expensive) overland equipment.

Came close to pulling the trigger on a used Topo Toppers camper. The Topo was nice but it was bare bones with hardly any options.

After doing more research I was finally ready to put down a deposit for a new OVRLND topper. My preference was for a tent that lifted up on all 4 corners and I liked the long list of options that OVRLND offers.

Then I stumbled across this used AT Overland Summit. While I preferred to not get a clamshell style tent the build quality by ATO was impressive. The prior owner had upgraded with quite a few of the ATO installed options too. So, after debating it over the holidays, I took the plunge in January!

https://atoverland.com/pages/at-summit-truck-topper

 

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

A few exterior photos of the AT Overland topper as I purchased it…

I’m very happy with the purchase of the used topper as it is extremely well made by the team at AT Overland. And buying it used meant that I got it at a significant discount versus new retail price.

Huge bonus are all of the upgrades that the prior owner had added to it at AT Overland including:

• Artic Tern windows on both sides
• Front slider window next to cab
• Rear fixed window in liftgate
• max air fan with multiple speeds
• huge glass skylight
• electrical system with solar panels and lithium battery
• fabric insulation panels for the canvas tent sections
• three cabinets (one with two drawers on sliders)
• roof rack tracks
• EZ Awn 270* awning
• 50 liter refrigerator with freezer on a sliding tray that incorporates a dual burner propane stove
• rear entry lighting on liftgate and topper
• 3 power ports
• Plus, the PO tossed-in:
  • large propane tank with Ignik insulation bag
  • propane hoses
  • Billie Bars tailgate panel

There’s no way I would have purchased all these options if buying it new. And while it has a few trips out west on it, it was gently used.

The beauty of this set up is that it was already installed on and wired for a Gladiator. It made installation easier as I was tackling as much of it as I could on my own.

Just by looking at the Gladiator, you can see that the rear end is squatting over 2” to 2.5” because of the weight of the topper and all of those extra items added to it.

On the way back from Virginia it felt like I was driving a boat. The Gladiator was swaying horribly from left to right because the Rubicon suspension is so soft. Literally could not drive it above 60 miles an hour as the sway would start at that speed.

Unfortunately this means I’m going to have to address the suspension that is now overloaded.

 

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

And some interior photos too…

 

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

The topper needed a really good cleaning. It was full of Utah red dust that had crept into every possible crevice. Required that I take everything apart and spend an afternoon cleaning it.

On a positive note it made me very familiar with the entire setup. And post cleaning all the drawer slides work much better. Mental note to self to buy a tailgate seal kit to avoid future dust infiltration!

And it needs a few minor repairs too. Resealed all of the upper button-head bolts and the 3rd brake light with fresh silicone in the hopes of finding where the topper has a slight leak. Not a great place for the leak to drip right on all of the electrical connections.

Replaced the rear tailgate seal too as the original one was worn.

Next on the repair list was the Eezi-Awn Bat 270 awning. It is large and impressive in size, but that size creates opportunities for things to fail. The design of the awning makes for a quick deployment and it provides the most coverage at the rear of the camper. However, I’m not impressed with the base bracket on each arm. It’s supposedly designed to fail (and avoid other damage to the awning in high wind), but I’ve seen other awning designs that are more robust and don’t require the poles to support the arms.

Some drilling and a couple of extra stainless bolts and the bracket was repaired. Think I’m going to proactively perform this repair on all the arm brackets to prevent future failure while camping. Have to say the crew at EQUIPT was quick to suggest this repair and sent a new bracket free of charge. Excellent customer service!

And of course the modifications have already started too!

First up are additional lights using two CNC aluminum brackets from AT Overland:

Trying to decide if I’m going to add two or three more lights up top…

 

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

Ended up adding a few more 7” lights up top with a KC Light Bar bolted to the AT Overland brackets.

Now I have an enormous amount of light at night. But a ton of wind noise starting at 45 mph. Not sure if I’m going to be able to handle the amount of wind noise this created.

To be perfectly honest, 6 forward facing 7” driving lights is overkill. Lol.

 

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

Ended up doing quite a few things to the interior of the AT Overland topper…

First project was to create a Lower Level Sleeping and Seating Platform.

By bridging the gap between the driver and passenger side cabinets (in the alley at the center of the bed) with flat panels installed even with the tops of the cabinets, it will make a large area about the size of 1.5 single beds.

Here’s a good picture of the alley I’m trying to span with the panels

First I made a side panel to partially cover the refrigerator and support the sleeping panel that will sit above it. Cut out a hole for refrigerator ventilation and access to the refrigerator controls. Then painted it with spray on bedliner:

The sleeping panels will be supported by L track that is bolted to the side of the cabinets and the refrigerator panel.

