Alu-Cab Canopy Camper Roll Call

[cug]

Alu-Cab now has a roof conversion for the Grenadier, if they meet your off road needs.

I'm aware of that. The main downside is similar to the Wrangler with Ursa Minor: the vehicle underneath is small(ish). It's shorter than a Defender 110 inside. And in the US, there is no Diesel available like in the rest of the world.

My take is that I won't be building anything in the US, but use the Gladiator for good weather and hotels for foreseesable bad weather. When it comes to the rest of the world, I'll find something more useful. It's unlikely to be a Grenadier, but not completely impossible. Most likely is a Troopy.

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[westrollamo]

Been really thinking about downsizing on tires at a minimum lately. Honestly, the AEV high capacity suspension and 37x12.5s are just too much Jeep for my uses.

I've been considering in the range of 35x11.5 and I can see that BFG and Falken ATs (my favorites) have that available, but only in load range C. Anyone have any input on getting in that size range and if load range C would be passable for this? Current 37s are load range D. Weight wise I'm just under GVWR as the camper is just the shell without further mods.

Jeep tax picture

 

[Redruby]

I have the General Grabber X3 in 35x12.5x17 load range E, I’ve put approximately 35K miles on them and no issues and no road noise, there great as far as I’m concerned

 

[antwon412]

Excuse my language, but the Earth Roamers are effing stupid. They are are overpriced garden ornaments to impress the neighbors. But for anything else, they are actually worse than useless. You really can't take them offroad, they are way too big, top heavy, and due to the weight very fragile. And outside the US they are more than just stupid, they are reclessly proclaiming that there is a one percenter worth robbing who's not just rich, but also very stupid, so an incredibly easy victim.

No, the closest is to buy an old Defender, put a Hercules roof conversion on it and travel with that. Alternatively, import an old Toyota Troop Carrier. Or just buy a vehicle outside of the US. Or go to the crazy length like Dan from The Road Chose Me and build a real camp box on the rear of a cut open Wrangler.

I'll keep using the Gladiator for what it's good at for now, which is fair weather travel.

Here you go. An old Defender with an AluCab popup.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjJitPBjoLD8j8cnzi8rbxQ

 

[cug]

Here you go. An old Defender with an AluCab popup.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjJitPBjoLD8j8cnzi8rbxQ

It's probably what I'd do in Europe. Here in the US, they are stupid expensive. Although, even in Europe I might pick up a diesel Troopy over a Defender.

 

[Steven_B]

Been really thinking about downsizing on tires at a minimum lately. Honestly, the AEV high capacity suspension and 37x12.5s are just too much Jeep for my uses.

I've been considering in the range of 35x11.5 and I can see that BFG and Falken ATs (my favorites) have that available, but only in load range C. Anyone have any input on getting in that size range and if load range C would be passable for this? Current 37s are load range D. Weight wise I'm just under GVWR as the camper is just the shell without further mods.

Jeep tax picture

I personally would not run a C-rated tire on your setup.

I have been running the Nitto Recons (37's) now for a little over 30k miles and will probably replace them again with the same tire when its available. Like the other brands, they offer them in a 35x11.5 but they too are load rating C.

They now have a 37x11.50 load rating D, which would be interesting when it's time to replace my existing tires.

 

[westrollamo]

I personally would not run a C-rated tire on your setup.

I have been running the Nitto Recons (37's) now for a little over 30k miles and will probably replace them again with the same tire when its available. Like the other brands, they offer them in a 35x11.5 but they too are load rating C.

They now have a 37x11.50 load rating D, which would be interesting when it's time to replace my existing tires.

Gotcha! I'll check out the Nitto Recons. I may just end up going with 35x12.5 since there's plenty of E rated tires available at least. I'm just not stuck on big ole tires anymore.

 

[cug]

Gotcha! I'll check out the Nitto Recons. I may just end up going with 35x12.5 since there's plenty of E rated tires available at least. I'm just not stuck on big ole tires anymore.

For what it’s worth, we’ve been “using up” the OEM Falken Wildpeak MT-01 33” C rated on our Gladiator with AluCab, full build-out, water and all our travel stuff. We did about 2500 miles of relatively harsh gravel over the summer. Pressure at 22 front, 28 rear on the Dempster and other gravel roads in Canada and Alaska. Saw tons of people with blown tires. No issues with ours.

But, we didn’t do any really difficult crawling or sharp rocks, other than a few times to get to nicer camping. I’ll go with E rated when I replace the current ones. Likely a tiny bit bigger, maybe 34 inches or so, whatever still fits on the OEM rims since I have no interest in buying new rims as well.

 

[FatBaldandWheeling]

Checking in:

I have a Teraflex 3.5" lift on my Gladiator. With the Alu-Cab installed, I swapped out the rear springs for Dobinson HDs to alleviate the sag and provide almost an inch of rake despite the weight now on the back.

However, I am getting inconsistent groan when the springs flex. I did take the Gladiator back to the shop to have all of the suspension retightened (got death wobble on the front due to loose drag link/sway bar), but I am still getting some groan when going through some divots on pavement or dirt.

