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JL Camping plans

GRAK

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Anyone already have big itineraries with their JL? Advice on camping solo with a 2 door would be helpful. For cargo space reasons I'm looking at rooftop tents - haven't seen any racks stating they fit the JL yet.

I guess the main drawback of rooftop tents is the perma rack itself... might be a showstopper. On a scale of ZFG to **** this, how annoyed are you when you take off the roof & doors and those bars are still there? Also, how affected is mpg & wind noise?
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Farmdawg

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You will have a lot of room to put a ground tent in the back of the JL, especially if you are going solo. RTTs look cool, but are expensive, a pain to put on/take off the roof rack, plus you will need to spend another ~$1000 or so for the roof rack itself. Then you have the additional wind noise and loss of 2-3 mpg from having a rack on top.
 

RonH

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Anyone already have big itineraries with their JL? Advice on camping solo with a 2 door would be helpful. For cargo space reasons I'm looking at rooftop tents - haven't seen any racks stating they fit the JL yet.

I guess the main drawback of rooftop tents is the perma rack itself... might be a showstopper. On a scale of ZFG to **** this, how annoyed are you when you take off the roof & doors and those bars are still there? Also, how affected is mpg & wind noise?
NM, CO, AZ and TX, watch out...the fam is coming! Love this trailer! And, as an added bonus, if the XT is selected, old, whimpy guys like me can put A/C into the tent and the box! Woo Hoo!

http://borderlandtrailers.com/
 

RonH

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Nice! How much?
Too much! But, you get what you pay for. With the slide out kitchen, water purifier, shower w/ hot water, Timbren axle-less suspension, max coupler, A/C, RTT, Foxwing w/4 sidewalls, and more...just over 30K. It can be had for much less if you don't want all the options. I almost bought a Turtleback (built in your neck of the woods) but I like these much better.
 

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AZCrawl

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Too much! But, you get what you pay for. With the slide out kitchen, water purifier, shower w/ hot water, Timbren axle-less suspension, max coupler, A/C, RTT, and more...just over 30K. It can be had for much less if you don't want all the options.
Wow! I thought it would be less than a tent trailer, wrong! Really nice though!
 

RonH

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Wow! I thought it would be less than a tent trailer, wrong! Really nice though!
These things, as well as Turtlebacks, VMI, etc...are built like tanks. Wherever your Jeep will go, this will follow...with no more damage than your Jeep. It took me about 6 months to get it across to the wife that one trip on a really rough trail and a pop up would very possibly be done, or at least damaged so badly that almost a full rebuild would be required. She saw the light, and now, no 9-10K pop up. This thing also holds 30 gal of water and has a full filtration / UV purification system on it. Backwoods or bug out, it should hold up. They build 'em to order. A smaller one, more for 2 people, can be had with several of the same features for around 20K. The XT just happens to be the Mac Daddy of 'em. VMI makes some great trailers too, but they are waaaaayyyyyy expensive.
 

Dagny

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Rooftop tents make sense on African safaris to provide some distance from wildlife but I'm surprised how much they are being advertised for use in the U.S. Even REI is carrying rooftop tents ($1000-2000). For $200-$300 you could get a nice backpacking tent that would take very little space in the Jeep and which would allow you to drive your Jeep without having to remove or fold up a cumbersome tent from the roof. I've done a lot of camping when I had Miatas -- using a backpack tent and hauling behind the seats a 12' x 12' Eureka Northern Breeze screenroom (very highly recommend).

Alternatively, I'd look at a teardrop trailer -- which typically weigh around 1000-1200 pounds. I just sold one that I'd used for years with my Honda Element. CampInn and So-Cal (out of southern California) are among the best manufacturers. So-Cal has off-road versions. Mine was from Little Guy (cheaper than Camp Inn and So-Cal) and saw a lot of use in National Parks and state parks.

If you'd be interested in building your own little trailer, teardrop or otherwise, this "Teardrops & Tiny Travel Trailers" forum is a fantastic resource:

http://www.tnttt.com/

I don't know if I'll get a Jeep Wrangler but am seriously considering it and am pondering its camping gear capacity. Probably greater than my Miatas....

Btw, here's a thread from the Teardrop forum that shows my setup which I was using for ten years. Had the trailer painted to match my Element. That teardrop was a 6' wide (king-size bed) but if I were getting another one today I'd get a 5'-wide (queen-size). Teardrops typically have a kitchen in the back that you access from the rear hatch. I had mine built without the kitchen (we usually cooked over a campfire). This trailer weighed 900 lbs empty.

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=23387


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Revelation17

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I’ve been looking into this for almost as long as the JL. What to get. RTT or trailer with RTT on it or small camper. I still haven’t landed anywhere. I don’t like the idea of all that weight on the roof of the Jeep. A setup that could do decent off-roading would be great, like an off-road trailer. None of it’s cheap though. I might need to send the wife back into he workforce so I can fund my new hobby.
 

Rumblefish

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I have one a trailer like this. Its fully insulated, 32s and towed great behind my JK.

type-off-road.png
 

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Rumblefish

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Or you can go this route, basically a rolling queen size bed.

11951394_10206024628912841_8985962291933993180_n (1).jpg
 

Revelation17

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@Rumblefish what manufacturer/model is that? The pic with the two of them.
 

geospyder

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We've done all our camping with 2 door Jeeps from the Willy to our current JK. But we are tent campers. With the back seat removed we have plenty of room for everything we need whether it be two nights or two weeks. The only variable is what size cooler we bring. All our ice is 1 gallon frozen bottles. Keeps the food cold and the cooler dry. Debated about the towing package for the JL but have decided against it since we are happy with our current arrangement. Remember the days when we did the Rubicon and instead of fancy folding chairs we just removed the seats from the Willys to sit around the campfire :)
 

SS_Syndicate

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We love our RTT... but I did build a trailer to put it on. We have too many vehicles and which one we use depends on how hard/remote we are going.

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Boatbuilder88

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Looking into buying a T@B 320 S teardrop to pull behind a 2-door JL.
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