One “sleeping” panel (not sure what they call it) came from ATO so it’s very lightweight and made out of their composite material.

The other panel I made out of 3/4” plywood. Once I got the plywood panel fitted properly, I skinned the topside with aluminum sheet (glued down with construction adhesive), painted the underside with bedliner, and trimmed the edges with angle aluminum.

Ignore my amateur attempts to weld 1/8” thick aluminum angle! LOL. It serves it purpose of smoothing out the edges when the panel is installed.

Bonus is I can pull this panel out to use as a cutting board (as you can see as the picture was taken after our first camping trip where it got put to use for more than just a cutting board).

Panels installed:

And I don’t lose any of the area below for storage:

Had to search for a while, but finally found reasonably priced 3” seat cushions on Amazon. For about $10 each (comes in a pack of four for $39) they are pretty nice and medium firm density. Bought several packs and placed cushions on top of the cabinets and panels to make the sleeping platform.

We can now sleep two adults up on the upper tent level and sleep two children on the lower level. Likely one adult could fit sleeping diagonal on the bottom level.

And while inside with the sleeping platform in place the refrigerator is still accessible! The first night camping we sat on the lower level and played card games - lights on, fridge running, max fan creating a nice cross draft.

In that last photo, you can also see my repurposed ROAM Adventure Company, rooftop tent shoe bags. Just had a piece of velcro sewn onto the back of them and they adhere to the carpet on the wall for extra storage. I’m learning this topper is like a boat…you take advantage of any extra space available for storage!

Unplanned bonus with the sleeping platform cushions was that I was able to fit my (garden) kneepad over the cushion gap at the end of the alley and not have to custom cut an extra cushion to fit.

That kneepad is invaluable while loading and unloading the camper. The Billie Bars tailgate cover that came with the topper has a dense foam pad, which helps too but that garden knee pad is a knee saver. Lol.

Lastly, you can see the bamboo shower mat that I cut down to fit in the center of the alley as a floor. It works perfect as any sand or dirt gets knocked off your feet and falls below the surface of the mat. It also reflects light and helps make the camper look less like a cave on the inside.

 

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

Realizing that the standard lighting that came with the topper on the interior was insufficient at night, I’ve added a row of LED strip lighting to both the upper and lower levels and just plugged it into the ATO topper’s cigarette lighter power supply for now.

Plenty bright now inside without being too much light (bought the soft white color LED strips).

Also you may have noticed gray panels now covering the windows in the prior few pics. With the lower sleeping platform, it was going to be very easy for my kids to roll over into the window shades while sleeping and perhaps tear an expensive built-in window shade.

So, I made panels from Baltic birch and covered them with carpet that matched the wall carpet originally installed by ATO. The carpeted window panels velcro in place on the window frame.

These window panels will also prevent the shades from being torn by cargo shifting and pressing against the shades while driving (appears to have happened to the prior owner). They probably provide a bit more wall insulation over the windows too.

Also made a bug screen for the front slider window from screen frame parts I grabbed at Lowe’s and No-See-Um mesh screen from Amazon. The side panels are simply a windshield sunscreen bubble material cut to fit the window and velcroed in place.

In this pic you can see the lighting and window panels.

 

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

After cleaning out all the dust on the inside of the camper that the prior owner had collected and my own driving around without any tailgate seal (which let water seep in around the tailgate), I knew I needed to do something to seal up the camper. Down here in the south getting moisture inside is a recipe for mold and mildew.

Can’t say enough good things about the tailgate edge and bottom seals from Extruded Solutions.

I’m running their triple bulb seal under the topper, side tailgate seal kit, and also their bottom tailgate gap seal that is 7” wide.

I’m 99.5% sealed up now and I don’t get any water, sand, or dirt blowing in while driving or parked. And while camping it seems mosquitoes can’t find a way inside the camper at night.

Sealing up the tailgate area also means that I can now keep gear stored along this passenger side area that seemed to often have a small puddle. This area is really useful for a full-size shovel, 3’ long steel rod stakes for sand, and fishing gear storage. Over two months now and no puddles or anything made from steel starting to rust.

 

[2020 SCRAMBLER]

With all the weight added to the truck, the stock Rubicon suspension simply could not carry it.

First item on the list was a new rear swaybar. Went with a Hellwig adjustable rear sway bar as that seems to address most of the side to side rocking and leaning caused by the weight of the camper.

Also, at the advice of others, I incorporated a set of Metalcloak rear sway bar reinforcement brackets. These brackets are incredibly stout!

With the swaybar installed and set in maximum firmness most of the side to side rocking has stopped. It doesn’t negate the need to upgrade the coils that are overloaded.

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