I can sometimes duplicate it simply by pushing down on the rear bumper. Is this just the price of the springs, or should I be looking at something specific?

 

[flipboltz]

My main problem is that it’s plain not possible to have everything we might need in the one space. It’s like a partitioned hard drive: there is enough space, but neither partition has the right size for what you want to do.

We don’t need a larger vehicle, we need a single space. Unfortunately, there is nothing available in the US that would satisfy this in combination with decent off-road capabilities.

Having lived in ours for the last year this is a very true statement. We are now in Baja and live mostly outside but when the weather turns it makes life a little more difficult. We have our fridge in the back seat along with our food dry storage so I feel you. This is a huge reason we decided to chase summer on our travels. I think it might be different if we had the side walls for the Shadow Awn but we don't have room to store them in the Jeep.

 

[flipboltz]

For what it’s worth, we’ve been “using up” the OEM Falken Wildpeak MT-01 33” C rated on our Gladiator with AluCab, full build-out, water and all our travel stuff. We did about 2500 miles of relatively harsh gravel over the summer. Pressure at 22 front, 28 rear on the Dempster and other gravel roads in Canada and Alaska. Saw tons of people with blown tires. No issues with ours.

But, we didn’t do any really difficult crawling or sharp rocks, other than a few times to get to nicer camping. I’ll go with E rated when I replace the current ones. Likely a tiny bit bigger, maybe 34 inches or so, whatever still fits on the OEM rims since I have no interest in buying new rims as well.

We are still rocking the stock Falken 33" on our Jeep and couldn't be happier. Anything larger than a 33" tire is difficult to get South of Mexico. We have been all over the US, Canada, and now Baja with these tires and a ton of off road with rocks, gravel, & sand. We aren't doing any serious rock crawling but I don't know many Gladiators with Alu-Cabs that do - not saying they aren't out there but I beg to question Why? We put our Jeep in some tough situations and these tires have been great. We also did the Dempster this summer and were very happy with the tires. We did 23 in the front and 25 in the rear.

 

[DR.]

We are still rocking the stock Falken 33" on our Jeep and couldn't be happier. Anything larger than a 33" tire is difficult to get South of Mexico. We have been all over the US, Canada, and now Baja with these tires and a ton of off road with rocks, gravel, & sand. We aren't doing any serious rock crawling but I don't know many Gladiators with Alu-Cabs that do - not saying they aren't out there but I beg to question Why? We put our Jeep in some tough situations and these tires have been great. We also did the Dempster this summer and were very happy with the tires. We did 23 in the front and 25 in the rear.

We have done some serious rock crawling with ours on 37” MTs the previous owner had installed. I am looking forward to them wearing enough I can swap them for 37” Falken Wildpeak ATs with the three peaks snow rating. I’ve used them in all my previous rigs and they worked fine for rock crawling and much better than MTs on the highway and in the snow.

 

[cug]

This is a huge reason we decided to chase summer on our travels. I think it might be different if we had the side walls for the Shadow Awn but we don't have room to store them in the Jeep.

Same here. The Canopy Camper setup is okay in good weather, but very suboptimal in conditions that make you want to spend more time inside. We do have the mosquito tent my wife made, which helps with time spent outside. We have the same problem with the sidewall kit: it's too big and heavy for what it is. We had been thinking of making a sidewall kit from ripstop nylon instead of canvas, it would likely be a quarter of the weight and half the stored size, but we never got to it and likely won't ever since it's likely that we'll have to sell the truck in the near future.

The awning itself is also very suboptimal, it's just not good in rain. While it does create a shelter, it only shelters the rear door if you install the extra insert, which is a pain in the ass to do, and even on the side there is too large a gap between awning and canopy. The tent canvas is also no good in rain, at least for long distance travel as over time it will soak through into the bed area. It wasn't a problem for us in Alaska, but that was because we spent a good number of days in hotels/motels due to shitty weather.

Overall, it's a South African product, coming from a climate like Southern California, and it shows in many ways. It's great for good weather, but falls short in bad weather. It's okay for short trips, like (long) weekends, or even a week or two, but if you're traveling for months or even years, it's not good. I'd get a different vehicle for this type of travel.

 

[cug]

I have a Teraflex 3.5" lift on my Gladiator. With the Alu-Cab installed, I swapped out the rear springs for Dobinson HDs to alleviate the sag and provide almost an inch of rake despite the weight now on the back.

We have the HD Diesel setup from Terraflex on our truck. It's pretty much level when we don't have the water tank, spare fuel, etc. filled up, and it does have a 3/4" spacer in the rear. We don't have a winch, so no additional weight on the front right now. I'd rather shorten the front springs than changing the rears at this point, since we are generally traveling slowly and have never bottomed out. There is no undue noise from the suspension, it works reasonably well. The OME BP51 we have on a similarly equipped Land Cruiser 79 is much better though.

 

[Nigelcorn]

Hey, the screen door on the tent is separating from the zipper. Everything else is in good shape. What would my options be for fixing just the screen section without replacing all of the tent fabric?

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