Alu-Cab Canopy Camper Roll Call

[Treetop]

And I can only say, the mosquito tent has been a sanity saver ...

What is your set up with the screens and the canopy? What brand and how did you connect this to the jeep?
thanks

Michael

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[Treetop]

This turned out very nice. I really like the smooth surface of the new Camper. Much better looking and probably also easier to work with. For some reason, each hole we needed to drill ended up on one of these stupid ridges of the diamond pattern ....

Still, the rear door turned out okay for us as well:

"Diesel stuff" is in the Pelican case.

What brand is the shovel carrier that attaches to the alu cab? nice! thanks

Michael

 

[cug]

What is your set up with the screens and the canopy? What brand and how did you connect this to the jeep?
thank

My wife made the screen tent. It attaches with velcros and carabiners to the AluCab awning. It’s just super fine mosquito mesh and rip stop nylon, but was quite a lot of work to make.

What brand is the shovel carrier that attaches to the alu cab? nice!

The loadbars are Rhinorack, as are the shovel holders. All other attachment parts are self designed and powder coated locally.

 

[813 Fabrication & Design]

Another bracket that may be helpful for some of your setups.

Joolca 12V Pump Mounting Bracket. Designed to mount the Joolca 12V pump to any flat surface. The mounting holes match with our Water Tank and Side Mount MOLLE panels if you choose to use those for mounting your 12v pump.

https://813fabrication.com/products/joolca-12v-pump-mounting-bracket

 

[cug]

So, back home after a looong trip … last night:

It was a very enlightening experience which I don’t care to repeat with this rig. There was a lot of good, but also glaring problems for someone like me, who likes things neat. Ah, decisions coming up …

 

[Redruby]

Care to elaborate?

 

[cug]

I will. Have to organize my thoughts and do a real write up of all the things that are great and those that aren’t.

But the biggest issue is conceptual and can’t be solved: the two separate spaces. There is always something in “the other space” and it gets really annoying when the weather sucks. It works fine in good weather and the last few days have been pretty good again.

But for the weeks of continuous rain in Northern Canada and Alaska … let’s put it this way: it’s a minor miracle we didn’t push the rig into a lake and flew back …

 

[Redruby]

I fully understand the 2 space concept, many a times I remembered a little too late that I needed something from space 1 when I’m already comfortable in space 2, had to learn to think ahead, it got better but still not perfect

 

[cug]

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.

 

[Redruby]

The closest thing would be an Earth Roamer, Mossmonster etc but the off road capabilities are compromised

 

[cug]

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.

 

[Redruby]

I agree with you 100+% about Earth Roamer, the Troopy is great too bad they don’t offer a Hercules roof conversion for the JL’s

 

[cug]

There's the Ursa Minor roof conversion, the main problem there is that the JL is just too small for two people and longer travel with this. Should work great for a single traveler though. Actually, that's what Dan Gregg used around Africa and it's what I'd do if I was traveling alone.

 

[Redruby]

Another option is American Safari JXL conversion

 

[DR.]

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.

Alu-Cab now has a roof conversion for the Grenadier, if they meet your off road needs. They're clearly not as capable as a rock crawler as a Gladiator but will likely serve most people's off road needs. That, and getting past the first production year of any vehicle, and in this case manufacturer. If they prove to be reliable, this will probably be our next rig, someday, if there ever is a next rig.

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